I’m sitting here drinking my second glass of “Indian Lemonade” (aka Sumac Lemonade), taking sips between each photo I upload.  I have a history with trying to make sumac recipes and it’s not pretty.  The reasons were all the same: I was making hot drinks with the beautiful red berries and they just weren’t as good as the cold drinks.

I keep thinking one day I’ll learn to love hot sumac lemonade, but that’s a very low priority on my gastronomical intake list. Cold is good.  Cold is ESPECIALLY good in July when it’s so hot outside. And, I don’t need to keep rewriting the instructions when others have done such a nice job.  What I CAN do is provide you something I needed before I made mine this morning – visual aids!

I like to see how things work, and I couldn’t find a recipe with step by step photo guides.  So, I made you one.  Simply follow the recipe from the link I provided, and if you have questions you can check out these photos below.  I used a leftover juice carton and filled it with cold water so when we de-stemmed the berries a bit we could fill it up, then “shake, shake, shake” the carton until the vitamin C-laden red powder had infused the water.

The basic steps are simple. Gather the sumac, get rid of any bugs (I had to throw one away because there was a web woven all around the berries), de-stem and/or de-berry the sumac, place the berries in cold water, agitate the mixture like crazy, strain through a cheesecloth or clean tea towel, add sugar…enjoy. That was a long sentence for such “simple” steps. But really, the process is easy and kind of fun. My youngest daughter and her boyfriend helped me this morning with the project. Continue reading Little Victory Garden “Extra” – A Visual Guide to Making Red Sumac Lemonade →