Pink Lemonade

Do I dare say I'm not a lemonade fan? NEVER do I order lemonade. From anywhere. Not because I don't like it but because it's just not my favorite. Mr. Sideline Chef on the other hand will have me buy lemonade mixes and end up dumping in so much of the mix into a 16 oz bottle of water that it literally makes you pucker. He likes it tart and only in the Summer.

While it's not Summer time, obviously, and no we're not having Summer weather we did have a beautiful Sunday. The weather was perfect for a picnic at the park and all I wanted to do was take the football before the big game and go play catch with my boys and let itty bitty get out of the house and get some of his pent up energy out. Have to take full advantage of these sunny days before the rainy weather keeps us indoors.

We ended up missing our window of opportunity from the time itty bitty woke from nap and kickoff. Even though we ended up not going to the park I still wanted to make the Pink Lemonade. I ended up making it on Monday afternoon.

Simple syrup. Check. Fresh hand squeezed lemon juice. Check. Water and grenadine. Check. Strawberry garnish. Check. It was that simple. This recipe came together really quickly and into the fridge it went to chill out for a couple of hours.

Lemonade does not make me excited. Now Pink Lemonade on the other hand makes me giddy so does Red Robin's selection of lemonades. This Pink Lemonade was no exception. It looked so beautiful mixed in the glass pitcher with the diced strawberries floating on the top. Once poured into my glass I couldn't wait to take that first sip. More sweet than sour. The grenadine and strawberries along with the simple syrup balanced out the tang from the lemons. Lip smackin' good!

The picnic will need a redo and this will for sure make it in the cooler... or maybe Mr. Sideline Chef is reading this and will make it for me and pack a picnic on Valentine's Day... a girl can dream... in reality I'll be the one packing the picnic and he'll be along for the ride. No matter what occasion you make this for it'll be a hit.

Pink Lemonade

MyRecipes.com and Southern Living, July 2001

Makes 3 quarts

Stars of the Show:

• 1 cup sugar
• 10 cups water
• 1 cup lemon juice
• 1/4 cup grenadine
• 1/2 pint of fresh raspberries or strawberries (optional) - I used strawberries. Yummy!

And Action:

Bring sugar and 1 cup of water in a saucepan and boil, stirring constantly until the sugar dissovles. Cool. Pour into a large container or pitcher. Stir remaining 9 cups water, lemon juice, grenadine, and if desired the raspberries or strawberries. Chill for 2 hours.