Abilene Crave

There's nothing like the sweet tartness of lemonade to help you cool down on a hot summer day. This summer I'm trying some new ways to enjoy the refreshing taste of lemonade - I hope you like them, too!

Fresh Homemade Lemonade: The best lemonade is made with a simple syrup - the smooth sweetness of the syrup means that you don't get undissolved sugar in your glass. To make it, heat 1 cup sugar and 1 cup  water in sauce pan until sugar dissolves. Add 1 cup fresh lemon juice to the simple syrup. Then add 3 to 4 cups cold water, some lemon slices, and you're ready to drink sunshine in a glass.

Frozen Lemonade Slushy: Use your blender to make a quick frozen treat. Add 1 cup fresh lemon juice, sugar to taste (up to 1/2 cup), ice cubes and chilled water to the fill line; blend until slushy. Pour into tall glasses and enjoy with a spoon. For a variation add some strawberries or mint to the blender.

Lemon Ice Cubes: Freshen up summer drinks with lemon ice. Squeeze fresh lemons and put the juice in ice cube trays. (You can also add some zest for an extra lemon boost.)  Freeze them, and then store in a plastic bag in the freezer. Use them to flavor your water, or add fresh lemon taste to a glass of cola, iced tea or fruit juice.

Another thing I'm looking forward to making is this Frozen Lemonade Pie. Cool and creamy and full of fabulous lemonade flavor. With all this delicious flavor, it's going to be easy to chill out this summer!

For more ways to beat the heat, visit www.VeryBestBaking.com.

Jenny Harper is Consumer Test Kitchen Project Manage for the Nestlé Test Kitchens and VeryBestBaking.com.