So this week it’s National picnic week and what better way to celebrate than with a trip to Holkham beach! We combed the shore line for treasure; razor clam shells, cockle shells and a crab or two. We picnicked in the sand dunes with sausage rolls and lashings of ginger beer, then we wandered back through the forest amongst the pine trees, foraging for acorns and pine cones along the way.
It was magical, I didn’t want to come home.
Where have you been exploring recently?
Quarter your lemons and place them into a saucepan with the castor sugar and water. Bring the mixture to the boil, simmer for about 5 minutes then pull off the heat and set aside to cool.
You can discard the skins of the lemons at this stage if you like, but if you use the whole of the lemon, skins, pith, pips the lot, not only will you get a far more intense flavour, your lemonade will be lovely and cloudy too!
Using a stick blender or food processor blitz your cooled lemon mixture together with the raspberrys.
Next step is to sieve your lemon and raspberry mix, to get rid of any raspberry seeds. You will be left with an intense fruit cordial which you can decant into a bottle and store in the fridge for a few days – this is not lemonade yet, and will need diluting with fizzy water before you drink it.
To assemble your pink lemonade, crack out your ice cubes and pop them into glasses, slice up a lemon and place this and a few ice cubes into a jug, them mix up your lemonade. I used 1 part lemon + raspberry syrup to three parts busy water but its really down to personal taste, if you prefer more of a zing you could add a little more cordial.
Add a tablespoon of vodka to your glass for a perfect evening cocktail, splendid!
Voila! The perfect Jubilee picnic/BBQ drink. Retro pink lemonade!
What are your plans for the Jubilee weekend?
The current heatwave in the UK means its HOT HOT HOT! Its brilliant……but its important to keep your fluids up when in this heat, particularly if youre not accustomed to it!
This is a quick (ish) way to cool down in the heatwave and add colour to your chosen chilled beverage.
Source some small delicious edible treats that will fit neatly into your ice cube tray. I chose raspberrys, blackberrys, cucumber slices and violas from my garden. Any fresh fruit or berries would work well, lemon or lime wedges would be ideal!
Cucumber ice cubes = hendricks and tonic on a friday night as a well deserved treat after a long week.
As for the other flavoured ice cubes? Well they will be just perfect with my Jubillee pink lemonade………………..Recipe to follow!
How are you keeping cool in the heat wave?