Lemonade Sale

They say, "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade!" ... Well life must LOVE my lemonade cause it sure does like giving me lemons. Sigh.

At yesterday's competition, the Mt. Sac Relays, I popped my hamstring on my 3rd jump. Well actually I didn't even get to jump...it happened just before I hit the board during my approach. My leg hurt, but my heart hurt worse. I was slightly heartbroken that having worked so hard to overcome my ankle injury, something like this had to happen, just when I was starting to "get my groove back". I can't get officially diagnosed until Monday, once the initial inflammation calms down, but at least the doctor at the meet said it's not completely torn (since he couldn't feel any holes in the muscle fibers). Moving was very difficult after it happened: hurt to walk and I couldn't even put on or take off my own shoes. But I took some strong anti-inflammatories before going to bed and now I'm feeling quite a bit better and able to get around the airport. I can even put on my own shoes! HURRAY for the small victories in life :-)

If life is giving you lemons too, here's 2 yummy little lemonade recipes (just to hold you over 'til you make your own metaphorical lemonade out of life): 

ps - if you like cucumber water, I recommended adding cold, thinly sliced cucumbers for a refreshing little twist.

Lemonade by Paula Deen, courtesy of foodnetwork.com

Ingredients:

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup hot water
• 2 cups fresh lemon juice (preferably Meyer lemons)
• 1 gallon cold water
• 1 lemon, sliced
• Mint sprigs, for garnish

Directions

In a 1 gallon container, place sugar and hot water, and stir until sugar dissolves. Add lemon juice and cold water to render 1 gallon. Stir until well mixed. Pour lemonade over glasses of ice, squeeze slice of lemon on top of each, and garnish with a sprig of mint.

If you have extra time on your hands and want to get fancy, try this recipe. I remember my mom and little sis making something similar out of the Joy of Cooking book when my sis was probably about 6 years old for the lemonade stand she wanted to do one day in front of our house. I remember it being DELICIOUS! and Kelsey sold out so the neighbors must have agreed.

Fancy Old-Fashion Lemonade 

Ingredients:

1 cup water
1 cup sugar
Zest of 1 orange
Zest of 8 lemons
Juice of 8 lemons or about 2 cups, strained (preferably Meyer lemons)

Directions:

Bring water and sugar to boil and stir to dissolve sugar. Add lemon juice to water, stir and return to boil. Add lemon and orange zest, stir and remove from heat. Allow to stand 2 minutes before straining out zest.Cool syrup by setting pan over ice or in cold water. Cover and refrigerate syrup until needed. Makes about 3 cups.

To make lemonade, add 1 part syrup to 3 or 4 parts water, or to taste. If lemonade isn't your thing, the lemon syrup makes a yummy accent to iced tea.

Haha ok so maybe I got a little overzealous with lemonade options, but seriously...Don't let life get you too far down... You're never given more than you can handle.

Drink up!

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