make your own: blender lemonade.

I’ve had a revelation this summer and that revelation is that the easiest, tastiest, frothiest lemonade can be made by plunking an entire lemon into your blender.

Behold.

New York Magazine ran a piece in their June issue. And Grub Street reprinted it here.

Here’s the idea: that a single lemon smashed to smithereens can get you all of the lemony goodness that many more lemons than that could, juiced. So instead of juicing a bag full of ten lemons, all you need is to pop one into the blender with ice cubes, water, and a little bit of sugar. Lemonade magic.

Here are a few shots for reference and complete recipe down below. Also v. good with the addition of a few frozen strawberries.
To avoid imbibing too many nasties, start with an organic lemon that’s been well-scrubbed.
Start by quartering the lemon. The pith of the lemon—the thick white stuff—is notoriously bitter. Use a sharp knife to cut off a bit of the pith from the ends of your lemon slices so that it doesn’t overwhelm your concoction.
The first time I made this, I used way too many ice cubes and ended up with something closer to a granita. Still delicious, but not quite lemonade. Four cubes seems like the best number for me. Fill up the blender with approximately 2 cups of water and a few tablespoons of sugar (I personally think this needs at least 3 tablespoons to be palatable, but I might just have an impossible sweet tooth.)
Blend for a full minute. Not twenty seconds. Sixty. If you don’t blend for long enough the result can be a little gritty.
Garnish with fresh mint, a lemon wheel, a strawberry, or positively nothing at all. Serve immediately.

Blender Lemonade

What you need:
1 whole lemon, scrubbed within an inch of its life
~ 2 cups of very cold water
~ 4 ice cubes
~3 tablespoons sugar

What you need to do:
Quarter your lemon. Remove the seeds and the thickest part of the pith from each lemon slice. Add to the blender with several ice cubes, approximately two cups of cold water (preferably chilled), and a few tablespoons of sugar. (Honey or agave would work, too.) Blend for a full minute until the mixture is frothy. Pour over ice to serve. The lemonade will be cloudy pale yellow in color and very delicious. Serve immediately.

Needing something else a little sweet and sour? Rhubarb syrup to the rescue.