Cicada summers

Tomorrow will be the end of summer as I know it. Holidays are coming to an end! It's crazy. It feels as if the last exam of Y1S2 ended yesterday and I was just getting ready to relax with friends & a stack of good books. The thought of fourteen more weeks of assignments & stress... geez. Apologies, it's just the regular school blues. It's been a good summer though.

Every since seeing the scene in the movie Bridesmaids where Annie is handed a tall glass of pink lemonade by the classy waiter (so good that she had to stop & say, 'God, that's delicious.'), I've been trying to fabricate the summery beverage. God knows we need a drink for weather like this. The base recipe for lemonade is dead simple right? A mixture of water, lemons & sugar that you bung into the fridge to chill & twenty minutes later, voila! Lemonade. It's a bit harder than it looks though: the key to getting the perfect lemonade is to get the right ratio of ingredients to suit your taste. In my case, I like my drink more tart than sweet, the light pink shade that cranberry juice gives, & I love the extra fizz that soda water gives, unnecessary as it might be. Most of the time, the best things in life are the non-essentials.

I've been making this since summer last year, huge quantities at a time to last for as long as a week. It can easily be turned into an alcoholic party drink as well, just add a splash of schnapps or light rum, whatever you have in your fridge really. Garnish with lemon & orange slices, turn on a Beach Boys / Gold Motel album (or anything from this summer playlist), & sink back into relaxation.

Pink Fizzy Lemonade

You can halve, double or triple the recipe as long as you remember the base ratio (mine is 1:1:4). Remember that not everyone likes it as tart; you may have to add more sugar to make it sweeter, or more water to make a less-concentrated drink. Also, if you are serving this quite some time later, add the soda water to the mixture just before serving or all the fizz will be gone by then.

Ingredients

12 medium lemons (enough to make 2 cups of lemon juice)

2 cups of white sugar

8-9 cups of club soda

Cranberry / Raspberry Juice

Orange slices

Ice cubes to serve

1. Squeeze most of the lemons, leaving at least one to be sliced for garnish. Put lemon juice aside.

2. In a large pot, heat up 2 cups of club soda under medium-low heat, adding in the 2 cups of sugar slowly till it has dissolved into a thick sugar mixture.

3. Add the lemon juice, stirring constantly for about 3 - 4 minutes till everything has melded together. Allow to cool for a while

4. Pour the warm mixture into two large pitchers, and add the soda water. Add the appropriate amount of cranberry or raspberry juice to colour the liquid a light pink shade, while constantly stirring with a wooden spoon.

5. Put in the fridge to chill for about an hour. Add ice cubes, and garnish with lemon & orange slices.

Makes approx. two 1.5l pitchers