Sparkling Peach Lemonade Recipe

Trying to squeeze the last few drops out of Summer, and I wanted to share a recipe we shot a couple of months ago. My little garden was so great this year, and I was thrilled to have fresh greenery to add to recipes and photos. I have seen a few delicious peaches around still, s grab some fruit and let's get started! 

(Found via Southern Lady Magazine, here)

6 peaches, peeled, pitted, and sliced

2 cups sugar

1 cup water

1 (33-ounce) bottle sparkling water*

2 cups fresh lemon juice

2 sprigs fresh mint

Garnish: fresh mint sprigs

1.) In a medium saucepan, bring peaches, sugar, and 1 cup water to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low, and simmer for 5 minutes. Let cool slightly. Transfer peach mixture to the container of a blender; purée until smooth. I also added a tiny bit of coconut milk to get that pretty, pastel color!

2.) In a large pitcher, stir together peach purée, sparkling water, lemon juice, and mint. Top with ice. Garnish with mint sprigs, if desired.

Notes:

We used San Pellegrino.
Kitchen Tip: Frozen peach slices may be substituted for ice cubes.

Lavender Lemonade - Bacardi Inspired

One of the coolest projects I have ever done is working with Bacardi to show my readers how to create summer party-ready drinks with two of their flavors - Limon and Tangerine (a new one). 

I was asked to pretty much create whatever I wanted, and below you will see some of the goodness I thought up.

Actually, the main reason I thought this recipe would be great, is that the VRBO house we stayed in while we were in the Tahoe are a couple of weeks ago had some wild lavender growing nearby. I technically borrowed some clippings from the neighbor's yard, and WOW, did it smell incredible! The other wildflowers in the photos were also sourced from the neighbors, and I will tell you, I didn't even make a dent in their landscaping :) 

I made a simple syrup with the lavender, some sugar, and water. This way the lavender infused properly into the drink. But, I actually added it into some pretty glasses with Simply Lemonade and a shot of Bacardi. Below, you will find the recipe if you want to make it from scratch, with real lemons. 

LAVENDER LEMONADE VIA SIMPLYRECIPES.COM

The sugar/lemon balance will depend on what types of lemons you are using (Meyer lemons are less tart than regular lemons), and your own preference for sweetness. While all varieties of lavender are edible, English lavender and Provence lavender are most often used for culinary purposes. If you use fresh, garden flowers, make sure they have not been sprayed with pesticides. Do not use florist flowers.

Ingredients

• A small handful of freshly picked and rinsed lavender flowers or a tablespoon of dried lavender flowers
• 1 cup white, granulated sugar
• 2 cups of boiling water for the infusion
• 1 1/2 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 cups or more of cold water
• Ice

Method

1 Cut the lavender flowers from the stems (no need to strip) and place in a medium bowl (a large pyrex measuring bowl works great because you can pour easily from it). Pour the sugar over the flowers and use your (clean) fingers to gently rub the flowers into the sugar.

2 Pour 2 cups of boiling water over the lavender sugar and stir with a spoon until the sugar has melted. Cover and let infuse for 30 minutes (or up to several hours).

3 Strain the lavender-infused simple syrup and pour into a serving carafe or pitcher.

4 Stir in the lemon juice.  Add another two cups of water. Taste and adjust for tartness. Add more lemon juice if too sweet.  Add more sugar if too tart. Add ice and more water to desired level of concentration. Note that the ice will melt eventually, further diluting the drink.

Add some thinly sliced lemons and a few lavender sprigs to the serving pitcher for presentation.

Summer Fun!

I recently tried White Cheddar Skinny Pop, and Hubert's Raspberry Lemonade and I am in love!! They're actually a good combo for summer! I would definitely take this to the park or beach for a summer picnic. The flowers are from my new, favorite place near Carbondale, Chautauqua Bend Flower Farm. 

I also love this blanket by Domain, it's super soft and perfect for summer. I grabbed this bag from Sole Society a while back, and it has held up really great.

Those sandals, though! My favorite part of all of this is the Sam Edelman Studded Asbury Sandals. They're comfortable, very chic, and look amazing with everything I have paired them with so far. 

This popcorn is addicting! 

What are your summer picnic essentials? 

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AZ Sunshine Lemonade

Earlier this year, we visited my parents in Cave Creek, AZ. It was a great time of year to visit, as the days were only mildly HOT and the nights were somewhat cool enough to wear lightweight pants or a long sleeve tee. The other great thing about being there in early Spring, was that their lemon tree was in full production mode, and even had a few blossoms still on it. I wish we could have taken home boxes of their organic lemons, so we could enjoy them at home, but they really only stay good for a few days after they are picked. So, we made as much lemonade as we could handle until our teeth hurt! We had a pitcher a day addiction going on!

INREDIENTS:

1 Part Lemon Juice (We used about 7-8 lemons for this)

3-4 Parts Water

1 Part Sugar (You can make a simple syrup at first if you want, although we didn't)

HOW TO:

We picked 7-8 lemons straight off the tree, cut them in half, and used an electric juicer to get as much juice out of them as we could. We then added the lemon juice to a pitcher, added the water, and sugar, and stirred. If you wind up making a simple syrup first, this is supposed to reduce the sugar from sinking to the bottom. Taste a bit to see if it is sweet or tart enough for your liking. Fill your glasses with ice, and pour the AZ Sunshine Lemonade on top! Enjoy!

I never grew up around fruit trees, and I love them! They do attract lots of bees, because of the little lemon blooms, but my step-mom made us a fresh batch of lemonade almost every day we were there! She has an electric juicer, which really does make things much easier for this whole process. Since we drank her super fresh lemonade, nothing from a bottle has tasted anywhere near as good. It all seems so bland, not tart, and loaded with more sugar than humanly possible. 

I like my lemonade a little bit sweet, and a little bit tart. Feel free to add more sugar if this is way too tart, but I do hope you enjoy the way we make our fresh squeezed AZ Lemonade! 

My little girls always helps me with my photos, poolside preferred!