Take Time for Summer's Pleasures

That's the slogan for Country Time Lemonade. Doesn't the name Country Time Lemonade conjure up familiar images? Things like big yellow houses with porch swings, kids running through fields in summer, and lemonade stands on street corners with misspelled signs. I think Country Time's advertising department was successful since I'm pretty sure these images are memories of old tv commercials. Every summer of my life I've reconnected with this drink. Growing up my grandmother (who lived across the street) always had some in her fridge. As kids we always managed to mooch something off Gram at least once a day. In the summer for me it was the lemonade. It was mostly pink lemonade, but sometimes she went with the original. Grammie was a brand name kind of lady so there were no generic substitutions in her house. When it came to the lemonade, I was glad about that. Over the years in my own house I've tried to carry on this tradition of making sure there's always a pitcher of lemonade available during the summer. I've experimented here and there with cheaper brands, especially since I'm a faithful cheapo Aldi shopper but always end up coming back to Country Time because I don't like the koolaid-esque taste of the others. Don't get me wrong--I love Koolaid, but for the fruit punch and berry flavors. Lemonade is something you just don't mess with. I hit the jackpot today because a local store is having a Buy 1, Get 2 Free sale on Country Time. I bought 6 and calculated that they cost about 76 cents each! That should get us through at least the rest of this spring...