Cherry Lemonade Recipe

Thanks to Melissa’s Produce for providing the delicious cherries
for our Cherry Lemonade!

Cherries are a quintessential summer treat. Cherry pies, cherry Coke – cherries are woven into America’s history as the summer time  treat. Have you tried adding them to your lemonade? It makes for a refreshing change. 

I love quick, easy, no bake recipes, especially during the warmer months. This drink is beautiful, and will last about a week in the fridge. My daughter loved her cherry lemonade. What I love is that cherries are an awesome source of vitamins and minerals, plus this drink doesn’t have any artificial coloring. I prefer not to use those inexpensive, bright red, maraschino cherries since they are bleached and soaked in sugar.

To be honest, pitting the cherries is the longest part of this process. Thankfully my daughter was up for the challenge. There are a few ways of pitting cherries. We don’t have a cherry pitter. But we do have chopsticks, and a pastry tip. My daughter prefers the chopstick method which is pushing a chopstick through the stem-end of the cherry. The pit should pop out. I prefer the pastry tip method. I have metal pastry tips, plastic ones would do the trick. Just remove the stem and place the cherry, stem side down, over the pastry tip. Press firmly  to cut out the tips.

Once you’ve pitted your cherries, add them to a blender with lemon juice (I freshly squeezed three good sized lemons, but lemon juice will work), and sugar (or honey). Fill your pitcher with 4 cups of water, stir in your cherry mixture and viola! Cherry lemonade. 
Ingredients 

• 2 1/2 fresh cherries pitted
• 1 cup lemon juice
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 4 cups water (still or sparkling – I opt for still)

Instructions

• Add cherries, lemon juice and sugar into a blender and blend on high until smooth.
• You can pour the mixture through a mesh strainer, but I don’t find it’s necessary.
• Add the mixture to a pitcher, add water and stir well.
• Serve over ice and add a slice of lemon and a cherry. Your cherry lemonade can be refrigerated for up to 1 week.

This sweet refreshment can easily be turned into an adult beverage by adding vodka or gin. Either way, this will turn into your favorite beverage to serve by the pool or on your porch!