Hey guys, I know I have been MIA…I’m sorry. You all know work has been consuming my life and I just haven’t had a chance at night or in the mornings to type up posts. However, I am back with the drink you must make this summer, which is going to totally make up for my absence!
So, for those of you who have been reading for a while, you know that I lived abroad in Brazil. When I was there, there was a drink I would often have that was my absolute favorite, Brazilian limeade. It was sweet, tangy, refreshing and just made me happy. However, until just a few weeks ago, I hadn’t had it since I came back to the States in 2001. I posted a few weeks ago that my boys and I went to an asparagus festival. Yeah, I know asparagus and Brazil don’t necessarily make sense in the same sentence, but I am getting to the point.
There was a vendor there selling smoothies, sandwiches, etc. I saw Brazilian limeade as one of their specialty drinks and immediately my interest was piqued. I got in a ridiculously long line to first ask what was in their limeade before I shelled over $4.00 for an impostor drink that would leave me dissapointed. The woman told me it was fresh limes, sugar, water and the magic ingredient..sweetened condensed milk!! SCORE! I knew this was the real deal and immediately ordered and paid for my drink. The first sip was like a little slice of heaven and immediately took me back to my days in the hot summer sun of Brazil, sipping on my limeade trying to stay cool. Isn’t it crazy how a certain flavor, scent, song can take you back to a certain time or plan and you can remember it so vividly?? I was so excited to finally be tasting this again that I told Robyn I had to make it at home.
So…I did. This is the drink you must make this Summer! There are 4 ingredients, it is SUPER simple. Here is what I did loosely and it came out great and you can tweak it based on your personal tastes!
Brazilian Limeade
4 limes
6 cups water
1 cup sugar
6 Tbsp. sweetened condensed milk (I used fat-free because it is what we had on hand)
- First, mix your cold water and sugar well and pop it in the fridge while you prep the rest of the mix. You can also do this ahead of time if you are going to want to drink/serve it immediately.
- Next, wash your lime well as you will be using the whole lime. The cut the ends off and then cut each lime into eighths.
- Then, place 1/2 of the limes and 1/2 of the sugar water in your blender. Place the lid on your blender and pulse 5 times.
- Take the blended mixture and pour through a fine mesh strainer. Make sure you pour over the pitcher you are going to use to serve it in for less clean up. Once you have pressed the limes to ensure you have all the liquid in the pitcher, you can throw out the pulp.
- Repeat step 4 with the remaining sugar water and limes.
- Lastly, add sweetened condensed milk (you may want to play with the amounts based on your personal tastes) Stir it well and serve this delicious goodness over ice immediately.
- You can thank me later!
Just a note, once you add the condensed milk, this will not stay fresh for long, so if you make a big batch and don’t think it will all be consumed within a few hours, you can make the lime mixture and keep it in the fridge for a few days and just add the condensed milk by the glass as you want to drink it. I did that this week and it was delicious and I was able to prolong my drink happiness all week!
Enjoy and have an awesome weekend!
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Question of the day
What’s been going on with you all since I have been away? Highs? Lows? Have you ever had Brazilian Limeade?
