Garlic Lemonade

Before we all took turns getting sick I rather ironically bought a bulb of garlic so that I could make garlic lemonade - our awesome cold remedy/protection. Then I procrastinated making it, and I'm not sure why because it's easy to make and pretty darn tasty. After we got sick, I didn't make it because I had a fever, and I didn't want the garlic to interfere with the body's best line of defense. ANYWAY, I finally made some last night - a gallon. I absolutely LOVE watching my boys watch me make it, lol!

Gryffin saw me peeling the garlic cloves. "Whatcha doin' mama?"
Me: "Mm-mm-mm," which is me mumbling I don't know.
Gryffin: "Whatcha makin'?
Me: "I don't know, why don't you tell me?"
G: "Hmm... Garlic..." He then runs through a whole list of things I could be making with garlic, and I am once again impressed by how much he pays attention while I am cooking. This kid is either going to be a chef or a banker someday, or possibly both. Finally, he blurts out, "Garlic lemonade," and then holds his breath in excitement.
Up til now, I have responded by chanting nope, but this time, I drawl, "Maybe."

Gryffin jumps up and down in something two shades happier than excitement. "PHOENIX! MAMA'S MAKING GARLIC LEMONADE!!!!"
Phoenix comes running.
G: "Can I help peel the garlic?"
Me: "That's ok, I'm almost done now."
G: "Can I help chop up the garlic?"
Phoenix: "Me too me too, can I help too???"
I eye them both in consideration. I KNOW that I am supposed to let them do as much as they can, but seriously it takes me WAY less time, and I just don't have the patience to wait for them to mince the garlic into miniscule bits when all I need is chunks. So I tell them no.

Finally, I have the chopped garlic in the gallon sized glass jar that we saved from one of the many times my hubby bought pickles from Sams Club. He and the boys eat a ton of pickles, so we have quite a few of these. I previously set a pot full of water on the stove to boil, and it was ready just as I finished chopping up the garlic. I carefully poured the water into the jar, grateful at the last second that I had warmed the jar up with hot water in order to measure out the gallon, because the jar could easily have shattered if I hadn't.

But it didn't, so good for me :-) I set the lid on top of it, and let the garlic steep for about a half an hour. Once it was ready, I took a mason jar - which I use for drinking glasses because I have a ton of them, and they conveniently have measuring notches on the sides, lol! This is a pint sized jar, which is also known as 2 cups. I pour about an ounce or so of lemon juice into the cup, then add about an equal amount of 100% pure maple syrup.

I use maple syrup because I am diabetic and I have found through much trial and error that maple syrup is actually somewhat ok for my body. I do not react to it instantly, which makes it my sweetner of choice. However, I do also have honey, organic sugar, and Sucanat that I could use, and all work :-)

After adding lemon juice and maple syrup to the cup, I used a ladle to take the steeped garlic water infusion from the gallon sized jar and transfer it to my cup until my cup was full. Lastly, I stirred it all together. That's another reason I love using maple syrup :-) I don't have to stir forever to get it to disolve!

Just to note, at this point, the garlic lemonade was still warm, and drinking it warm is best for soothing a sore throat and breaking up the congestion of a cold. Since we didn't have any of that this time, it was not necessary to have it warm. However, none of us could wait for it to cool down, lol! My boys were both watching me through a crack in their door. The MOMENT I had the contents of the cup stirred, and was holding it to my lips to taste, I hear.

"MAMA!!! Can we have some Garlic Lemonade?!?!" And - as if by magic - my boys are suddenly underfoot, tugging on my non-existent skirts.
"Sure sure," I give in with a sigh of defeat. It's just easier to let them have their share now so that I can send them back to their room and enjoy the rest in peace and quiet.
They each take turns "sipping" from my cup until I insist that they give it back to me already. They return to their room, and I mournfully look at my cup. There's less than half left! Oh well, that's better than nothing... and besides, I have more in the jar, heehee!