Peach Lemonade. Blueberry Lemonade.

I love soda. When I was growing up, we never had soda in our house. Mostly because my mom is smart and realized early on how truly horrible it is for the human body — rots your insides and all that. But telling a kid they can't have something is a surefire way to make sure they crave it. My grandma drank Pepsi like it was going out of style, so going to her house and stealing sips of her Pepsi behind my mom's back was always my favorite challenge. It was one of the only ways I was able to get soda.

Finally! I was in college and on my own and I had soda at my fingertips, whenever I wanted it. Well, whenever my meager college earnings would allow it. And then I was done with college and I was a working woman. My slightly larger, post-college earnings called for a 32-ounce a day, while I sat in my office chair for hours on end. It was unhealthy at best. I felt disgusting every time I got to the last drop. Hmm, weird... my mom was right about the soda thing. Who knew. So at the end of 2011, on New Year's Eve, with a final can of Dr. Pepper, I made a commitment to stop drinking soda. (And I did! For a year and a half, until one hot summer day not too long ago when I rediscovered Vanilla Dr. Pepper. Curse you, Sonic! But I digress.)

In the midst of that whole not-drinking-soda thing, I found that water just wasn't cutting it. Cue my love for lemonade! I'm borderline obsessed. I know the sugar content leaves something to be desired as far as being healthy goes, but something about lemonade seemed just slightly healthier than drinking soda. And so, because we at OUO are givers, today I am sharing two of my favorite homemade lemonade recipes.  A peach lemonade and a blueberry lemonade. Both are fairly simple (I mean, I can make them). Both are summery and refreshing. Both are just delightful.



*Note: You can use either still or sparkling water in either of these recipes. They're delicious either way!

[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:28]

[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:29]

Lemon Mousse Icebox Cake

So you may remember last week when Sarah posted the easiest ice box cake of all time. Well, since it is lemon week, we thought you might be interested in another recipe.



This particular version isn't quite as easy but the effort is totally worth it. The kids and I are still on vacay so I made it at my parent's house. My dad asked why I didn't make a banana one. He wasn't hip to our theme. For that matter, he isn't very hip to lemon. However, being the good dad that he is, he gave it the taste test this morning to help me out.

Guess what? He liked it. A lot. He said, "This is a really great light summer cake."

That's right, Dad. I know stuff.

The recipe is based on the Lemon Cream Icebox Cake found on theKitchn. I made a few changes to suit my own personal taste. Hopefully you like it as much as my dad and I do.

[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:27]

 

Lemon Week and a Blast From the Past

Hello and happy Monday!  Here at Our Unqualified Opinion we realized we had an excess of lemon-themed posts, itching to be shared. So, since we're really feeling these theme weeks, we decided out of the goodness of our hearts to give an entire week devoted to lemons! It's Lemon Week, y'all!  Now, in case you missed it the first time around - it was the first post on this blog, after all - here's an old gem. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you, "Lemons and Life":

Lemons and Life

"If life gives you lemons, make lemonade."

What useless advice.  If life gives you lemons? Lemons? Like somehow lemons are the worst thing life could throw at you.  They're some harbinger of disease and pestilence?

No.  Lemons are legit. They're refreshing and ward off scurvy and they're a nice perky yellow color.  People request lemons for their beverages. If life gives you lemons, you're doing more than okay, and you don't need someone else's input on what to do with them.  You figure that out for yourself, because that jerk next to you just wants some lemonade, that's all.

And I know what you're thinking - "But lemons don't taste good by themselves; they're sour. That's why you've got to make them into-" stop.  First of all, they're not all that sour, they're tart.  Lemons are tart.  They're not great on they're own, no, but neither is flour.  Flour by itself is gross, but no one comes up to you and says, "When life gives you flour, make donuts."  I'm a grown human being.  I know what to do with flour and lemons. Make lemon bars.

What people need to know is what to do when life hands you something that's actually awful, like toxic shark flesh.  There's no toxic-shark-flesh-ade, now is there, Pollyanna?  No.  No, and this is a real thing, too.  People in super barren parts of Iceland actually had to find a way to survive off of shark flesh that could kill them.  So you know what they did? They let it rot.  Seriously.  Out in the open air, they just hang sharks out to decay, and after a time, the toxic chemicals in their flesh break down enough to where it's safe to eat.  Not good to eat, just sustenance.  But you'll live.

And that's the lesson we all need, and that we all need to share: When life gives you toxic shark meat, give it some time, you'll be able to choke it down and you'll live.  If you're lucky you might even get a lemon to squirt over it.