Homemade Lemonade

Name: Homemade Lemonade
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 3 min
Total time: 248 min
Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, or to taste (substitute simple syrup); 8 cups distilled water, divided; 1 1/2 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 6-7 lemons); 2-3 slices lemon, for garnish (optional)

Author: Francine Lizotte

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The best lemonade I ever had was when I was in Mexico City but first let me start from the beginning.

Back in the late 90s’ during the fall season I was working on a gig, trying to make a deal with Hudsons Bay and a Mexican company located just outside of Mexico City who were making chocolates filled with liqueur. Before I went there, I looked for a place to stay for ladies only – no it wasn’t a YWCA – I had heard about it and I was also informed that the price of a room was pretty cheap. So the first time I went there for my business venture, I booked my room for 10 days, flew from Toronto to Mexico and there I was.

When I checked in, I was happily surprised to meet a few Canadian ladies from the GTA (Greater Toronto Area). They were working in the area and tried to learn Spanish as well. Obviously being expatriates, we kind of stuck together. When my time was up, I flew back home and by the time I arrived, Hudson Bay buyers were quite interested in that chocolate-liqueur company. I booked the same hostel for ladies and went back but this time I was there for almost a month.

It was a very enriching experience to be there that long. I learned so much about the Mexican culture (still not enough), went to many different places where the locals hangout, discovered other food items and learned more Spanish.

On a beautiful afternoon, one of the ladies from Toronto and I went to a local restaurant for lunch. She was off that day and I didn’t have any meetings set up. The food was incredible but what I remember the most was their lemonade. OMG! It was the best lemonade EVER! They served it in one of those tall, thick, plastic glasses with a straw. It was so amazingly delicious that I finished it off pretty fast and quickly ordered another one. I had to restrain myself from not ordering a third.

Later that day when the other ladies got back to the hostel, I couldn’t stop talking about how incredibly tasty the lemonade was so much so that a few of them decided to go the next day to have some. Well they quickly changed their minds when a few hours later I started getting really, really sick. I caught a bug that is commonly known as the “tourista”. I won’t go into too much detail but let’s put it this way, the Mexican woman who was in charge of the hostel had to call a doctor for me to get intravenous because I was getting so dehydrated… no kidding, it was that bad!

The next day, I realized what caused it; I drank a local lemonade made with local water plus I had ice cubes made with local water. The WATER was what caused my illness! Although I felt quite weak for a few days, I kept thinking how good the lemonade was. I was leaving in a couple of days but if I hadn’t gotten sick, I would’ve probably gone back for more lemonade.

The next summer I made Homemade Lemonade and although, still not quite there, my lemonade was pretty close to the one I had in Mexico City. I wonder if the difference in taste is caused by the water. The good thing is you’ll be able to enjoy as many glasses as you want. After making this extremely easy recipe, you’ll never buy any from the store… it’s that good!
Cheers!

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