Old-Fashioned Lemonade

to 12 lemons, scrubbed under warm water and patted dry (2 to 2 1/4 cups lemon juice)

sugar (add more to taste, up to 2 1/4 cups total if you like it really sweet)

cold water

For Pink Lemonade: Stir in 1 tablespoon grenadine syrup OR, for an all-natural dye, stir in 1/4 cup frozen blueberries until they turn the lemonade pink, and then spoon or strain them out (blueberry tip courtesy of reader Cecelia Mautner)