Strawberry fever may go to your head and suddenly find yourself with berries than you know what to do with at the moment. There is a good chance that some at the bottom of the carton will be a little less camera ready than the ones up top. They are still tasty and juicy but not pretty. A gorgeous local berry is a terrible thing to waste. When that happens make a batch of strawberry basil lemonade. (You can certainly make this recipe with pristine berries, too.)

Strawberry Basil Lemonade
Serves 6

Ingredients:
For the syrup:
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup water
1 pint strawberries, washed, hulled, and sliced 1/2 inch thick, divided
1/2 cup tightly packed basil leaves, divided
For the lemonade:
4 cups cold water
1 cup lemon juice, chilled
Ice

Directions:
Place the sugar and water in a saucepan over high heat and stir until the sugar dissolves and the mixture comes to a boil. Add half of the strawberries, reduce the heat to medium low, and simmer until the strawberries have softened, about 10 minutes.
Remove from the heat, add half the basil leaves, and stir. Cool to room temperature.
Strain through a fine-mesh strainer; discard the solids. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Pour the water, lemon juice, and 3/4 cups of the strawberry-basil syrup into apitcher and stir to combine. Add additional strawberry-basil syrup as needed.

Pour over ice and garnish with sliced strawberries and basil leaves.