The Perfect Summer Drink {Strawberry Lemonade}

This is too good not to share IMMEDIATELY!  We are having a neighbor's BBQ in less than 2 hours but I'm putting everything I need to do on hold to share this with y'all.  It's that good!

2 years ago a friend introduced me to homemade orange-lemonade and it's been my go to summer drink ever since, until now.  I found this recipe from my go-to recipe girl but there were a few things I didn't like about it, so I made it my own.

Strawberry Lemonade

For the strawberry syrup

1 heaping cup chopped strawberries (fresh or frozen)

2 tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. lemon juice

2 tbsp. cold water

For the simple syrup

1 cup water
1&1/3 cup sugar

For the lemonade
1&1/2 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice
4 cups cold water

Directions: 
To make the strawberry syrup, combine the strawberries, sugar, lemon juice and water in the bowl of a food processor or blender.  Puree until smooth.  Pour the mixture through a fine mesh strainer to remove the seeds, pressing down to extract as much liquid as possible.  (DON'T SKIP THIS STEP! I did on my 4th pitcher and regretted it.)

Make a simple syrup by combining the sugar and water in a pot and cooking on a medium-low until the sugar is complete dissolved.

To make the lemonade, combine the simple syrup,  the lemon juice and water and the strawberry puree.

Strawberries

Lemons

YUM!

It might taste even more magical when you mix in a little rum and serve it in a fun margarita glass ;-}

ENJOY!