Ol’ Country Lemonade with Orange — Sallie Ann Robinson

“You’ve got to roll ‘em, squeeze ‘em, and cut ‘em up.“1

Sallie Ann Robinson
Ingredients for orange lemonade, including lemons and oranges cut in half, a bowl of sugar, more oranges in a basket, lemon juice in a mason jar, and the zest of lemon and orange.
Ingredients for Sallie Ann Robinson’s Ol’ Country Lemonade with Orange, zest is optional but highly recommended. (Photographer Hannah Brenner)

“Lemons and oranges together make a refreshing citrus drink that goes down great. We didn’t have a lemon or orange tree in our backyard, but we surely loved to make and drink this combination whenever Momma brought these fruits home from her shopping. Momma would load up on lemons on her monthly trip to the mainland; she bought oranges mostly around Christmastime.

Lemons in our house were not just used for making lemonade; they were also used in some of Momma’s home remedies and her good cooking. If you’d like to give your lemonade a change of flavor, try adding some squeezed oranges, with or without the peel, for a tasty difference.”2

Sallie Ann Robinson

Ingredients

4 lemons, rolled, squeezed to extract the juice, and sliced thin
5 oranges, rolled, squeezed to extract the juice, and sliced thin
2 cups sugar, or more to taste
2 gallons water

Instructions

Place the sliced lemons and oranges, along with the lemon and orange juice, in a 2-gallon container. Add the sugar and stir. Add the water and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Pour into a glass with ice and relax. You might serve this with a meal.

Four wine glasses sit on a wooden table near a window, holding orange lemonade with ice cubes.
This orange lemonade is bright, tangy and refreshing, it brings some sunshine to a room even on grey days. (Photographer Hannah Brenner)

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Footnotes

  1. Sallie Ann Robinson, “Ol’ Country Lemonade with Orange,” in Cooking the Gullah Way: Morning, Noon, & Night (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2007), 91. Available here.
  2. Ibid, 91.

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