How it all started in the kitchen
Jul. 20th, 2016 02:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ventaToday I am drinking my accidentally-invented easy homemade lemonade.
My standard first-drink-of-the-morning is hot water and lemon juice. It's made with hottish (definitely not boiling) water and some shakes ofJif Tesco's Own lemon juice. I like it.
Yesterday, when ChrisC went off to work, he offered to make me a flask (I've still not reached the magical only-one-crutch stage, when suddenly carrying things like cups of tea around becomes possible). Tea? No thanks, I said. Hot water and lemon.
Except I knew we had a lemon somewhere in the fridge. So please could I have it made with an actual lemon instead of bottled juice? In fact, could I have the big flask, not the one-cup flask?
The big flask is yer actual tartan Thermos, vintage 197something. I think I stole it from my parents. It makes a suspicious rattling noise, as of a Thermos that is no longer going to do its job all that well. So in attempt to keep things nice and warm, ChrisC used boiling water.
70s Thermoses, however, are made of stern stuff. When I got round to opening it early afternoon, it was still very hot. And a lot more... yellow than expected. And the lemons had kind of cooked, and got that jammy smell. As a drink, it was pretty weird. But mixed with sparkling water? Aha, now you're talking.
So last night, we brewed up another batch on purpose. And today I'm guzzling my way through it. Be warned: this isn't a very sweet drink. It's nowhere near as sour as, say, a lemon but it really doesn't share the taste of regular lemonade much. I love it, though, and in the current summerfit that the UK weather is having, it's very refreshing.
If you want to try the experience...
1. Take a lemon. Possibly you should use a sun-ripened Sicilian lemon. I used a lemon-from-the-greengrocers, character and antecedents unknown. I mean, the greengrocer probably knew, but I didn't enquire at the time of purchase. Which was ages ago, the thing's been lurking in the fridge.
2. Cut a quarter from it, and slice it into thin slices. Thin slices, greater surface area, lemons 'cook' better. Also they don't get stuck in the damn flask on the way out.
3. Poke slices into Thermos (preferably tartan), add boiling water. Put on lid, go to bed.
4. In the morning, strain the Thermos' contents through sieve/tea strainer/muslin/fingers (as available) into a jug and leave somewhere to cool.
5. Dilute to taste with fizzy water. Venta recommends Tesco Everyday Value Sparkling Spring Water, at 17p a bottle, and a ratio of around 1:4 or 1:5.
Next stop: include other things in the flask. I'm thinking fresh mint, or slices of ginger. Probably not both. Maybe both? I dunno. If I'd done this earlier in the year, elderflowers. Let me know if you have any suggestions ;)
My standard first-drink-of-the-morning is hot water and lemon juice. It's made with hottish (definitely not boiling) water and some shakes of
Yesterday, when ChrisC went off to work, he offered to make me a flask (I've still not reached the magical only-one-crutch stage, when suddenly carrying things like cups of tea around becomes possible). Tea? No thanks, I said. Hot water and lemon.
Except I knew we had a lemon somewhere in the fridge. So please could I have it made with an actual lemon instead of bottled juice? In fact, could I have the big flask, not the one-cup flask?
The big flask is yer actual tartan Thermos, vintage 197something. I think I stole it from my parents. It makes a suspicious rattling noise, as of a Thermos that is no longer going to do its job all that well. So in attempt to keep things nice and warm, ChrisC used boiling water.
70s Thermoses, however, are made of stern stuff. When I got round to opening it early afternoon, it was still very hot. And a lot more... yellow than expected. And the lemons had kind of cooked, and got that jammy smell. As a drink, it was pretty weird. But mixed with sparkling water? Aha, now you're talking.
So last night, we brewed up another batch on purpose. And today I'm guzzling my way through it. Be warned: this isn't a very sweet drink. It's nowhere near as sour as, say, a lemon but it really doesn't share the taste of regular lemonade much. I love it, though, and in the current summerfit that the UK weather is having, it's very refreshing.
If you want to try the experience...
1. Take a lemon. Possibly you should use a sun-ripened Sicilian lemon. I used a lemon-from-the-greengrocers, character and antecedents unknown. I mean, the greengrocer probably knew, but I didn't enquire at the time of purchase. Which was ages ago, the thing's been lurking in the fridge.
2. Cut a quarter from it, and slice it into thin slices. Thin slices, greater surface area, lemons 'cook' better. Also they don't get stuck in the damn flask on the way out.
3. Poke slices into Thermos (preferably tartan), add boiling water. Put on lid, go to bed.
4. In the morning, strain the Thermos' contents through sieve/tea strainer/muslin/fingers (as available) into a jug and leave somewhere to cool.
5. Dilute to taste with fizzy water. Venta recommends Tesco Everyday Value Sparkling Spring Water, at 17p a bottle, and a ratio of around 1:4 or 1:5.
Next stop: include other things in the flask. I'm thinking fresh mint, or slices of ginger. Probably not both. Maybe both? I dunno. If I'd done this earlier in the year, elderflowers. Let me know if you have any suggestions ;)
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Date: 2016-07-20 04:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-07-20 04:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-07-21 08:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-07-20 04:51 pm (UTC)You're not drinking this for the healthy Vitamin C effects are you? Cos heat above 70 degrees destroys vitamin C. On the plus side, you'll not get the runs from overdosing on it if the vitamins have been boiled off.
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Date: 2016-07-20 04:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-07-20 05:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-07-20 05:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-07-20 05:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-07-20 05:54 pm (UTC)<consults Amazon>
They are pricey. I always thought of SodaStream as the cheap option (I've never owned one or lived with one). I guess you get less plastic waste and don't have to lug two-litre bottles home, but it's definitely the expensive way of getting fizzy water.
Do you also make complicated or innovative beverages with it?
no subject
Date: 2016-07-21 08:06 pm (UTC)