Mixed Drink Monday: Lemon Granita

I gave some serious thought to whether this should be Mixed Drink Monday or the ICOTW.  And by serious thought I mean it rolled around in the back of my head for a few days.  Really, like the Sangria Popsicles, it could be either but in this case it just depended on which needed a post (since I'm still drinking through this sangria and some strawberry coconut margaritas I made for the 4th).

One thing I like about doing these at the lake (which I did here) is that there are more dishes and serving things.  Or at least different from what I have at home.  If I lived with all the randomness and mismatching would probably drive me crazy but for the lake, it's perfect.  And handy for my picture taking.

Lemon Granita
serves: at least 4, maybe 6
Ingredients
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup water, divided
1 1/4 cups lemon juice (about 8 lemons if you go that route.  I used the bottle.)
1 cup vodka

Directions
1) Combine the sugar and 1/2 cup of the water in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until the sugar is dissolved.  Let cool.
2) Stir together the syrup made in #1 with the remaning 1/4 cup sugar, lemon juice, and vodka.  Pour into a metal 9x13 pan and place in the freezer.  Stir every hour or so for about three hours.  You'll get a slushy-ice cream treat! (We had this in the freezer over a few nights and it never froze solid with the alcohol in it.)

My Thoughts
Well, you'd think I've done enough of these that I would kinda notice if the ingredients are about 1/3 alcohol, it's going to be pretty strong.  That was the case here.  It was strong.  Very strong.  But that didn't stop us from having many small bowls over the weekend!  It was super easy to mix up at home and then transport to the lake for freezer there.  Seriously less than 5 minutes of hands-on work.  This was a good, easy, summer-y treat.  Maybe next time I'd use less than 1 cup of vodka but that's my only complaint.  And it certainly won't stop me from finishing this!

Source: an old issue of People magazine, from chef Brooks Headley

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In the summer I aim to make a new drink every week and share them all here, good or bad!  See them all in chronological order by following the "Mixed Drink Monday" tag here or check out my favorites by scrolling down to "Mixed Drink Monday" on my recipes page!


In the summer I aim to make a different homemade ice cream each week and report back here, good or bad!  I call it "Ice Cream of the Week".  You can follow the "ICOTW" tag to see them all chronologically or go to my "Recipes" page and scroll down to the "Ice Cream/Frozen Things" section for my favorites!