Cheers to you, spring!

We are down to being DAYS away from spring and we can't be more excited--50s, 60s, and 70s, fresh air, new beginnings (it's better than setting New Year's resolutions) and new adventures!

There are a few favorite spring (and summer) time beverages that go along very well with the change in season. As the temperatures go up, we reach for cooler choices like strawberry lemonade.

Our favorite store-bought lemonade is usually available at our local grocery store, but sometimes it's not. And, lately, my thoughts center around figuring out how to make some of our favorites right in our own kitchen. I came across a recipe for strawberry lemonade that makes me and my family very, very happy. It's perfectly lemon-y and fruity-sweet, and it's oh, so refreshing! Many benefits come from going on these types of new adventures, here are just a few:

• Knowing what went in it is important and having the freedom to make adjustments to fit our family better, for example I can use cleaner ingredients, or add as much or as little sugar, or honey, to it as I'd like. I can also swap out one kind of fruit for another do you see all of the different colors in the picture?-it's very versatile!
  

• I save money on my grocery bill and keep more of it in my pocket--who doesn't love the sound of that?

• I always have it on hand!! If I can't find in it in the grocery store? If we have last minute company coming over? if we've come in from a long day of work and our thirst desires something a little bit more quenching than water? no problem, it only takes one short walk to our pantry and we have it, ready to use!

And...

• Our family worked as a team and learned something new!

Here we go:

Strawberry Lemonade Concentrate

6 cups strawberries*, fresh or frozen

4 cups fresh lemon juice, fresh is much, much better then bottled, if you can make it happen.

6 cups of sugar, taste as you go, I only used 4-5 cups

7-16 oz (pint-sized) jars

Puree strawberries and add lemon juice and sugar. Mix well and heat to 190* over medium high. Keep stirring and only heat mixture to a simmer, not a boil as it will develop a bitter favor. Remove from heat-skim foam if any. Ladle into your concentrate into your cleaned and sterile canning jars, leaving 1/4" headspace. Wipe rims clean with a wet cloth or paper towel. Add canning lids and gently tighten down with rings only to "finger-tight," in other words, don't crank it down super tight and cause your lid to buckle.

Process in a water bath canner for 15 minutes, minding your altitude. I have to add 5 more minutes to all of my processing as I am at a lower altitude.

When you're ready to try it, add one pint of your concentrate to water, ginger ale, or tonic water; 1 part concentrate to to 3-4 parts your choice of diluting liquid.

*Note: As you can see in the photo, we tried four different fruit flavor combinations: strawberry lemonade, blueberry lemonade, raspberry lemonade and regular lemonade. Hands down, our favorite is the strawberry lemonade. My recommendation is when trying out different types of fruits, use the same amount as in the original recipe, 6 cups, but you definitely can adjust to your own preference. Also, if you make lemonade without adding any fruit, you will yield less concentrate.

Spring has a neat way of motivating us to try new things and this is a great one to try. Yes, it does take a bit more sleeve-rolling to make this happen, but this recipe makes a big batch and you have lemonade concentrate for many months right at your finger tips! So push up those sleeves, make yourself a batch this weekend and thank the Lord for the little ways he motivates us to grow!