Earlier this week, I made a trip over to the Turkish Market on Maybachufer to buy some cheap fruits and vegetables. For those who aren’t in the know, this is a great place to buy produce, with prices far below those in the supermarkets. I was hoping to pick up a few avocados and possibly some jalapeños, as I got a big bag of them for 76 cents just before New Year’s. Sadly, they had no jalapeños and avocados were three for a Euro (which I still snapped up because that’s cheaper than the supermarket price), but one stall had lemons on sale for 10 for a Euro. I greedily bought the whole 10, but then I wondered, “What am I going to do with 10 lemons?” My first thought was lemonade, but as I looked out the window and saw the ground covered with snow, a cool glass of lemonade didn’t seem appealing. I’m currently reading, “Winter’s Tale,” by Mark Helprin, and the book is full of descriptions of hot traditional drinks (some real and some made up). After reading about hot cider for the umpteenth time, I had an idea of my own. I would make a hot, spicy version of lemonade.

Hot Spicy Lemonade Recipe

Makes 1 glass

Ingredients:

-Juice of 1 or 2 lemons, depending on how strong you want it
-1 tsp maple syrup
-1 tsp sugar
-1 pinch cinnamon
-1 pinch nutmeg
-A dash of brandy (optional)

Method:
Combine the ingredients in a mug and stir thoroughly. You can use any sugar you choose. I chose a mixture of maple syrup and white sugar because I’m Canadian and therefore know that maple syrup makes everything wonderful. You can add a dash (or even a shot) of brandy for flavour, but it’s not essential to the recipe. Top off the mug with boiling water and stir the mixture again.
Optional: Stare out the window listlessly and listen to folk music (Bon Iver, Fleet Foxes, Leonard Cohen, and early Bob Dylan make excellent choices).