Simply Sweet Lemonade Mini Sessions with Country Time Lemonade Starters
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Does anything say summer is coming more than a lemonade stand? There’s nothing more adorable than a lemonade stand, fun families and bright pops of color to make a mini photo session stand out.
Summer is quickly approaching and what else should families and children be doing to beat the summer heat than to sell fresh lemonade. Lemonade is a quick, refreshing beverage the whole family can enjoy during my mini sessions. I always start my yearly mini sessions with a Lemonade Stand. Here is a look at my first mini sessions to get the season started.
Country Time Lemonade Starters are a must for making the perfect flavored lemonades. The one pictured directly below is Berry Lemonade. I simply added fresh strawberries, blackberries and blueberries for some added color and taste. But, I can see mixing them together for something even more special and tasty, the possibilities really are endless!
The Country Time Lemonade Starters were perfect for my mini sessions this year. I just needed to add water to the measured starter mixture in my glass pitchers. They were really so easy and convenient to make that I tasked this to my children to help me out.
My children made three separate pitchers, but you can make the lemonade by the glass as well, if you don't need an entire pitcher. Although, these lemonades are so yummy, you really will need an entire pitcher! The best part is this lemonade is made with real lemon juice so you have the perfect mix of sweet and tangy.
THIS WAY TO THE LEMONADE STAND
The perfect lemonade stand, of course, needs to have a whole bunch of lemons. I bought a couple of bags at Walmart, along with the various other berries, the Lemonade Starters and all my ingredients for my sweet lemonade bars. I love having loads of lemons around because sometimes I can even get a brave child or two to suck on some lemon slices for me. I love the puckered faces then!
This year I added bit of vintage with some mason jars and old crates. I used my Lemonade Banner that I made a couple of years ago and added another pretty pink and yellow doilies banner as well as brightly colored straws and some wonderful printables*.
And why stop at lemonade? My stand also included some sweet treats. I added a tasty takeaway for my families this year. I wanted to send my families home with all their pretty smiles intact. These luscious classic lemonade bars were perfect as a send off for the families to snack on later.
SWEET TAKEAWAY
CLASSIC LEMONADE BARS
CRUST:
- 4.5 ounces organic white whole-wheat flour
- ¼ cup organic powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons grated organic lemon rind
- 1/8 teaspoon real salt
- 1/4 cup unsalted organic butter, chilled and diced
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
FILLING:
- 1.5 ounces organic white whole-wheat flour (about 1/3 cup)
- 1 1/3 cups granulated raw organic sugar
- 3/4 cup fresh organic lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons finely grated lemon rind
- 1/8 teaspoon real salt
- 4 large organic eggs, lightly beaten
- 2 tablespoons organic powdered sugar
Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. CRUST: add 2/3 cup organic whole-wheat flour and the next four ingredients in a bowl and pulse in the food processor to combine. Add butter and oil; pulse until the mixture is a sandy texture. Pour the mixture into an 8-inch square baking pan coated with the cooking spray. Lightly press mixture into bottom of pan. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes.
3. FILLING: add 1/3 cup organic whole-wheat flour into a large bowl. Add raw sugar, lemon juice, grated lemon rinds, and 1/8 teaspoon salt; stir well with a whisk. Add eggs; gently stir with a whisk until combined. Pour mixture onto hot crust. Bake at 350° for approximately 20 minutes or just until set. Cool completely. Refrigerate for 2 hours before slicing(overnight is best). Sprinkle with powdered sugar and decorate with lemon rinds peeled off with a lemon stripper.
I photographed these sessions during the golden hour. It was roughly 4:30pm, around the time when the sun just starts to dip behind the trees in my back yard. This creates such a warm natural glow for awesome images. I set up the stand right in front of my evergreen trees for a great background and to back light these mini Lemonade Stand sessions. I love the dreamy look I can obtain in some of these images.
I had several families for this Simply Sweet Lemonade Mini Sessions with Country Time Lemonade Starters and all the families had a BLAST! I love to catch families interacting. Sometimes this can be difficult too, so the amazing lemonade and stand really do wonders to put families at ease and to light up everyone's faces.