Mint lemonade

I don't know about you, but Iowa's been in a nice, warm indian summer. As a last horrah to summer and warm weather, the girls and I made this mint lemonade for a BBQ at our neighbor's house. It was really delicious! Here's how:

Mint Lemonade

ingredients:

a handful of fresh mint leaves

3 Tablespoons lemon juice

3/4 cup sugar

water

ice

Lemon slices (would have been really cool for an extra garnish.)

Boil about a quart of water. While it's heating up, wash your mint leaves and pick out a few of the prettiest ones. Set those aside. Now, tear up the rest of your mint leaves into quarters or so, just not smaller than the holes in your strainer. When the water starts boiling, take it off the heat and throw in the mint leaves. Stir. Let it sit for 1-2 minutes. Now, pour the water through a strainer into a pitcher. Add lots of ice. Now add the lemon juice and water to taste (I just estimated how much I added. This is a great excuse to get to taste it early!). Add more ice till it is cold enough and filling up your two quart container. Add the reserved leaves back in and if you have them, the lemon slices. Enjoy!

Pink afghan

One of my best friends from high school just had her first baby, a girl named Hannah.I've been working on this afghan for a couple of months now, on and off. It's basically like a giant granny square. Except you'll see from the last picture that mine is a lot more crooked. But, really, crocheting is a great way to keep your hands busy while you're driving in the car or watching a movie. Once you get into the rhythm of it, you really don't have to pay attention to it that much. Plus, they make these sweet and soft little keepsakes. 

Someone made a blanket like this for my first daughter when she was born. She was so attached to it and it went with her everywhere. So, when my second daughter was born, I made one for her, too, so that my first daughter wounldn't have to give hers up. (I'll have to admit, my second daughter has never shown interest in her purple afghan, but just in case they decide to try to fight over one of them some day, we'll be prepared.)  

So, for this third daughter, (yes, we found out it is a girl!!) I'm going to make another one. My first two daughters have pink and white and purple and white. But, after the two that I made this year, I really want to do cream instead of white.  So, what color do you think I should put with the cream? I was thinking of a buttery marigold yellow or maybe a warm green like the one I did for my nephew. What do you think?