Thyme and Lime Lemonade

Every now and again we discover stuff that just makes our life easier. While at Foodie’s one evening, I asked for a juicer and she whips out this tool that – I am embarrassed to say – I had never seen before. My ignorance of this apparatus posed the obvious question…”how does this work?” This is what it looked like:


Yes, I write a blog about food.

So she proceeds to tell me to cut the lime in half and place it sliced side down in the juicey thing and compress the handle....the fruit turns into a pulpy rally cap. Well…that little contraption gave me the most juice that I have ever obtained by hand juicing AND (bonus) I did not have to strain it (it separates the pulp and seeds from the juice). AND I did not get Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in the process.

I have to have one.

There are several different types of manual citrus juicers. The one with which we are most familiar is the cone-in-the-center-of-a-well gizmo that we all had in our kitchen drawers growing up. Similar idea to the juicer describer above, but the pulp and seeds need to be strained and it’s not as effortless. Then there’s the handy-dandy “citrus reamer” which is good when only a small amount of juice is needed.

For today’s summer drink recipe, I need the juice of 6 lemons and 3 limes, so I will be using my new Michael Graves 2-IN-1 Citrus Juicer from Target that looks just like the one above only it's orange. The recipe is from the July 2011 edition of Real Simple, my mom’s favorite magazine that I borrowed from her and promised to return....some day.


Thyme and Lime Lemonade
½ cup of sugar
½ cup of water
1 cup of fresh lemon juice (about 6 medium lemons)
¼ cup of fresh lime juice (2-3 limes)
3 cups of water
10 fresh thyme sprigs

In a small saucepan, combine the sugar and ½ cup of water. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally until the sugar is dissolved; let cool. In a pitcher combine the syrup with the lemon juice and 3 cups of water. In a separate smaller pitcher, mash the thyme with the lime juice and add to the lemonade mixture and give it a stir. Refrigerate for at least one hour to let the flavors incorporate. Serve over ice with a sprig of thyme.


So refreshing!

To make this a spirited drink, add a shot of vodka or gin to each serving.