Organic Lemonade

Every shabbat we have a 2-liter/half a gallon plastic bottle of "fresh" orange juice at the dinner table. Cost: 22 shekels (6 dollars) and a plastic bottle to take to recycling. That's 52 weeks a year, making 52 x 6 dollars is around 300 dollars yearly.

This is what I have in my garden....

Under this lemon tree lay dozens of lemons on the ground wasting into compost. Year after year (I live in this house for 18 years now).

This year we picked them up, picked also many of the overfull branches.

and did this...

Both Yael and Sarai had a large juice-presser (hubby had a simple table juice presser and I cut the lemons). The girls loved it and were disappointed as we finished already the large bucket and two full bags. It took less than an hour.

Result, more than a gallon (5 liters) of fresh pressed pure lemon juice.

I brought it to a boil, adding sugar (for every liter and a half of lemon juice, one kilo sugar) and made it into concentrated lemon syrup (constant move the lemon juice in order for all the sugar to dissolve).

The concentrate syrup we placed in well cleaned olive oil bottles and other reused glass containers. Just leave enough space at the top of the jar for the juice to expand when it freezes, otherwise the jar will crack!

We put it all in the freezer and one large bottle in the fridge for immediate use. To make the lemonade I put a bottom of syrup in a bottle and add  water. Add a few mint (nana) leaves and it's ready.

Tasty, organic, no artificial flavors or other chemical additives, simple,  ready when you need it, no plastic waste bottles and above all for free!

We made our backyard ready for summer and sat outside already enjoying our lemons :)

Have a great week!