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	State Fair Lemonade Serves 6-8

	Qty	Size	Ingredient
	9	ea	Lemons
	5	cups	Water
	1½	cups	White Sugar
	If your lemons have a coat of wax from the grocery store, rinse with hot water and wipe them off.  It's only bees wax, but some waxes can have a slight "flavor" to them. Using a potato peeler (or zester, or knife if you have mad knife skills) peel the zest from 8 of the lemons (the ninth is for garnish), reserving. covered, in the fridge, the now naked lemons for juicing later. (Don't worry about a slight amount of pith (the white part) on the zest.  The pith starts out sweet and gets bitter as you go deeper.  So if you don't like a little 'bite' of bitter in your lemonade (which is what State Fair Lemonade is all about), ease up or use a zester) Add the sugar and zest strips to a small bowl and mix until the sugar has completely coated every single zest strip, cover, and let steep overnight (12 hours) at room temp. (It's called macerating, and specifically in this case, you are creating oleo-saccharum.) Boil the water in a small sauce pan.  Once it reaches a boil add the macerated lemon zest peels and accompanying sugar, stirring until the sugar is fully dissolved, remove from heat and pour through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl. (the longer the zest sits in the hot water the more lemon flavored oils, and bitterness from the pith, will be extracted) Once cooled to room temperature, slice and juice the naked lemons through the same strainer (emptied) into the same bowl.  Then pour into a serving pitcher and chill thoroughly, like hours. (NO ICE in the pitcher!  You can ice individual glasses if you are serving outside in the heat.) Garnish with slices from the ninth lemon. (and a mint leaf and straw if you are really into presentation) Enjoy!