Orangeade

I picked a couple more fruits off the tree than I needed, and decided to make orangeade.  It's basically the same thing as lemonade, with less sugar.  Watered-down orange juice may not sound appealing, but it's very refreshing and light.  You can make it sparkling with some soda water, or into an adult drink with vodka.  You can freeze it into ice cubes to add to a punch bowl or iced tea.

I tried to edit the photo of the finished product, but it really does look too yellow.  That's mainly because one of the "oranges" I picked turned out to be a lemon.  Grafted tree.  Thought it was a Valencia.  I also cut corners and didn't soak the peel in the simple syrup.

Which brings up the subject of mixing up your citrus fruits.  Go ahead and use some lemon juice.  Or mix grapefruit into it. You just have to pay attention to how much sugar you use and adjust it for the ratio of fruits.

1 C fresh-squeezed orange juice (about 3 oranges)
3 C water
1/4 C sugar, or to taste

1.  Wash oranges and remove the peel from one.  Cut them in half and ream (or squeeze) the juice.

2.  In a small saucepan, heat the rind, sugar, and 1 C water to a light boil, so that the sugar is completely dissolved.  Allow to cool slightly, remove peel, then combine with juice and 2 C water, to make 1 quart orangeade.  Chill and serve over ice.

3.  For quicker serve: combine syrup and juice in a one-quart container, then fill the rest of the space with ice.  Shake slightly and give it a few minutes to chill, then serve over more ice.  This will be slightly stronger than the regular way to make it, but two hours faster.

Makes 1 quart, about 4 servings

Difficulty rating  π