Lemonades√

This is the easiest, most delicious and refreshing of all home-made drinks. Make sure you have a jar or bottle of basic syrup in the fridge for visitors.

Basic Syrup
1 cup lemon juice
1 cup sugar
1 cup water

Heat the water, dissolve the sugar in it and let it cool (heat destroys vitamin C) and add the lemon juice.
Store in the fridge and add still or sparkling water to taste and as much or as little ice as you like!
It couldn't be easier!

Remember - all the ones and double up for larger quantities.

Pretty in Pink
Take a pound of fresh strawberries, wash and hull them. Chop and simmer them in a cup of water for a few minutes. Blend or mash (a potato masher works great). Cool and sieve (you don't want any seeds or pulp). Let it sit for an hour i.e. until the pulp sinks to the bottom. Add one cup of clear strawberry juice to the lemon syrup for each cup of lemon juice.

Psychedelic Purple
The taste of the prickly pear is more subtle-it's the color that is absolutely spectacular. It's hard to believe it came from nature. You can grow your own if you live in a place where they grow - or you can buy them now in most supermarkets - especially ones specializing in south american foods. Cut 4 or 5 prickly pears in half and scoop their innards out into a pan. Use gloves. The prickles are tiny and barbed - they are a complete pain to find and remove. Add a cup or so of water and simmer until the fruit softens and breaks up. Smash with a potato masher. Push through a sieve to get the juice but not the seeds. Add a cup of prickly pear juice for each cup of lemon juice.

Notes!

Add more or less lemon juice to taste - one cup can be too tart for some and too sweet for others.

Use soft brown sugar instead of white for a wonderfully different flavor or half brown/half white.

Try agave syrup instead of sugar.

Add strips of lemon rind (no white pith - just thin strips of rind) to the hot water and leave in the syrup - the flavors will intensify. Fish the strips out after a day otherwise it can become too bitter.

Use Meyers' Lemons or Limes for a differently delicious flavor.

Add a handful of mint leaves to the hot water for a refreshing mint lemonade.

Prickly Pear Limeade is not such a nice color - the green turns it a muddy purple.

Grow your own stevia ... the fresh young leaves are a completely different kettle of fish (!) to the odd-tasting powders or liquids available at Wholefoods. Lemonade made with stevia will not keep - it needs to be made fresh each time.

Make a 'hardly any calories' Moroccan Mint Tea with fresh mint and stevia leaves. Throw a handful of each into a jug and pour over freshly boiled water. Steep for 5-10 minutes and serve warm in beautiful glasses or cold with ice.