Cool Summer Drinks

August 1, 2012

Cool Summer Drinks

CORRESPONDENT Karen Freeman The Daily Southerner Wed Aug 01, 2012, 04:46 PM EDT

TARBORO — It has been sooo hot! I guess that we are paying for the mild winter that we had. I know I felt that heat here in Charleston, where I'm working right now. So, when it feels like 110 in the shade, it's a great time to cool down with icy cold and delicious summer drinks. Especially since you can find fresh fruit to go in them right now!

The recipes for this week will make you feel cooler even just reading them. But, I hope that you will give them a try! Let me know how you like them.

The first is one I've used before but I love it so much that I couldn't leave it out. It's orange juice, banana and pineapple. That is a great combination and you can't go wrong with this one. This also has no added sugar, so it's great and great for you.

The second is banana, strawberry and apple juice. However, you can substitute blackberries, blueberries, etc. for the strawberries. Again, no added sugar to this one either. It won't need any extra sweetness.

The third recipe has a strange name. It's called June Bug. That is just to be cute, it has nothing to do with the ingredients, so relax! This one uses OJ, ginger ale, grenadine and sherbet. You could also sub lime juice and lime sherbet for the orange flavor. I love lime, so that's my preference.

The last recipe uses melon. Any time you can make a smoothie type drink with melon, it's going to be a winner. This will be one of your favorites!

Remember that you can make a smoothie out of almost anything or a cool summer drink out of almost anything. If you have an interesting drink recipe, let me know.Orange & Pineapple Smoothie

Combine the following ingredients into a blender:

4-6 Oz. Orange Juice

1 Cup Non-Fat Milk

1/2 Banana

4 Ice Cubes

Several Pineapple Chunks

2 Tbsp Vanilla Extract (As A Sweetener)

Blend ingredients and enjoy. Blend until smooth and creamy. May chill in freezer for several minutes to thicken and make colder.

You may withhold any of the above ingredients if you wish; you are not required to use all of the ingredients. You may also use more or less of each ingredient, the above is just a "guideline" and may be changed (you'll find the right amounts for your own liking by experimenting).

Berry Banana Smoothie

1 Banana

1/2 Cup Frozen Strawberries

1/4 Cup Apple Juice

1 Cup Ice

Mix all ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth and creamy. May chill in freezer for several minutes to thicken and make colder.

June Bug

3 cups ginger ale

4 tablespoons grenadine

4 tablespoons orange juice

3 scoops orange sherbet

Blend together ginger ale, grenadine, orange juice, and sherbet. Pour into ice-filled cocktail glasses. (To make a version with alcohol, add white rum.)

Fresh Melon Quenchers

1-1 1/2 cups cantaloupe, honeydew, or watermelon puree*(about a quarter of a 4 lb. melon)

3 ice cubes

1/4 inch slice fresh ginger, grated

Plain low-fat yogurt

1 - 2 teaspoons honey

Shredded lime peel (optional)

Plain or flavored sparkling water

Frozen Melon Drink Skewers (recipe below)

In blender container combine melon puree, ice cubes, ginger, a teaspoon or two of yogurt, and honey. Blend just until mixture is frothy and smooth. Pour into serving glass. Add additional honey to adjust sweetness. Stir in lime peel to taste. Add sparkling water to fill glass. Serve with Frozen Melon Drink Skewers. Serve immediately.

To Puree Melon: Coarsely chop melon and transfer to blender container. Cover and blend until smooth. If needed, stop motor and press fruit down into blades with rubber spatula or spoon and continue to blend until smooth.

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Karen's Kitchen

Reductions add zip to flavor
When I cook, I often don't have a lot of time to spend making exotic meals, so I decided that I want to get more for less. In cooking that often means reductions. It’s amazing how the taste of something can change just by cooking it down until most of the liquid is gone. Reductions are so ridiculously easy that I often ask myself why I don’t use them more often. They also keep well in the refrigerator for several days.
When creating reductions, it’s important that the ingredients be good quality. Concentrating a flavor that was mediocre to begin with changes it from mediocre to terrible. That particularly applies to wines, oils and vinegars. Buy the best that you can afford and don’t use anything that you wouldn’t want to taste alone.
It’s also important to cook the reduction sauce moderately and until it reduces to a thick, syrupy consistency. It doesn’t take very long, but don’t be in a hurry or it will burn.

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Great Fondues
My husband and I love to entertain. We also love fondue. There is no more fun way to surprise guests with a great meal than to fondue. I have 4 or 5 fondue pots. I use them regularly.
There are several ways to fondue. You can make the dessert fondue and I have a great chocolate fondue recipe below. Another fondue option is to have a cheese fondue for a starter before the meal or at a party.
The last fondue option is to make the main course the fondue. With this option you can use either wine, a broth or oil for the fondue. I alternate usually between the broth and the oil. Sometimes I use peanut oil and sometimes I use canola oil. I don’t generally use vegetable oil because it has a lower smoke point.
The first recipe is my wine fondue. The important thing to remember is to use a good white wine. Never cook with a wine that you wouldn’t serve to guests. It doesn’t have to be expensive but it does have to be a table wine. You can play with the spices to find the taste that you like.

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How to Make Knock off Latte's and more...
One of my weaknesses is Starbuck's Grande latté with 3 packets of Splenda. However, I live in a small town, like Tarboro, that doesn't have a Starbucks and I'm a cheapskate and don't want to spend that kind of money on a regular basis. The answer to that is to learn to make your own. Obviously I am not the only one who has that I idea as I found recipes all over the internet. Many of the called for buying expensive equipment. If I have to do that, I might as well drive to Starbucks. So, these recipes don't require anything except blenders and pots. In a few cases they require a little patience. Find me on Facebook and let me know what you think!

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Soup's On
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Our first recipe is ham and potato soup. It's a simple soup but will smell good and taste even better.
The second soup is my all-time favorite - French Onion. I love it with a good gooey cheese on top. It's not a hard soup to make, so give it a try.
The third is potato and cheddar. That's a hardy soup but will become one of your favorites. It also has ham so it's almost the same as the first soup but with cheddar cheese.
The last soup is a leftover or potluck soup with pasta in it. This recipe makes 20 servings so you will have some to freeze or share!
When winter rolls back around, enjoy the cold with one of these soups.

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Comfort food is different for everybody, but the deep satisfaction each mouthful brings is the same. To warm the body and the soul on a chilly day, give your favorite comfort foods a delicious makeover with recipes that use Wisconsin-made Grand Cru Gruyere cheese. Gruyere is a great melting cheese with lots of flavor, which means you get more flavor in every bite.

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Cooking with Rum
A few weeks ago, a colleague went to Jamaica. He came back with bottles of Rum for our team. A very nice gesture and of course that made me start looking for rum recipes! There are a lot of them out there. Here are a few that I really liked and that I think you will enjoy too.

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Bounty of the Sear
I'm currently working in Charleston. Probably until about the end of November. Of course that means great seafood. I can go down and buy it within a few hours of it coming off the boats. I love it! There is absolutely nothing that I love more than good seafood. Besides, I need the Omega 3's that come from eating seafood. So do you!

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Butternut Squash is easy and delish!
My garden is beginning to fade away! It's hard to believe that summer is so close to being a memory. I'm not ready! But, one of the things that I love about the end of summer is harvesting my winter squash. This season we planted butternut squash. We vary what we plant each season.

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Cool Summer Drinks
It has been sooo hot! I guess that we are paying for the mild winter that we had. I know I felt that heat here in Charleston, where I'm working right now. So, when it feels like 110 in the shade, it's a great time to cool down with icy cold and delicious summer drinks. Especially since you can find fresh fruit to go in them right now!

August 1, 2012
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