Summer picnics and luncheons are frequent settings in “Cruel Intentions,” so I decided to liven up the blog this winter with some sweet summer sips in the form of homemade strawberry lemonade.

This vegan, gluten-free, soy-free recipe makes approximately 4-6 “servings.”

Ingredients
2 cups frozen strawberries
2 cups water
0.25 cups sugar
juice from 6 lemons
1 cup ice (optional)
20 mint leaves
vodka (optional)

Instructions
Blend the strawberries, water, sugar and lemon juice together.

Put the optional ice in the bottom of your pitcher then pour in the strawberry lemonade and stir in the mint leaves.

If you want a Katherine-level twist to your lemonade, either add vodka at the blending stage for all to enjoy or add a shot to your glass before you pour in the strawberry lemonade.

Serve and enjoy with “Cruel Intentions!”

The Easy Route
You can buy premade strawberry lemonade either in powder form or in a bottle. If you’re going the vodka route, you might even find a premade mixed bottle at your liquor store. Don’t forget to add the mint if you go with one of these options!

The Pairing
Teenage Cat was quietly obsessed with “Cruel Intentions.” It was campy and very raunchy for a 14-year-old girl.

I’ve probably seen the movie a couple dozen times at this point, and I rewatched it last year as research for this blog post.

This 20th century retelling of “Dangerous Liaisons” revolves around a group of private high school students during a particularly eventful summer.

Katherine (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and Sebastian (Ryan Phillippe) are stepsiblings who have bonded over their sick fascination with meddling in people’s lives for their own amusements and to get what they want.

The current focus of Katherine’s meddling centers on tarnishing the pristine, precocious reputation of Cecile (Selma Blair).

Meanwhile, Sebastian’s focus is on bedding Annette (Reese Witherspoon), who recently wrote an article about how she intends to remain a virgin until she’s married or in a serious, committed relationship.

The manipulations overlap and some twists and turns make “Cruel Intentions” a compelling watch.

Not only is the cast easy to look at, you also have the incredible turn-of-the-century soundtrack, most notably the beautifully shot scenes set to “Colorblind” by Counting Crows and “Bittersweet Symphony” by The Verve (which this pairing is named after).

If you decide to make strawberry lemonade and/or watch “Cruel Intentions,” let us know! Tag us in your Instagram posts & stories, threads, tweets or TikTok videos: @veg_out_recipes