Pineapple Lemonade - The Original Boston Cooking-School Cook Book!

 

This is the winner of the vote a little bit ago - I had a hard time picking out a recipe for a few reasons. This thing was written in 1896...so here are some STRANGE recipes (such as "Jellied Chicken" and "Kornlet Soup" - what is a kornlet?? Apparently it comes in a can). Additionally - some of the recipes are vague - one or two sentences rather than a step by step recipe I'm used to. I can follow most of these but I just wasn't feeling it.

On the other hand, it is a fascinating piece of history. There is an entire section devoted to building a fire in the firebox for the stove. And the section on milk starts with the following sentence: "It is generally conceded that in Typhoid fever and diptheria, milk should constitute the diet in early stages in either disease." Woah.

In any case - I got a tad stumped and overwhelmed. So I turned to the "drink" section and spotted it. Pineapple Lemonade. Sounds good!

 

Can of crushed pineapple (definitely will try fresh next time but followed the recipe for now), one pint of water (2 cups), juice of three lemons, 1/2 cup of sugar and one quart (4 cups) ice water.

 

There are many citrus juicers on the market...I choose this little tool and it works like a charm. Its only drawback is it's tough to get a larger orange in there, let alone a grapefruit. 

 

The entire recipe: "Make syrup by boiling water and sugar 10 minutes; add pineapple and lemon juice,  cool, strain and add ice water. " Simple syrup is a fabulous ingredient to have on hand for a variety of beverages. It's a great way to have a cold, sweetened drink without gritty sugar.

 

When you strain any kind of liquid it's a great idea to smoosh (official technical cooking term) the liquid out of what you're straining out...there is lots of liquid still in this pineapple, for example. I smooshed it out and into the simple syrup. 

 

Final step: combine the two once the lemon/pineapple concoction has cooled.

 

Delicious! Definitely making this one again. Pineapple and lemon combines really well - next time I will try to use fresh pineapple instead of canned. Both Chris and I enjoyed it "as is" but we think a fun cocktail could be created with this little number.