Homemade lemonade sweetens the sour economy

A sour economy is the perfect time to follow that lemonade adage and make the most of life's lemons.

Start by using the frozen lemon juice sold in plastic squeeze bottles, which can be found with other frozen juices. One bottle usually costs around $2. You get about a cup of quality juice for considerably less than squeezing your own lemons.

Tropical Lemonade Wine Cooler

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup lemon juice

1/2 pineapple, thinly sliced

1 ripe mango, peeled, seeded and thinly sliced

1 unpeeled orange, thinly sliced

750-milliliter bottle dry white wine

3 cups cold water

In a large pitcher, mix the sugar and lemon juice until the sugar is dissolved. Add the fruit, wine and water, then stir well. While stirring, use the spoon to crush the fruit. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

Red Plum Lemonade

1 pound small, ripe red plums, halved and pitted

3/4 cup sugar

6 cups water, divided

1 cup lemon juice

In a blender, combine the plums, sugar and 2 cups of water. Puree until smooth. Pour through a fine strainer into a pitcher, pressing with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula to extract as much of the juice as possible. Discard the solids. Stir in the lemon juice and 4 cups of water.