Fresh Lemonade

Ingredients:

• 8 cups of water
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• zest of one whole lemon
• 1 1/2 cups lemon juice (about 6-8 lemons)
• 3-4 cups ice cubes

Directions:

1. Add 3 cups of the water and the sugar to a saucepan. Bring to a boil on medium-high heat. Boil for 5 minutes. Do not stir.
2. Remove the sugar water from the heat. Add the lemon zest. Let sit for 5 minutes. If the sugar water is still hot, (it probably will be) add ice until it has cooled.
3. Add the lemon juice and remaining water to a large jug or pitcher. Pour in the cooled sugar water over a strainer to catch the lemon zest. Stir well.
4. Add ice or refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to an hour before serving.

*Store in the fridge for a week.

*If you like your lemonade a little less sweet, I would reccommend using only one cup of sugar. Of coarse, this is to taste and you can adjust the amount to your preference.

*You want to dissolve the sugar into the warm water because it will be hard to get the sugar to dissolve in the cold lemonade. It could make it gritty, or less sweet if all of the sugar sinks to the bottom.

Makes about a half gallon of lemonade