Spring Dinner Outside

We've had ridiculous weather this year, especially over the last couple of weeks.  Crazy heat, roller coaster temperatures, and I think there's been about 10 inches of rain at our house over the last 2 weeks.  But pollen season seems to be long past us, and today was absolutely one of the most beautiful days so far.  It was only 80 degrees outside in the hottest part of the day.  It wasn't humid, the bugs weren't out in full force, and the grass wasn't so wet that we couldn't walk on it.

So needless to say, we fired up the grill, put the umbrella up, tablecloth on and enjoyed dinner outside.

I did a very simple boneless chicken breasts in olive oil, onion powder and Italian seasoning, letting them sit for 20 minutes while the grill was warmed up.  My husband grilled them to perfection, along with the apricots.

 I whipped up a simple mixed greens salad, and some delicious strawberry lemonade.

Strawberry Lemonade

2 cups water plus 2 quarts water
Zest of 1 lemon
3/4 cup sugar
2 pints of strawberries, hulled and rinsed
Juice of 5 lemons (about 3/4 cup)
Ice

First, warm the sugar and zest on high heat with 2 cups of water in a medium saucepan.  Boil and stir until the mixture is clear and the sugar is no longer grainy.

Blend your strawberries in a food processor.  Then in your drink pitcher, combine the berries, lemon juice, sugar water, and additional 2 quarts water.  Then add ice to cool it down.

Serve over ice.

Now sit back and enjoy the effort!