Grand Ole Opry Lemonade
Diana McBride doesn’t even like lemonade — even with more sugar, it’s just not the flavor for her. But behind the scenes at the Grand Ole Opry, the Nashville institution and longtime country music radio show, she took it upon herself to start making lemonade for everyone backstage at each show. And now, while she has a catchall role in backstage hospitality, most people there only know her as “Lemonade,” and the recipe is so sacrosanct that no one else has it. She goes so far as to avoid taking long stretches of vacation and makes gallons in advance of her days off, so there’s almost always a batch on hand. In honor of the 100th anniversary of the Opry, she shared an adaptation of the recipe, still keeping some lemonade secrets for herself. One secret, she wrote in an email, “is letting it sit overnight so the flavors mix together and become delicious. I hope you enjoy making your tea and lemonade as much as I do making it at the Grand Ole Opry.” — Emily Cochrane
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