Everyone has heard the saying: “When fate hands you a lemon, make lemonade.” -Dale Carnegie My son heard another quote that appealed to his capitalistic tendencies: “When life gives you lemonade, corner the market and hike up the prices.” I’m unsure who to credit with this quote, but it certainly spells out Dale Carnegie’s message in a little more detail. Don’t just make lemonade…don’t just survive life’s lemons, take advantage of them… get something more than lemonade.

There are some folks out there that who could corner the market with all the lemons life has handed them. They would be billionaires. Life is funny, though. Yes, we get lemons from time to time that seem to come falling from the sky with no reason whatsoever. But, sometimes we have to step back and ask “Did I really have a hand in what is happening? How could my decisions caused this to happen?” We might find that we have more to do with the lemons tossed our way than we thought.

I could wax philosophical on this for a long time but I’ll keep it short so that I don’t receive any sour comments regarding my life philosophy. It seems to me that those who are successful in life take any misfortunes (either brought on by poor decisions or by uncontrolled outside sources) and turn them into positives. These people are the ones who say, “Fine. So, I have lemons. Give me ten minutes and I’ll have my lemonade stand set up and open for business.” Of course, I try to make lemonade as often as possible. But, sometimes the lemons are a little more sour and harder to sell. This is when my lemonade stand only serves to those 21 years or older. Any lemon will taste better with a little vodka added to it. So, why not try hard lemonade.

Even if life isn’t handing you lemons, it will be sending some pretty warm weather your way as summer approaches. This hard lemonade recipe is a refreshing alternative to beer and wine.

Product Love:

To make your lemon squeezing easier and convenient we found these handy gadgets. The Lemon Sombrero by Umbra is the perfect way to add a little lemon juice to your water bottles.

The Juice Lab by Beater Blade is handy for recipes such as the hard lemonade you can measure the juice as you squeeze the lemons.

Hard Lemonade (Recipe from Sunny)
Ingredients
2 cups water
1 cup sugar
8 cups ice
4 ounces vanilla-infused vodka, recipe follows*
1 cup fresh lemon juice
1 lemon, sliced into rings
1 lime, sliced into rings

Directions

1. In a small saucepan, bring water and sugar to a simmer. Cook until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and let cool.

2. In a large pitcher, fill with ice. Stir in simple syrup, vodka, juice, lemon and lime slices.

Vanilla-infused Vodka:
1 liter vodka
2 vanilla beans

Split beans lengthwise and add to vodka bottle. Let infuse overnight in a cool dark place. Strain into another sterilized bottle.

Photography Data:
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Christopher Elwell
Make: NIKON CORPORATION
Model: NIKON D90
ExposureTime: 1/80
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ExposureProgram: 1
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MeteringMode: 2
LightSource: 0
Flash: 0
FocalLength: 1050/10

Cherry. Innocent. Warm, sunny, summer afternoons. Plaid table clothes, baskets brimming with sandwiches. Pitchers of lemonade. Children running. Adults relaxing. Cherry pie. Wholesome.
Cherry. Hedonism. Sensuality. Naughty. Innocence lost. Sultry evening. Music pulsing. Bodies moving to the primordial beat. Hot. Inhibition eroded. Sexy.

Could any other fruit evoke such imagery? Sure there are peaches and melons, but there is not a single fruit or vegetable that could make us walk the tight rope between innocence and hedonism quite like the cherry.

Excited to still find cherries in my local market I took the opportunity to indulge myself. I began my epicurean journey innocently by making mini cherry pies. These are a delightful, light ending to any meal.

Feeling a little naughty I decided to snub my nose at September, the close of summer vacation. I wanted more summer. I made candied cherries. With large bins of apples in the market I had a desire for candied apples, but I would not make candied apples (not yet at least). Oh, delicious, mouth watering candied cherries. So easy to pop into your mouth one after another, almost guilt free.

The remainder of the cherries lay on table. Of course, I could just nibble at them as they were, but I had more sinister plans. I would open the bottle of “Pucker” I’d been saving for this moment.
“Pucker.” When I see that word I have visions of lips at the ready for an innocent kiss. But, the images change to blatant hedonism when the word is the name of vodka and one of the flavors of this vodka is “Cherry Tease”. I wasted no time in submerging any remaining cherries into a glass of “Cherry Tease” so that the next day I would have a delicious drunken cherry!

There has always been and, I suspect, will always be a fascination with those things that both express innocence and sensuality. It is, I think best expressed with this adult version of the “Shirley Temple” that the makers of “Pucker” call the “Flirty Shirley”.

Mini Cherry Pies
Pastry Dough
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
½ cup sugar
Pinch of salt
8 tablespoons of cold, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
Put the flour, sugar and salt into a food processor or mixing bowl. Mix to incorporate. Add the butter. Mix until the dough is coarse. Add the egg and egg yolk. Mix to combine. Form the dough into two balls, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour or more.

Filling
12-24 cherries (pits removed) ¼ – ½ cups sugar Cold butter, cut into 12 or 24 small pieces (small enough to fit into the middle of the cherry)

Assembly
Pre- heat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out the dough ¼ inch thick. Use a round cookie cutter (or a glass) to cut out 12 or 24 circles large enough to line each compartment of a mini muffin pan. Place the circle of pastry dough into the compartment and press down with your thumb.
Place 1 ½ teaspoon of sugar in the bottom of the pastry dough cup. Insert the butter into the cherry. Place the cherry into the cup (one cherry per cup). Sprinkle a little sugar on top. Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes. Crust will be golden brown.

Candied Cherries
Candy Coat
½ cup light corn syrup ¾ cup water 2 cup sugar ½ teaspoon food coloring (optional)

Place all ingredients into a heavy bottomed sauce pan. Place the mixture on the stove. Use a candy thermometer to test the temperature.
While waiting for the mixture to boil, line a cookie sheet with wax or parchment paper. When the mixture is at 310 degrees it is ready. You will need to work fast to coat the cherries. Place the coated cherries on the lined cookie sheet to cool.

Flirty Shirley
In a high ball glass mix:
2 parts Pucker™ Cherry Tease Vodka
1 part Lemon-Lime Soda
Dash of Grenadine