Homemade lemonade...

In 2007 I was lucky enough to get the chance to travel around Europe during my summer break from uni. It was a glorious summer, spent exploring new cities and countries, from the beautiful coastline of Croatia to the mountain range of Slovakia to the vibrant square of Brussels. It was such a fun time spent with friends and it's something I will always treasure. But hours spent on (un-air conditioned) trains and wondering around in the searing heat with our backpacks while we attempted to find our latest hostel certainly worked up a thirst (and also an overwhelming need for ice cream. a lot of ice cream). Nothing quenches my  thirst like freshly made lemonade. I literally lived on the stuff. And because of the wonderful way our senses like to help memories linger, whenever I take a sip of 'limonata' now, it never fails to bring me back to fun memories and the relaxed feeling of being on holiday. I drank gallons of it (slight exaggeration) while we were in Croatia last year, and, now that Summer has finally arrived in the UK, I'm relishing squeezing my lemons again!

I adore 'intense' lemonade (if such a thing exists) because of my strange love of the sourness of citrus fruits - if it doesn't contort my face into all sorts of strange shapes then it's too sweet. Whilst I hardly ever add in sugar, it does give this drink a lovely sweetness to cut through the sour lemon. If you prefer it a little weaker or want the lemons to go further you can add up to 1l of water to 4 lemons.

Recipe (serves 2)
4 lemons
400ml water
Sugar to taste

Squeeze the juice of the lemons and mix with the water. Stir in sugar to taste. Serve with ice.

And there, my friends, you have my ultimate Summer drink - Happy Tuesday!