By Enid Donaldson-Mignotte, Contributor
Hot enough for you? If the blazing heat of summer has you by the throat, don't sweat it. We have some quick and easy drink recipes to slake your thirst this summer season.
IN A hot climate like ours it is essential to drink plenty of beverages, whether it's water, fruit juice or weak tea.
Basic Lemonade Syrup
1 lb. sugar (granulated or brown)
1 pint water
8 limes or 4 lemons (rind and juice)
METHOD
1, Boil the sugar and water together without stirring until it is a thick syrup, add the grated outer rind of the limes or lemons.
2. When this cools, add the lemons or limejuice and bottle.
3. Dilute with ice water for lemonade.
The syrup may also be used as a base for
many cooling drinks.
Remember, when making lemonade, always put the sugar in the water before adding lime or lemon juice, it uses much less sugar.
If you bruise sprigs of rind and place one in each glass before adding the mixture, remove it before adding soda water and ice. When this is done float a fresh sprig of mint on top of each instead of garnishing with lime or orange slices.
Bentley Ale
This drink is said to be named after a bishop
1 oz. sugar
1 1/2 tbsps. water
1 1/2 tbsps. fresh lime or lemon juice
Soda water
Dash Angostura Bitters
Cherries
METHOD
1. Boil the sugar and water to make a syrup. Cool, then chill.
2. When required, add fruit juice and soda water to taste. Mix.
3. Just before serving, add a dash of Angostura Bitters, crushed ice and top each glass with a cherry.
Ginger Wine
6 ozs. green root ginger
1 quart boiling water
4 cups sugar
1 pack dry yeast
3 ozs. raisins
Rind of 1 orange
Juice of 1 lime
METHOD
1. Wash and beat ginger, place in boiling water. Add sugar, dissolve well.
2. Lower flame and boil for 2 minutes.
3. Remove and cool.
4. Pour into thoroughly clean processing jar (glass or clay).
5. Remove rind on second day.
6. Cover and store for 28 days.
Strain and bottle. Will ripen a little
further with age.
Ginger Beer
12 ozs. root ginger
10 cups water
3 cups granulated sugar
1 tsp. cream of tartar
1/4 tsp. salt
3 tsps. lime juice
METHOD
1. Wash root ginger with a brush and cut in small pieces.
2. Divide ginger in half and blend in half water at high speed.
3. Repeat with the rest of water and ginger.
4. Taste. If ginger flavour is not satisfactory add more water or more ginger until to get the desired taste.
5. Mix all ingredients together, cover and leave in a glass or stainless steel container for a day or two.
6. Drain and bottle. Serve over ice cubes
Yields 12 to 15 servings.
TIPS:
Add a dash of rum to homemade ginger beer to make it keep better.
It is easier to grate the ginger root and freeze.
Peel and grate a big batch of ginger all at once and freeze it in ziptop bags and use when necessary. Grated ginger is hard enough to be broken into usable quantities and defrosted quickly.
Lime Squash
1 oz. lime juice
2 ozs. sugar syrup
4 ozs. soda water
METHOD
1. Put all ingredients with ice in a 12 oz. Collins glass.
2. Stir with a bar spoon.
3. Serve with a long straw and a cherry.
QUICK TIPS
Use water that has just come to the full boil to make hot beverages and water fresh from the tap to make cold drinks. Be sure to serve hot drinks really hot and cold drinks chilled.
Make a healthy and refreshing drink from the peelings of melon or pineapple. Just add a bit of sugar to the peelings, steep in boiling water, then strain and chill in the refrigerator.
When a recipe calls for both fruit juice and rind, grate the rind first then squeeze.
For extra tangy fruit drinks, add a little grated orange, lime or lemon rind.
Have drink ingredients well chilled before mixing together.
Avoid putting tinted ice cubes in colourful fruit drinks that may grey the drinks as they melt. Pink cubes in green limeade will turn the limeade khaki.
Avoid heavy, awkward
garnishes that make beverages difficult to drink.
Freeze some of the fruit juice or drink mixture to use as ice cubes. This prevents drinks from watering down as the ice melts.
When making punch in quantity, use a large ice block in a punch bowl rather than crushed or cubed ice, it melts more slowly, and waters the punch down less.
Remember cinnamon stick stirrers for hot drinks.
Orange Frost
1 1/4 cups milk
1 1/4 cups orange juice
1/2 cup ice
METHOD
1. Combine milk, frozen orange juice concentrate and ice in a blender.
2. Blend on high one to two minutes or until very frothy. Make sure all the ice is crushed and the drink is smooth and frothy.
For a richer, creamier version, add a scoop of vanilla ice cream or orange sherbet to the blender.
Orange Cream Float
This summer cooler brings back memories of the orange and vanilla ice cream bars. Vanilla ice cream melts into sparkling orange soda in this classic Orange Cream Float.
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 4-oz. scoop vanilla ice
cream, plus 1 tablespoon
1/2 cup seltzer water
METHOD
1. Assemble the float: Combine the juice, vanilla, and 1 tablespoon ice cream in a 16-ounce glass.
2. Add the seltzer water and stir well to combine. Top with the scoop of ice cream and serve immediately.
Yields 1 serving.
Lemonade
1 1/2 cups sugar
8 to 9 large lemons
Ice cubes
METHOD
1. In 3-quart saucepan, combine 2 cups water and the sugar. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and, stirring occasionally,
cook until sugar dissolves, 1 to 2 minutes more. Remove sugar syrup from heat; let cool 5 minutes.
2. Cut lemons in half and extract juice, yielding about 1 1/2 cups. Strain, removing seeds and crushed pulp. Stir lemon
juice into sugar syrup.
3. In 2 1/2-quart container, combine 4 cups water and the lemon syrup; cover and refrigerate until chilled. When ready to serve lemonade, pour over ice cubes in individual glasses.
