Basil Mint Lemonade

Basil Mint Lemonade

Ingredients:

1 ¾ – 2 cups of lemon juice (about 10 to 12 lemons)
8 cups of water
Basil-mint simple syrup
Ice cubes


Directions:

1. Squeeze lemons to get 1 ¾ to 2 cups of lemon juice (remove all seeds).
2. In a large pitcher, mix cooled basil-mint simple syrup, lemon juice, and 8 cups of water.
3. Add more sugar if you prefer.
4. Serve with ice (preferably chilled overnight)


Basil-Mint Simple Syrup Ingredients
1 bunch of basil
1 bunch of mint – leave a few for garnishing
2 cups water
2 cups sugar


Directions:

1. On medium heat, mix water and sugar in medium saucepan. Heat until sugar and water are dissolved.
2. Wash basil and mint and remove stems.
3. Add the basil and mint leaves to the saucepan, stir, and simmer for about 7 minutes.
4. Turn off heat and cool syrup to room temperature.
5. When cooled, transfer mixture to the lemonade by using a strainer.
6. Discard the leaves.
7. Garnish with the leftover mint leaves.

Ginger Mint Lemonade 

Ingredients:

1 cup water
2/3 cup sugar

2 cups water
1/2 tsp chopped ginger
1/2 cup fresh mint leaves

9-10 lemons (approx 1 cup juice)
1/4 cup fresh mint leaves
1 tsp salt





Directions:


1. Prepare sugar syrup first by simmering a cup of water to which 2/3 cup sugar or brown sugar is added. Allow sugar to dissolve completely and cool. Keep aside.

2. In another vessel, bring 2 cups of water to a boil. Turn off heat and add half a tbsp of chopped ginger and 1/2 cup of fresh mint leaves. Place lid and allow to steep. After 10-15 mts, strain the liquid and cool. Discard mint and ginger.

3. Extract juice from 9-10 lemons or approx 1 cup of lemon juice. Strain and discard the seeds. Keep aside.

4. Take a pitcher and add 8-9 cups of cold water, add the extracted lemon juice, cooled sugar syrup and ginger-mint infusion and combine. Add 1/4 cup of fresh mint leaves and a tsp of salt and combine. Adjust the sweetness by adding more sugar syrup and if it needs to be more tart, add more lemon juice.

5. Pour into glasses and serve with ice.

For those who want to avoid sugar, replace sugar syrup with a cup of honey or any sweetener of your choice. A pinch of roasted cumin powder or chaat masala powder can be added to each glass of lemonade for added flavor.

Mint Lemonade

Mint Lemonade

Ingredients

1/4 cup sugar for simple syrup
Ice cubes
1 2/3 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons julienned mint, plus leaves for garnish
1 lemon, sliced 1/4-inch thick, plus more for garnish

 

Directions

1. In a small saucepan, combine sugar and 1/4 cup water. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat. Let stand until completely cool.
   
2. In a large pitcher half-filled with ice, add 2 cups water, lemon juice, simple syrup, mint, and lemon slices. Stir to combine. Serve over ice. Garnish with mint leaves and lemon slices.
   

Pineapple Batido

Pineapple Batido

Ingredients:

2 c. cubed pineapple

3/4 c. milk

1/2 c. pineapple orange banana juice

Juice of 1/2 lime

3-4 Tbsp. honey

1 c. ice

Directions:

Combine all the ingredients except for the ice in the jar of your blender. While the blender is running, add the ice and puree until smooth. Add more ice and honey to taste (if necessary).

Pina Colada Variation

Replace the milk and honey with 1 c. cream of coconut (not coconut milk; you'll find cream of coconut with the drink mixers at the grocery store).

Pineapple-Banana Variation

Omit honey and add 1 small banana. If the drink is a little tart, add more honey or sugar to taste.

Brazilian Lemonade

Brazilian Lemonade

Ingredients:

4 juicy limes (try and find ones with thin, smooth skins; they're the juiciest and the thin skin cuts down on the chance of your drink being bitter)
1 c. sugar
6 c. cold water
6 Tbsp. sweetened condensed milk


Directions:

Mix cold water and sugar very well and chill until ready to use. This step can be done ahead of time.

Wash limes thoroughly with soap (I just use hand-dishwashing soap or regular hand soap); you need the soap to get the wax and pesticides off of the limes because you're using the WHOLE lime, baby. Cut the ends off the limes and then cut each lime into 8ths.

Place 1/2 of the limes in your blender.

Add 1/2 of the sugar water, place the lid on your blender, and pulse 5 times. Place a fine-mesh strainer over a pitcher (the one you'll serve the lemonade in) and pour the blended mixture through the strainer and into the pitcher. Use a spoon to press the rest of the liquid into the pitcher. Dump the pulp and stuff in the strainer into the trash. Repeat with remaining limes and sugar water. Add sweetened condensed milk; DO NOT leave this step out unless you will die of a horrible sweetened condensed milk allergy because this is the secret ingredient! You may want to taste test it at this point; I used giant, thick-skinned limes tonight and didn't test it and it came out a little bitter. If it's bitter, just add some more sugar and maybe a little more milk.

Serve immediately over lots of ice. This does not keep well, so don't make this in advance (although you can cut the limes, mix the sugar water, and measure the sweetened condensed milk in advance). Serves 4, although I can pretty much guarantee you that people will want more; I usually plan on 1 1/2 servings at LEAST per person.

Pumpkin Pie Milkshake

Pumpkin Pie Milkshake

Ingredients:

1/3 C pumpkin, canned or homemade
1/4 - 1/2 C milk
1/4 t vanilla
1/2 t cinnamon
1/16 t cloves (just use a 1/8 t measure and fill it half way, or do a pinch)
1/16 t nutmeg
2 T brown sugar
2 C vanilla ice cream
1-2 graham crackers

Directions:

Pop everything but graham crackers in a blender. Start with 1/4 C milk and then slowly add more if needed to make the blender process it all. I used somewhere between 1/4-1/2 C.

Sprinkle with crushed graham cracker crumbs before serving. It reminds me of DQ's Pumkin Pie Blizzard!

Hot Caramel Apple Cider

Hot Caramel Apple Cider

Ingredients:

1/2 gallon apple cider (64 oz or 8 C)
1/2 C orange juice, fresh squeezed or good quality bottled like Simply Orange
1 orange
8 cloves
2 cinnamon sticks (if yours are more than a year old- buy new ones!!)
1/4 t ground allspice
1/3 C jarred caramel sauce* more to taste if needed
optional: caramel flavored syrup
sweetened whipped cream (or from a can is fine!)

*For a delicious twist, substitute maple syrup for the caramel sauce in this recipe.

Directions:

Begin by pouring 8 C of apple cider into a large stock pot on the stove pot. Set heat to medium-high. Add orange juice, cinnamon sticks, and allspice.

Thoroughly wash your orange and then gently stab the whole cloves into it. If you find it hard to do that without destroying the cloves, use a toothpick to poke little hole first and then insert the cloves. This is brilliant (if I don't say so myself) because it eliminates the need for a little bag to hold your cloves, and stabbing them in the orange releases oils and lots of yummy flavor! (If you are doubling the recipe, you can still just use one orange, just double the number of cloves you poke into it).

Gently drop the whole orange into the pot. Bring cider to a boil and then reduce heat to a low simmer. Simmer on low for 60 minutes and longer if you wish. If you're keeping the pot on the stove for an extended period, keep an eye on the orange. If at any time it splits open, remove it from the pot. If the white pith is exposed it will add a bitter taste to your cider. If you're going to have the pot warming for hours on end, take out the orange. After you've simmered for an hour, add caramel sauce and stir to combine and dissolve. Add more caramel to taste if needed.

When ready to serve, ladle into mugs, top with whipped cream, and give it a drizzle of caramel and a sprinkle of cinnamon!

I mentioned in the ingredients that you could optionally add a shot of flavored syrup. You can find these types of syrups in the coffee isle of most grocery stores. The caramel sauce in a jar called for in the recipe gives a very mellow caramel flavor; it's really more for sweetness, so if you want the flavor to be more distinct, a shot of coffee style syrup is your best bet.

Italian Soda

Italian Soda
 
Ingredients:

Sprite, 7UP or Sparkling Mineral water for the base, different flavors of Torini Syrup (purchase at Smart and Final or Frys). 

Directions:

Pour the soda into cups filled with Sonic Ice (it's the best) a few pumps of syrup to taste and top with whipped cream. Serve with a stir stick and cherry on top if you like.

Pina Colada Punch

Piña Colada Punch

Ingredients:

1 package unsweetened Kool-Aid, powder 3/4 cup sugar 2 quarts water (according to Kool-Aid directions) 10 ounces Piña Colada mix 1 (2 liter) bottle of 7-Up 1 lemon, sliced

Directions:

Use Blue Raspberry for blue punch or Red Raspberry for pink punch (if using for a baby shower!). Mix the Kool-Aid, sugar, and water according to the package directions. In a large punch bowl, mix the prepared Kool-Aid, Piña Colada mix, and 7-Up. Add lemon slices.

Brazilian Lemonade

Brazilian Lemonade

Ingredients:

8 juicy new limes
1, 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
6 C cold water
1 C sugar
Ice

Directions:

Cut your limes up into quarters or eighths. And put half of them in your blender with about half the water. Blend till everything is good and chopped up. Yes, everything, peel, pith, pulp and all. You want all the limey goodness. Strain into a mixing bowl and set aside. Repeat this till you have blended up all the limes. You may need to make the batches smaller depending on the strength of your blender. Take your lime juice/water mixture and add the sugar and sweetened condensed milk and blend or whisk thoroughly till everything is dissolved. Then blend with ice for service.

Sweet Indian Lassi

Sweet Indian Lassi

Ingredients:

½ cup superfine sugar (or granulated sugar), to taste
¼ cup water
2 cups plain yogurt
6 cardamom pods
1/3 cup milk, chilled
2/3 cup buttermilk, chilled
2 cups crushed ice
1/8 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon rose water (optional), to taste

Preparation

Making simple syrup: In a small saucepan, dissolve the sugar in water. Bring to a near boil, lower the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes. Let the syrup cool completely.

Extracting the cardamom seeds: Using a mortar and pestle. Pound the pods several times and the pod will release its seeds. Pick out the shells and discard them. Grind the cardamom seeds into a fine powder. Crush all the nits and gather about 1 teaspoon.

Assembly time: Combine the yogurt, buttermilk, milk, simple syrup, crushed cardamom, salt and crushed ice in a blender. Blend all the ingredients for about 2 minutes. While the mixture is blending, add the rose extract (if used). The consistency of the lassi should be smooth and frothy.

Pour into 4 glasses. Stir well; some cardamom powder might sink to the bottom of the glass.

Serve chilled. Yields: 6 servings

Tips

Some people like to blend the lassi with water instead of milk and flavor it with nutmeg and a hint of cayenne pepper, but I prefer not to.

You can decorate the top of the glasses with crushed nuts (slivered almonds, pistachios or cashews), just as it's done for other Indian drinks, such as sharbat.

I prefer to use superfine sugar. It's a fine-grained sugar and it dissolves much more quickly than regular sugar. You can add up to ½ cup of sugar to plain lassi, but it's not meant to be too sweet.

I used Greek-style yogurt because it's firmer and more dense than regular yogurt. I made my own yogurt last summer. It's easier than you imagine; making homemade yogurt doesn't even require a yogurt maker. You can click on the link for the recipe.

You can find rose extract at Indian stores. It's sold in small 0.7-ounce bottles.

Serendipity Frozen Hot Chocolate

Serendipity Frozen Hot Chocolate


Ingredients:

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 packet instant hot chocolate mix (2 tbsps. loose mix)

2 tablespoons sugar

1/4 cup cream

1 and 1/3 cup milk

3 cups ice cubes

 

For Whipped Cream:

1/2 cup whipping cream

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

 

Directions:

In a small saucepan, melt chocolate over very low heat. Whisk in hot chocolate mix, sugar, and cream until smooth. Whisk in milk and transfer mixture to blender. Add ice and process until smooth. Meawhile, beat whipping cream until fluffy; stir in sugar and vanilla. Serve frozen hot chocolate with whipped cream, and if you're cleverer than I, you can add some chocolate shavings, too.

 

Notes: I'm sure that you'll get the best results with high quality chocolate, but all I had was chocolate chips and they were delicious, too. I used Nestle hot chocolate mix, but any kind would work.

Lemonade Slush

Lemonade Slush

Ingredients:

2/3 cup thawed lemonade concentrate
1 cup milk
2/3 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Yellow food coloring, optional
12 ice cubes, crushed

Directions:

In a blender, combine lemonade concentrate, milk, water, vanilla and food coloring if desired; cover and process until blended. While processing, slowly add crushed ice. Process until slushy. Serve immediately. Yield: 8 servings.

Mexican Hot Chocolate

Mexican Hot Chocolate


Ingredients:

3 ounces (tablet or cone) Mexican chocolate or bittersweet chocolate
3 cups milk (whole is best!)
2 tablespoons sugar
Pinch salt
Miniature marshmallows, for serving
6 cinnamon sticks (preferably Mexican canela), for serving

Directions:

Using a sharp knife, break up the chocolate into smaller pieces. In a saucepan, combine the chopped chocolate, milk, sugar, and salt over medium-low flame. Heat and stir until the chocolate is completely melted and milk is very hot, but not boiling, about 10 minutes.

Remove from the heat and froth the chocolate milk with a mini whisk. Divide the hot chocolate among big mugs, top each with a few marshmallows, and serve with the cinnamon sticks as stirrers. Yield: 6 servings

Butterbeer

Butterbeer (a la Harry Potter)

Ingredients:

1 pint (2 cups) cream soda or apple cider
1 cup vanilla ice cream, softened
2 TB butter
2 TB brown sugar
dash of cinnamon and nutmeg

Directions:

Place cream soda or apple cider in a microwave safe mug, and heat on high for about 3 minutes, or until very hot. While it’s heating, mix together the vanilla ice cream, butter, brown sugar and cinnamon.

When the soda is hot, pour into a blender, add ice cream mixture, and pulse on high for about 5 seconds. Pour into individual mugs, and sprinkle a dash of nutmeg on top.

Sunflower Milk

Sunflower Milk

Ingredients:

raw cinnamon sunflower seed milk
1 c raw sunflower seeds
3 c water
1 tbsp raw sugar or agave
1 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

soak the sunflower seeds (or whatever nut/seed/grain you’re using) in the water at least 4 hours at room temperature. you can do it over night if you are preparing it the next morning. you can do this is a medium-sized bowl, and cover with a towel or plastic wrap.

after soaking the seeds should be noticable plumper and softer. notice in the picture above, the difference between the dry seeds on the left and the soaked ones on the right.

after soaking, add the seeds and all of the soaking water into a large blender, and add in the sugar and cinnamon. 1 tablespoon of sugar just adds a hint of sweetness, if you like things really sweet feel free to add more.

blend well for 2-3 minutes to make sure it is as smooth as it can get. the mixture should be whitish.

strain the mixture through a straining bag and gently squeeze it until all of the liquid has drained out. what is left in the bag is the pulp from the sunflower seeds, mostly just fiber. i usually throw this away but you could probably find some use for it.

you can drink it right away or chill it for later. because it is so fresh it only keeps for 2-3 days refrigerated in a sealed contain, so enjoy promptly!

Avocado Shake

Avocado Shake

Ingredients:

1 avocado
3 cups milk
1 cup ice
6 TB sugar

Directions:

Add all ingredients in blender and blend!

Variations: omit sugar and add a scoop of vanilla ice cream, add fresh mango, add frozen fruit

Lemonade Mint Slush

Lemonade Mint Slush

Ingredients:

1 can lemonade with one can water
7 mint leaves

Directions:

Remove and add the rest of the water as called for on the can. Pour into a large double ziplock bag and place in the freezer. This will take approx 6-8 hours to freeze. You will need to "smush" it every 2-3 hours in the freezer to keep it slushy. Serve in a punch bowl with ginger ale poured on top.

Blood Orangeade

Blood Orangeade

Ingredients:

4 blood oranges, juiced
1-1/2 navel oranges, juiced
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
750 ml sparkling water

Directions:

In a medium saucepan simmer 1 cup water with 1 cup sugar and stir until sugar is dissolved. Set aside to cool. Juice oranges. In a large pitcher, combine the juice, simple syrup, and sparkling water and stir. Serve in glasses filled with ice.

Orange Julius

Orange Julius

Ingredients:

12 oz can frozen OJ
1 cup water
1 cup milk
2-1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
10 to 12 ice cubes
2 TB powdered protein (for froth), optional