Strawberry Lemonade

Cool off with my refreshing strawberry lemonade. Yummy!

INGREDIENTS:
2 cps water
1 cp sugar
1 tbls grated lemon peel
1 cp fresh lemon juice
1 pt fresh strawberries, hulled and halved
2 cps cold sparkling water or club soda
Ice
Mint sprigs, garnish
Whole strawberries, garnish

DIRECTIONS:
In a medium saucepan, bring the water and sugar to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves. Add the lemon peel and lemon juice, stir, and remove from the heat. Let cool completely, then strain into a clean pitcher.

In a blender, puree the pint of strawberries and add to the pitcher with the lemon juice. Stir well to combine and refrigerate until well chilled.

Add the sparkling water and stir well. Pour over glasses filled with ice and serve, garnished with mint and strawberries.