Lemon Squash for Lemonade

For this month’s Movies & Munchies, participants were invited to watch Find Me Falling.  The movie is set in Cyprus and follows a has-been rock star as he goes back to the place he found happiness.

The story is surprisingly sweet and here’s plenty of foodie inspiration.

I really wanted to make a Cyprus Pastitso.  I made Pastisto once before, but this one seemed more regional.  Unfortunately, it was very regional with a specialty pasta and cheese.  I could have approximated the pasta, but the cheese…I just wasn’t sure.

Luckily, I found a blog authored by a blogger from Cyprus, so there was plenty of inspiration, including a recipe for her grandmother’s lemonade.  The grandmother in the movie cracked me up, so I thought this was the perfect recipe to make for the movie.

This is a recipe for a squash - a new to me beverage term.  It’s like a simply syrup (sugar and water) only made of fruit juice instead (sugar and fruit juice).  

This recipe is literally equal parts lemon juice and water, later mixed with ice water to make a refreshing lemonade.  I love it because it is basically lemon concentrate and I can make lemonade cup by cup instead of making an entire pitcher - it's perfect!

Lemon Squash for Lemonade

Recipe from Afrodites Kitchen

1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 cup sugar

Place freshly squeezed lemon juice and sugar in a small saucepan over medium-low heat.  Heat just until the sugar dissolves into the lemon juice, then set aside to cool.

Strain the shrub into a jar.

To serve, add ¼ cup lemon shrub to 1 cup ice water and stir to mix.  Refrigerate leftover shrub.

Makes about 8 cups lemonade when mixed with water