Saturday, March 12, 2011

Brazilian Lemonade

I saw this recipe the other day and decided it would be a great afternoon treat for a warm sunny spring day like we are having today. Despite its name, it's actually made with limes not lemons.  I followed the exact recipe from Our Best Bites, but I will copy and paste it here for you.

Brazilian Lemonade
4 juicy limes (try and find ones with thin, smooth skins; they’re the juiciest and the thin skin cuts down on the chance of your drink being bitter)
1 c. sugar
6 c. cold water
6 Tbsp. sweetened condensed milk

Wash limes thoroughly with soap; you need the soap to get the wax and pesticides off of the limes because you’re using the WHOLE lime, baby. Cut the ends off the limes and then cut each lime into 8ths.  You might need to do this next part in 2 batches depending on the size of your blender.  Place the limes, water, and sugar in your blender, and pulse 5 times. Place a fine-mesh strainer over a pitcher (the one you’ll serve the lemonade in) and pour the blended mixture through the strainer and into the pitcher. Use a spoon to press the rest of the liquid into the pitcher. Add sweetened condensed milk and mix it in with a wisk. You may want to taste test it at this point.  If it’s bitter, just add some more sugar and maybe a little more sweetened condensed milk.

Serve immediately over lots of ice.  The longer you let it sit, the more bitter it will taste, so don't mix it up long before you plan to serve it.

The girls and I bought the ingredients this morning at the grocery store.  We went to the produce department where I asked Abby to find me 4 limes.  She is 6 years old and the girl didn't have a clue what a lime was.  So, I did what any good mother would do, I told her I wasn't going to help her find them, and asked her how she could figure out what one was.  I'm so mean.

We were standing right next to the very nice produce man so he overheard our entire conversation.  Finally, she got up the nerve to ask him what one looked like and he was very happy to help her.  He told her they were green  and shaped like a lemon, and then pointed her in the general direction.  Hello, that's what he's there for child!  They have been learning about community helpers at school and whether they provide goods or services, so I thought this was a great lesson for her to learn today.

And, just because this recipe lacks pictures, here are some limes in case someone else doesn't know what they are either.  Aren't they pretty?
To read the ingredients, it might sound kind of gross at first with the sweetened condensed milk and limes instead of lemons, but trust me, don't knock it until you've tried it.  At the store, Aly swore she was NOT drinking that nasty milk stuff in a can, yet when I held up a cup and yelled into the backyard "Girls come taste this!" she came willingly.  Abby got a small sip and said "yummy", Aly took a sip, snatched the cup away and took off running so she could have the whole thing to herself.

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