What To Do With Too Many Limes

Karl and I bought a ton of limes at Shur-Save in Bloomfield because they were 6 for $1. I suppose you can probably get them even cheaper if you buy them by the 5- or 10-lb bag at CostCo or some other similar store, but we don't have a membership to anything like that.

So, what to do with all these limes?

Well, I decided to keep it simple. I had contemplated trying my hand at lime curd, since lemon curd is so amazing, but I am attempting to watch it with the calories if you know what I mean. (For those of you who don't know, lemon or lime curd traditionally uses quite a few egg yolks and quite a bit of butter....and is absolutely heavenly on a scone with some clotted cream!).

But enough drooling. Instead of slaving over a hot stove making curd, I decided to make limeade.

After reading about a few techniques I discovered through various recipe search engines (check these out! They're great: FoodieView and ProjectFoodie), I decided I'd use the simple syrup method.

The benefits of creating a lime simple syrup are twofold. First, the sugar gets completely dissolved when it goes into solution as the water boils, which means no more sludge at the bottom of your glass (sad news for some, I guess?). Second, you can control how "watered down" each glass of limeade is (to accommodate for varying tastes).

I like my limeade to be much more tart than sweet, so I adapted a recipe for limeade that I saw on many sites which called for 3 cups simple syrup for every 1 cup of lime juice. I cut that ratio to 2 cups simple syrup to 1 cup of lime juice, and it turned out great! There is just no more refreshing way to cool off after a 90˚F day than by sipping on a tall, frosty glass of limeade.

Stay cool everyone!

Limeade Simple Syrup
Yields 3 cups syrup

1 cup fresh-squeezed lime juice, seeds removed (it took me about 7 limes to yield one cup of juice)
1 cup sugar
1 cup water

Place the sugar and water in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil, stirring, until the sugar dissolves completely. Pour the hot mixture into a heat-resistant container with the lime juice and stir. Allow to cool, then refrigerate.

That's it! When you are ready for a frosty glass of limeade, put a couple of of ice cubes in a tall glass and fill 3/4 of the way with the lime simple syrup. Top it off with cold water.

Alternatively, you could top off your limeade simple syrup with some sparkling water or club soda. Or add some gin, vodka, tequila, or rum for an adult twist. Use your imagination!