Strawberry Lemondade Concentrate

Well, I am a real beginner at canning so it was my first attempt at Strawberry Lemonade Concentrate. I had to shop around for the lemons since our normal grocery store was charging $.79 a lemon--ahhh! It was delicious and easy to make. I pureed the strawberries, measured the sugar and made the lemon juice the night before when the kids were in bed so I only had to do the canning today.

With the time and money (and sugar!) that went into making it, I'll be saving the lemonade as a treat for our Saturday night Sabbath Feasts.I had been looking for a unique drink for the kids, just a little thing to help them look forward to our family time. Mom and Dad always have a glass of wine!


Here is the recipe for Strawberry Lemonade Concentrate

Makes about 7 pint jars

6 cups hulled strawberries
4 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 20 lemons; they vary in their juicyness)
6 cups granulated sugar

1. Prepare canner, jar, and lids.
2. In a blender or food processor, puree strawberries until smooth. Transfer to a large stainless steel saucepan as completed. Add lemon juice and sugar and stir to combine. Heat to 190degrees over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Do not boil. Remove from heat and skim off foam.
3. Ladle hot concentrate into hot jars, leaving 1/4" head space. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip-tight.
4. Place jars in canner, ensuring they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil and process for 15 minutes. Remove canner lid. Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars, cool and store.

To reconstitute, mix one part concentrate with one part water, tonic, or ginger ale; adjust concentrate to taste. (Since my kids don't drink much juice or sweet drinks, I made it almost two parts water to one part concentrate!)

Since I'm a newbie I'm afraid to play around with the recipe; I follow the instructions like their hocus-pocus so if you have any recommendations or tweak the recipe at all, let me know!


For those who are not into canning, here is a delicious homemade Lemonade recipe we love:

• 1 3/4 cups white sugar
• 8 cups water
• 1 1/2 cups lemon juice

1. In a small saucepan, combine sugar and 1 cup water. Bring to boil and stir to dissolve sugar. Allow to cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate until chilled.
2. Remove seeds from lemon juice, but leave pulp. In pitcher, stir together chilled syrup, lemon juice and remaining 7 cups water.