Customer Reviews

Lemonade (50 Series)

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4 star:		(2)
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Fred Thompson's "Lemonade" is a small and likeable volume that serves as a companion piece to his "Iced Tea" cookbook. You might wonder how much could possibly be said about lemonade, but Thompson gives you quite a bit of history of the drink--not to mention all sorts of permutations of basic lemonade, ranging from alcoholic to non, sparklers and spritzers, flavored lemonades, and more. It turns out that this traditional summertime drink is a wonderful springboard to all sorts of yumilicious beverages for year-round consumption.

This slim volume has great recipes, ranging from Strawberry-Rhubarb Lemonade to Tailgate Spiced Cranberry Lemonade to Vanilla Bean Lemonade. This would make a lovely hostess gift for anyone hosting a hot summer day's picnic!

I bought this book because I love lemonade. Real lemonade is getting almost impossible to come by though--go to a restaurant and order lemonade and you'll get something that's yellow but who knows what it is! Chances are it will taste terrible. I have made the Old-Fashioned Lemonade from this book, and it is lemonade as it should be. My friends and stepson LOVE it. They always finish the pitcher. I've made it so many times I don't need to look at the recipe anymore. I've also made the Strawberry-Lemonade and that is delicious too, and so easy. Get this book if you are a lemonade lover!

I have made many of the recipes in Lemonade for summer barbecues. My favorite is the Beach Bourbon Slush (which is alone worth the price of the book). It has become a beach vacation tradition our friends ask for every year.

In addition, this small book makes a perfect gift with great pictures, simple, easy-to-make recipes, and fun reading. Every person who I have given this book has told me they have tried something in it - from Berry Lemonade to just making regular real Lemonade for the first time without a mix.

Way too basic for someone who cooks a lot. A whole section on how to squeeze a lemon? Really? The majority of recipes were also basic: "strawberry lemonade", "tea with lemonade", and "ginger lemonade" started out the run. To my surprise, the author encourages the use of concentrate lemonade and store bought in quite a few recipes (I'm still undecided if that is criminal for such a book or merely a sign of the times). Then, a second whole chapter is devoted to adding seltzer water or soda to lemonade in similar basic combinations as in the previous chapter-- except this time the focus is they are bubbly.

Bottom line, I was hoping for more creative ideas and modern blends with lemonade. The book possesses glimpses of such on about five pages (out of 95) giving recipes for 'citron au chocolat' and 'kiwi-lemon spritzer' and 'guava lemonade'. But then it closes with about 14 typical alcoholic beverages that have been renamed by the author. Not exactly what I was hoping for.

A quick search online yielded more than this book offered for my needs, however, this book does have pretty pictures. Sooo, I plan to gift my copy as a housewarming present to our neighbors when they move in with a nice backyard pitcher attached or something. =)