Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Strawberries & Lemonade

Yesterday I shared my summer bucket list which I sat down and made on Saturday afternoon.
Sunday hit and the chance of showers got pushed back until later in the day so I decided while it was fresh in my mind - why not knock something off the list and make an otherwise lazy & quiet day a little bit more fun.

So on Sunday, we went…

 strawberry picking

I lived in the same house my entire life until I got married and Derek & I moved into a home of our own!  I love where I grew up because the town is perfect with plenty to do, we're less than a half hour from the city, but my parent's backyard backs up to a farm! There's amazing walking trails we take full advantage of and so many activities at the farm - which we really took advantage of when my brother & I were little.

Past our younger years, they added "pick your own" activities for each season and recently I've so been wanting to pick some strawberries.  All and all our excursion took us about a half hour - so it was fun but didn't time consume us too much.  We had no idea how it worked so we got in line, payed our $5 each to head out on the hayride and picked our "picking" baskets.  We were let out in the strawberry field (If you've seen pictures of my walks with Steve and Nash - this is very close to where we walk, we basically walk around the perimeter of the field so it was fun to be in the field).

We picked, our baskets were filled and already another wagon was back and we hopped right on to go back to the farm - so easy! We had no idea how much it was going to cost so we got our strawberries weighed, handed back in our tokens (which got us $10 off) and our baskets combined only cost an additional $.94 - a great day out if you ask me!

We each picked our own basket so we drove the thirty seconds over to my parents and dropped off one of the baskets for them to enjoy - they were more than happy to help us use up our extra strawberries.
Strawberries just taste better when you do the work and pick them yourselves
As you can see even though plenty of people were out picking - we had more than enough room to ourselves.
Someone liked it better than he thought he would.
 I had as much fun as I thought I would and was really glad we took the opportunity to do this activity.
 Our picking adventure gave fresh strawberries a whole new meaning to us.
Happy campers after a great day date!

homemade lemonade 

I would consider myself to be a lemonade fanatic.  Not only during this time of the year when it's so popular but all year long.  Growing up my mom always had a pitcher of it in our fridge at all times (recently we were just talking where that pitcher is because I wanted it - guess it got too much use during the years).  I don't quite have a go-to lemonade (although those individual bottles at wawa are pretty good) so I usually just buy whichever container I feel like on that grocery trip.  

Since Saturday was a quiet afternoon and I was heading to the grocery store anyway, I decided to pick up some lemons and make my own! Seriously, lemons are all you need, the other two ingredients you'll most likely have.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups white sugar
8-9 cups water (use your preference and judgement)
1 1/2 cups lemon juice from freshly squeezed lemons 
*I needed about 8 large lemons

Directions: 
+ combine the sugar with one cup of water in a pan on the stove, bring to a boil and stir to dissolve sugar then let sit until it reaches room temperature.
+ put the mixture into the fridge to chill 
+ later in the day (I did the syrup mixture in the morning and made the lemonade just before dinner) juice the lemons and add the juice into a pitcher
+ add in the syrup mixture, the remaining cups of water and stir away

This recipe makes just about one pitcher of lemonade (at first I was nervous I was making too much
Enjoy!!!
Can be enjoyed plain or with a little vodka over ice.  Next time I'm definitely going to do a flavored vodka (not being a big vodka person, I just used our only option).  Malibu would also be great.

Linking up with Kate for recipe swap.
Also linking up for tasty tuesdays.


What's your favorite homemade summer treat to make???


33 comments:

  1. YUMMY, strawberry picking. I've always wanted to go strawberry picking and you friend have pushed me to make it happen. Your lemonade looks delicious, you should add some of your strawberries as a fun garnish :)!

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  2. I LOVE strawberry picking. My grandparents used to have a giant strawberry field and every summer I'd go pick strawberries with my grandfather. I need to find a place down here to go strawberry picking and relive some of my childhood haha!

    <3, Pamela
    Sequins & Sea Breezes

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  3. This looks so tasty! I have never been strawberry picking, but always wanted to go! And I agree, plain vodka isn't my favorite either haha

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  4. Aww that's so fun! I love that you guys did something new together--and you got some tasty treats as a reward :)

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  5. That's soooo fun!!!!! Those berries look delicious!!! Lemonade is my jam in the summer and this looks AMAZING!!!

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  6. Your strawberry picking date looks like so much fun! Glad you it to cross one thing off of your summer bucket list!

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  7. YUM!!! It's been forever since I went strawberry picking, and that needs to change! There's just something sweeter about fresh berries you've picked yourself :-D

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  8. i haven't picked strawberries in years!! i need to add it to my list too! one thing has been checked off for you!

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  9. We haven't ever gone strawberry picking but there is a great farm near my sisters house that we'll have to visit!! Thanks for the inspiration! xo, Biana -BlovedBoston

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  10. This looks wonderful. We have a berry farm here too, I should take Grant this summer. Your lemonade looks great too!

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  11. locally grown produce is always the best! I love supporting local shop owners and buying that produce is so much better than store-bought!

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  12. I love strawberry picking! Best way to get the freshest strawberry shortcakes. :)

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  13. This was such a fun post. Now I totally want to go strawberry picking!

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  14. Your strawberry adventure looks like so much fun and those strawberries look amazing!! Definitely going to try out making lemonade this summer :) That sounds amazing with a dinner off the grill!

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  15. Dang girl look at you! Fresh lemonade and strawberries!? Perfect way to kick off summer!

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  16. That looks like so much fun! Some muddled strawberries, vodka and mint would be AMAZing with your lemonade!! Yum!!

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  17. Yum, this looks amazing, and how fun strawberry picking! My favorite thing in the world right now is muddling a few strawberries into lemonade, so I definitely want to try that with your recipe :)

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  18. Strawberry picking is one of my favourite childhood memories! I haven't done it in years and now I really want to again!

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  19. Those strawberries look so delicious! Malibu would taste great with the lemonade! Yum!

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  20. This post makes me insanely happy. It just has Summertime fun written all over it!

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  21. Strawberry picking is my favorite! Looks like y'all had beautiful weather, too! Fun, fun, fun!! :)

    Somer @ Stroll Down Somer DeLane

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  22. I'm a tad jealous you got to grow up in the same house until you got married! What a treat! I love farms like the one near you too! There's one not too far away from us that does strawberry picking. I wanted to go this spring and take my little guy, but RAIN in Texas for THIRTY days makes that a dream only. Next year! And I'm trying your lemonade recipe this weekend. Sounds amazing! Thanks for sharing, Christina!

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  23. So glad you had fun picking strawberries. I love trying new things! & there is nothing better than homemade lemonade... though I have to leave that to my mama. I always buy the already made stuff (;

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  24. I usually include strawberry picking on my Summer Bucket List but this year I didn't. We never complete it for some reason. (Probably since Taylor doesn't like Strawberries, lol.) I love them though and one year I will get there!

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  25. The most perfect strawberries I ever did see! Yum! Bring on summer produce!

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  26. Strawberry picking is so much fun! You get the best strawberries. And your lemonade sounds yum!

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  27. oh my gosh!! I would LOVE to go strawberry picking :) how cool your parents house is right next to a farm! So lucky! and lemonade is a lot easier to make than I thought! for some reason I thought you needed tons and tons of lemons for lemonade. it looks so good!
    xo, Candace | Lovely Little Rants

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  28. Oh my goodness those strawberries look sooooo yummy!!! And now all I can think about is homemade lemonade with a little vodka sitting on my back porch just a sippin :)

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  29. One of my favorite summer drinks is pink lemonade and raspberry vodka. So good, and so refreshing! There is nothing better than fresh strawberries!

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  30. Those strawberries look AMAZING! I have gotten to where I rarely buy fruit anymore because it's just so expensive, even though I could live on fruit (and pizza...and cereal). haha

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  31. Totally on board for adding vodka, but you should totally put some strawberries in that lemonade too! What a fun day out :)

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  32. Two of my favorite things! There is nothing better than fresh strawberries and a glass of lemonade! Xo, Stephanie

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  33. Strawberry picking is so fun... and delicious! Your lemonade sounds great!

    ~Ashley @ A Cute Angle
    acutelifestyle.blogspot.com

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