Cucumber Lemonade

True confessions time.  We have too many cucumbers. I meant to plant a 50 foot row, and I had more seedlings than I intended, so I ended up with a 100' row of cucumbers. I know.  I should have just stuck with the plan, but I couldn't just murder the poor little dears.  Cucumbers are sort of a problem.  They need to be harvested at LEAST every other day. And the plants are prickly, so you have to wear long sleeves, no matter how hot it is. We grow cucumbers, but they are less fun than other crops. And one member of the family doesn't even like them.  But the first thing he said when the first uber-crop came in was, "Are we going to make cucumber lemonade?"

Oh, heck, yeah! Working in the greenhouse in the heat of the summer requires us to have cold beverages available at all times. And yes, we have to have something other than water available.  I may write a blog on why, at  some point.

Cucumber lemonade is delicious, refreshing, and a little unusual. The original recipe called for juicing fresh lemons, which is even more delicious than the way I make it with bottled juice.  But I make this EVERY DAY during cucumber season, so you will have to excuse me if I take a few short cuts. (Also, I doubled the original recipe, because of the quantities that we drink.)

One nice thing about this recipe is that you don't need to peel or seed the cucumber. Let the blender to all the work.

Cucumber Lemonade

2 Cups boiling water

1 Cup cane sugar

1 large or 2 medium cucumbers

6 Tbs lemon juice

1. Dissolve the sugar in the hot water, and let this cool in a half gallon pitcher or mason jar.
2. Chop the cucumbers and liquefy them in the blender. You can add water to the blender if you need to.
3. Strain the cucumbers into the pitcher (or a large measuring cup, if you are using a mason jar). This will leave you with a pile of cucumber pulp (or foam, depending on how enthusiastic your blender is). You can toss the cucumber foam into the compost, but I usually just eat it with a spoon, since it seems a shame to throw all that goodness away. Add the cucumber juice to the sugar water.
4. Add the lemon juice and stir. 
5. Fill the pitcher (or mason jar) with water. (The original recipe didn't do this, but it assumed that you were pouring the lemonade over ice, which would dilute it. We mostly drink it straight.
6. Refrigerate.