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Posts Tagged ‘summer beverages’

Peach and Moscato Wine Slushies A blistering hot day has no beginning, middle, or end. Morning heat slides into afternoon heat which fades into evening heat. There’s no escaping it, so look for cool relief. How about a slushy cold drink? Something so light and refreshing that you’ll forget it’s over 100° F outside. Needing only three ingredients and a little freezer-time, you’ll be sipping this slushy fruit beverage before you can master this Japanese tongue twister: sumomo mo momo, momo mo momo, sumomo mo momo mo momo no uchi! Translated into English it means: a plum is also a peach, a peach is also a peach, both plums and peaches are types of peaches!

Moscato Peach Wine Slushies
Divas Can Cook

INGREDIENTS
1 bottle Moscato wine (750 ml), plus more for blending
2 cups frozen peaches (unsweetened)
1/2 cup powdered sugar (can cut back, but it needs to be pretty sweet)

DIRECTIONS
1. Add frozen peaches, sugar and a few splashes of Moscato to food processor or blender.

2. Blend until completely smooth.

3. Pour the rest of the Moscato and blend until incorporated.

4. Quickly pour the mixture into ice cube trays. (Stir mixture if peaches begin to settle on the bottom.)

5. Freeze.

6. Just before serving, place frozen cubes in a blender. (I never measure them out. I just toss a handful in and add more if I need it.)

7. Add a splash of wine to make blending easier.

8. Blend until slush consistency, adding a splash of wine to thin out if needed.

9. Pour into wine glasses, add a straw (if desired) and serve immediately.

10. Garnish with fresh fruit like strawberries and peach slices.

Serves 4

DIVA’S NOTES
You’ll need to add a few splashes of wine to the frozen ice cubes for blending. You can reserve a small amount of wine or just use some wine from another bottle, which is what I do.

ADD ice! If you like for your slushies to have those tiny little ice chips, then throw in a few ice cubes and a little bit more wine.

LINNELL’S NOTES
1. I chilled the wine glasses in the freezer prior to serving to give them a frosty finish.

2. Purchasing an extra bag of frozen peaches, I used some of the frozen peach slices for garnish. They served both an aesthetic and functional purpose – making the drink pleasing to the eye and keeping the drink cold a little bit longer.

3. This is a great recipe to experiment with other fruit flavor combinations.

4. Because of the alcohol content, the frozen fruit cubes will not freeze ice-hard. To make ahead, you can freeze your fruit mixture in the ice cube trays and then pop them out and put them in zip-type plastic bags. Recognize that the cubes are soft, so don’t pile stuff on top of them in the freezer. Alternatively, you can leave the mixture in the ice cube trays until needed. You may need to buy a few more trays to do the latter.

Enjoy!

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Sangria Ice cold pitchers of refreshing sangria tease me as I attempt to photograph them outdoors in 100-degree temperature. I know that the sooner I get the photos taken, the sooner I’ll be able to sit down under the shade of a big blue umbrella and leisurely drink my photo props. Two fruity sangrias await me. The first one combines the crisp flavors of mint and cucumber with the sweetness of honeydew melon and the tartness of lime. White wine and carbonated water add the needed sophistication and sparkle to this beverage. The second sangria is all about fruit. Pineapple and orange juices are mixed with pineapple chunks, orange slices, and slices of crispy green apple. The addition of cream soda brings fizzy fun to this nonalcoholic sangria which makes it a perfect summertime beverage to cool down the kids.

Cucumber Sangria
Better Homes and Gardens

INGREDIENTS
1 small honeydew melon
1 seedless cucumber, thinly sliced
1 lime, thinly sliced
12 fresh mint leaves
1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 cup honey
1 750 milliliter bottle of Sauvignon blanc or other semi-dry white wine, chilled
1 1 liter bottle carbonated water, chilled
Fresh mint sprigs and/or leaves, optional for garnish

DIRECTIONS
1. Cut the melon in half; remove and discard seeds and rind. Cut melon into thin slices.

2.  In a large pitcher combine melon, cucumber, lime slices, and 12 mint leaves.

3. In a small bowl stir together lime juice and honey until combined; pour over melon mixture.

4. Add wine, stirring gently. Cover and chill for at least 2 hours.

5. To serve, stir in carbonated water. Ladle or pour into glasses. If desired, garnish with additional mint.

LINNELL’S NOTES
1. For best results, use a honeydew melon that is ripe with sweetness, but not so ripe, that the flesh is mushy.

2. I cut the honeydew into wedge-chunks. If the melon is cut too thin, there is a chance it will fall apart when the sangria is being stirred.

3. I cut the limes into thin wedges rather than crosswise circles, so as to not repeat the shape of the cucumbers slices.

Tropical Faux-Gria
Good Housekeeping

INGREDIENTS
4 cups pineapple juice
2 cups orange juice
2 cups cream soda
2 cups pineapple chunks
1 medium orange, sliced
1/2 green apple, thinly sliced

DIRECTIONS
1. In a large pitcher, mix pineapple juice, orange juice, cream soda, pineapple chunks, orange slices, and green apple slices.
2. Chill at least 1 hour or up to 1 day.

LINNELL’S NOTES
1. For ease of preparation, I used canned pineapple chunks.
2. The flavor of this beverage is reminiscent of a fruit punch.
3. Add wine to make this a real sangria for adults.

Enjoy!

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Pineapple-Lemon Iced Tea What? O.C.D. iced tea? I need that! After putting on my reading glasses, I realize that it is not O.C.D. iced tea, but rather O.C.C. iced tea. O.C.C. stands for the Oahu Country Club in Honolulu, Hawaii. With a pedigree like that, one would expect a thirst-quenching tropical-flavored drink. This recipe does not disappoint: the fruity sweetness of the pineapple juice balances the crisp tartness of the lemon juice, while the subtle hint of mint refreshes and brightens the beverage. Whatever acronym floats your boat, you’ll enjoy sipping this super easy-to-make iced tea on a warm and sunny day!

O.C.C. (Pineapple-Lemon) Iced Tea
A Taste of Aloha Cookbook

INGREDIENTS
1/2 gallon water
12 tea bags
3 sprigs fresh mint
1 and 2/3 cups sugar
12 ounces pineapple juice
6 ounces fresh lemon juice
Additional mint sprigs, for garnish
Pineapple spears, for garnish

DIRECTIONS
1. Bring water to a boil and steep tea bags and mint. Remove mint after 3 minutes.
2. Continue to steep tea until it is very dark. Remove tea bags.
3. While tea is still warm, add sugar and juices, stirring to dissolve sugar.
4. Pour into a gallon container, adding enough water to fill to the gallon level.
5. Chill.
6. Serve iced with mint sprigs and pineapple spears.

Makes 1 gallon

LINNELL’S NOTES
1. I used a good brand of regular-sized English Breakfast (decaf) tea bags.
2. The next time I make this, I will try using a sugar substitute.

Enjoy!

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Strawberry Agua Fresca

Luscious in color and bright in flavor, this refreshing strawberry agua fresca makes the perfect summer drink. Agua fresca is Spanish for “fresh water” and this beverage is just that — light and fresh! With its ease of preparation and its ability to be made ahead, this beverage invokes effortless summer entertaining. Try adding a splash of tequila to make an easy strawberry margarita or try experimenting with other flavors, such as watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew, or cucumber. This agua fresca will make you long for the hot days of summer!

Strawberry Agua Fresca
Cooking Light, May 2005

Ingredients:
4 cups water
1/3 cup sugar
6 cups hulled fresh strawberries
1/4 cup fresh lime juice (about 2 limes)

Directions:
1. Combine water and sugar, stirring until sugar dissolves.
2. Place strawberries in a blender, and process until smooth.
3. Combine the sugar mixture, strawberry puree, and juice; stir well.

Yield: 8 cups (serving size 1-1/3 cups)

Linnell’s Notes:
1. I used Splenda in place of sugar with great results. Because the strawberries I had were farm-ripe sweet, I used less sweetener than the recipe called for. The original recipe states that there are 71 calories per serving, so by substituting Splenda, there will be even fewer calories!

2. Because the two limes I had yielded only 1/8 cup juice, I added 1/8 cup fresh lemon juice to the mix.

3. This beverage should be served well-chilled.

Enjoy!

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Hot air hit my face as I opened the door and stepped outside. “It’s going to be a hot one,” I mumbled to myself as I turned to look at the thermometer hanging on the stucco wall. Yep, 84 degrees and it was only 10:30 in the morning. “Time to go back inside and make a big pitcher of iced tea!”

A while back I posted a recipe for Boston Iced Tea. Today’s recipe is another fruit-flavored tea that’s thirst quenching and super easy to make. Make sure you double the recipe, though, because it’s a good one to have on hand during the hot days of summer!

Mango Iced Tea
Recipe courtesy of Bobby Flay

Ingredients:
1-1/2 quarts cold water
6 high quality black tea bags
2 cups mango nectar
Sugar
1/4 cup fresh mint leaves
Thinly sliced mango

Directions:
Bring water to a boil, turn off heat and add tea bags and steep until tea is dark, about 5 minutes. Remove bags, add mango nectar and add sugar, to taste. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Place in pitcher and add mint leaves. Pour over ice and garnish with mango slices.

Serves 4.

Linnell’s Notes:
1. I use 2 of Lipton’s family-sized ice tea bags.

2. I’ve made this using mango juice and mango nectar. The results are slightly better using the nectar – a tiny bit more sweet and a more pronounced mango flavor.

3. One tablespoon of sugar is all I add to the tea and nectar solution, but I don’t like my iced tea too sweet.

4. Let the flavored tea cool before refrigerating and definitely serve it chilled.

5. Omit the mint only if you absolutely hate mint! The mint leaves lend a wonderful, cooling, fresh taste to the tea.

6. Instead of garnishing with thin slices of mango, I added frozen mango chunks that I’d purchased in a large bag at Costco.

7. The fruit flavors in this recipe and the Boston Iced Tea recipe can be easily adapted – just substitute different flavors of nectar for this recipe or frozen concentrate for the Boston Iced Tea recipe.

Enjoy and stay cool!

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