Strawberry Agua Fresca

This could have been such a quick and easy post.

Three ingredients!  Plus water.  It takes about ten minutes to make.  I could have written this blog post in record time.

But then it sort of turned into a circular tale.  (If you've ever read the children's book If You Give A Mouse A Cookie, you know what I'm talking about.)

It all started when I thought I'd make a pitcher of agua fresca.

Which made me think of Mexico.  Circa 1986.

Which made me wonder if I had taken any pictures of agua fresca during my long-ago Mexican vacations.

Which made me dig out a couple of old photo albums filled with pictures from vacations to Cancun and Acapulco.

No pictures of agua fresca, but there was this picture of my poolside drink served in a watermelon.

Which made me think of the abundance of tropical fruit that my friends and I ate on that trip to Cancun.  Imagine our surprise on our first night there, at dinner, when our waiter placed a hollowed-out pineapple loaded with fruit in front of each of us.  It was simply described as a "fruit cup" on the appetizer menu.

Which made me think of how much fun that trip to Cancun was.  So much fun that I wanted to go back to Mexico for my honeymoon the following year, to Acapulco.

Thinking of Acapulco made me think of the goofy little Mexican teddy bear I won shooting hoops.

Which made me think about how sweaty I was shooting hoops in Mexico on my honeymoon.

Which reminded me that I want to make a pitcher of agua fresca.

Today's Playlist

• "Dead!"...My Chemical Romance
• "On My Way"...Billy Boy On Poison
• "Blue Orchid"...The White Stripes
• "Ain't No Rest For The Wicked"...Cage The Elephant
• "1983"...Neon Trees
• "(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To"...Weezer
• "Ignorance"...Paramore

Strawberry Agua Fresca (8 servings)
Click for printable recipe

• 1 quart strawberries
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 6 cups cold water
• 1 lime

Gather your ingredients.  

I put 5 cups of the water into a pitcher, the other cup into a blender.

Put a few strawberries aside to use as a garnish later. Hull the remaining strawberries.

Place one cup of the water, the sugar and the strawberries into a blender.

Give it a whirl until it's blended.  It took about 15 seconds on HIGH.

Set a wire mesh strainer over a large bowl. Pour the strawberry mixture through the strainer into the bowl.

Stir the seeds and the pulp left in the strainer so that all of the strawberry juice drains through.

Discard the pulp and seeds that are left in the strainer.

Pour the strained strawberry mixture into the pitcher (which had the remaining 5 cups of cold water in it).

Cut the lime in half and add the juice from one half of the lime.  Oops, forgot to take a picture of that step.

Stir to combine.

Use additional strawberries as a garnish, as well as slices from the remaining lime half that you didn't juice.

Add plenty of ice and enjoy!