My Mission: To find new ways to scorch my digestive tract… er… I mean, to find new uses for my home-grown high-intensity jalapeño peppers.

When I saw this description for Jalapeño Lemonade at Yum Recipes, I couldn’t resist:

If this sweet, tart, wet, and wild cooler sits past 3 hours, we are not responsible for the damages.

Their recipe apparently originated from the Totally Chili Pepper Cookbook. I borrowed elements from the recipe at Veggiebelly.com as well as making my own modifications to add tartness and heat.

Ingredients:
1 cup Sugar
7 cups Water
1/8 tsp Salt
9-12 Lemons  = about 3/4-1 cup of juice, depending on tartness preference (+1 sliced for garnish, if desired)
2 Jalapeños (+1 for garnish, if desired)
Method:
1. Spice up a Simple Syrup!
Bring 1 cup water and 2 jalapeños (sliced and seeded as you see fit) to a boil, allowing about 1/2 the water to evaporate. Add sugar and salt and stir until dissolved, reducing heat. Cool 5 mins.
2. Mix it up!
Squeeze lemons and strain the juice into the remaining water. Strain syrup into the mixture and stir.
3. Dress it up! / Spice it up! / Slosh it up!
Float a few lemon slices and/or a jalapeño with holes poked in it to allow it to infuse the lemonade. Beware: It will get hotter with time. Refrigerate. Can be mixed with tequila or vodka for even more interesting results.
A variation on this recipe: Add basil to the simple syrup (later strained out) and garnish the lemonade with fresh basil leaves to make Basil Jalapeño Lemonade.