The art of homemade Lemon Aide

Once the lemons were picked, they were then soaked in the tub overnight to clean them.
This also hydrates the fruit to full capacity.
This will give more juice.

After the water bath they sat for four days to age and soften a bit.
*These are fresh off the tree lemons*.
By rolling them one by one on the counter the juices are released from the pulp.
Cut in half and ends flattened for those that had a sharp or unpleasant end.
The end of the lemon will be in the palm of my hand with force when juicing.
Pardon my rusty knife, that is a very fine hardened steal Asian knife.
I neglected drying it.
It needs a good steel wool scrub to bring it back up.

Set your station ergonomically.
I am right handed.
Trash can to the right, big bowl feeding the cut lemons to my left.
The juicer center to me directly below me and close to me.
Use a foot stool if you are not able to bear your body weight downward without straining your shoulders.

Now the other big secret to a real good lemon aide is the basic sugar syrup.
Hot water will dissolve the crystals.
If sugar is mixed in cold water forget it , you'll ruin your lemon aide.

The simple syrup must be completely dissolved.

This is the way I do it now with a micro wave.
2 c sugar
2c water
mix in a glass container
( never micro plastic)
heat 5 minutes on high.
Yes it gets real hot.
Now mix it well and just set it aside to cool.
At this point no need to refrigerate.
It must be clear before you ever mix it or use it to asure quality.

Now I juice and then grind the zest off.
This is lemon Gold.
The essence oils found within the rind are the caviar of baking.
This rind will add the intensity of flavor that makes my lemon pie the bomb.
This also is used in curd, and various other recipes.
Now use care of your knuckles , but know this is our battle scars :) ha!
I love my 30 year + grater and if you can find an old stainless steal one at a flee market or thrift store, much better than the new (made for a day ) type.

The product
lemon juice
simple syrup next

see the measure
add the (clean) ice to brim
Then use Good Water
We have reverse osmosis.
I can not tell you how(after visiting Russia twice) how important it is for you to save up or invest in an under the sink Reverse Osmosis Filtration system.
If water goes or gets contaminated you'll be boiling every drop and brushing your teeth (like I was ) with bottled water.
I think that it is our most vulnerable resource in so many ways...
Hear in a town called Paradise Valley it has had contamination twice already . They were not notified for several days of the problem.

enough said...

Now best to let it age overnight if it will last that long.
Almost forgot to tell you...
Add about an 1/8 teaspoon of zest.
My other secrete,
well not any longer! Ha!

Often here it is made in a gallon container to mull over night.

My sweet son came a running to me after he got off the buss,and gifted me with the flower.

All said and done there came about 4 quarts of juice and 8 oz. of zest.
In addition to two pitchers of lemon aide spent by end of supper time.

These essence oils of Lemon are so very fragrant it smells like paradise through out the whole house.

Oh I froze this in a sealed glass jar.
It will be like a granular texture when frozen

Now those quarts of juice will make cubes in a tray for supper seasoning of dishes. The cubes will be bagged.
We can easily go through this juice soon.
Pie and lemon custard will be on the menu.