Rose Milkshake

It's officially Summer in our neck of woods and the temperatures are slowly rising. So this colorful and refreshing Rose milkshake is just perfect for the season. Recipe is from a TV cooking show.

It wasn't until recently that I got to know that my mom likes rose milkshake. We were talking on the phone a few weeks ago and she was telling me about how she used to drink it when she was little. I wish she had told me that while she was in US, I would have made this for her. Next time she visits us, I know what to make for her.

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Lemonade Concentrate

Blogging Marathon#65: Week 2/ Day 2

Theme: Kid's Summer Vacation Recipes

Dish: Lemonade Concentrate

Whenever my son thinks he needs money to buy something from school, he asks if he can open a lemonade stand. My answer is always is 'go ahead, but don't ask me to make the lemonade'. He doesn't really get the concept that he has to spend money first to earn later.

But I wanted to make him lemonade anyway because my husband bought 2 huge bags of limes and lemons and as they say when life gives you lemons (and limes), make lemonade. Which is exactly what I did :-)

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Honeydew Citrus Juice

I am enjoying the warm summer weather, the lovely fresh summer fruit and my backyard garden these days. It makes me sad that it's already middle of summer -- I wish I can hold on it a little longer.
May be I can with this refreshing drink made with honeydew melon and citrus juice. I bought a honey dew melon the other day, it was super juicy, sweet and delicious. After eating most of it as is, I used the rest to make this drink.

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Mango Almond Smoothie

Blogging Marathon# 54: Week 2/ Day 1

Theme: Kid's Delight -- Fruits in any form

Dish: Mango-Almond Smoothie

We are starting a brand new week of blogging marathon and my theme for this week is 'Fruits in any form'. It's for Valli's Kid's Delight event being hosted this month by Harini. I have 2 extremes at home, my son doesn't want to touch any fruit and my daughter loves most of the fruits. So for this week, I've tried to make dishes that would (hopefully) please both of them.

First up is this delicious and nutritious mango-almond smoothie. With mango season in full swing, I am making sure to keep fresh, juicy mangoes in stock all the time. We eat most of them as is -- peeled and diced.

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Tropical Smoothie with Hemp Seeds

Weather is slowly taking a beautiful turn in our neck of woods. I was looking through my last year photos and noticed that the trees were already in full bloom by this time, now we only have tiny buds on trees. But at least it is getting warm and I have no complaints.
I have a summery smoothie today with pineapple, mango and banana. I added some coconut milk to the smoothie and it reminded me of pina colada a little bit.

But the secret ingredient in the smoothie is "Hemp Seeds'. I read about these seeds in Vegetarian times magazine a while back and when I saw them in Trader Joes, I couldn't stop myself from buying them. I started adding them to my morning cereal, they don't have any distinct taste -- so blend well in just about anything.

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Thai Iced Tea (with Black Tea bags & Star Anise)

Blogging Marathon# 48: Week 4/ Day 3

Theme: 1 Cuisine -- 3 Dishes

Dish: Thai Cuisine -- Thai Iced Tea

For the final day of this month's blogging marathon under 'Thai cuisine' theme, I have a cold, refreshing Thai Iced Tea. I wanted to try a Thai dessert, but then couldn't get my hands on the ingredients, so after a little search I ended up on this Thai Iced Tea recipe by Giada.

Traditionally Thai tea is made from strongly brewed Ceylon tea. However, due to the high price of the Ceylon tea, a locally grown tea known as Bai Miang is commonly used along with added food coloring to make Thai Tea. It is flavored with either orange blossom water, star anise or crushed tamarind seed. This tea is sweetened with sugar and condensed milk and served chilled. Evaporated milk, coconut milk or whole milk are generally poured over the tea and ice before serving to add taste and creamy appearance.

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Limeade with Brown Cane Sugar (Agua de Papelon)

Blogging Marathon# 46: Week 2/ Day 3
Theme: Lemon/ Lime Recipes
Dish: Agua de Papelon (Limeade with Panela/ Jaggery)

For the final day of 'Lemon/ Lime recipes', I was thinking of making something sweet. But I'm not a big fan of lemon flavored desserts -- I prefer vanilla or chocolate flavors. As I was looking through 'Viva Vegan' cookbook, I found the recipe for a Limeade with Panela or South American unprocessed cane sugar.

I bought a slab of panela a while back but totally forgot about it until I found this recipe. Papelon or Panela (as it's called in Venezuela and Colombia) is produced by cooking the juice of freshly squeezed sugar cane down to a solid, crystallized mass. I wasn't sure how it would taste because it was really dark in color, I thought it will have a molasses-ish taste but I was pleasantly surprised that it tasted just like jaggery (our own unprocessed cane sugar from India).

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Watermelon Lemonade

Here's a very simple and refreshing drink for your next summer party. Watermelons are a great summer fruit and this is a great way to use some of that huge melon lying in the fridge. 

The concentrate for the drink can be made ahead of time and then served chilled with more ice and sparkling water mixed in.

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Apple-Orange Mocktail

Blogging Marathon# 41: Week 4/ Day 3
Theme: BM Pair (Sujatha Ram)
Dish: Apple-Orange Mocktail

For the final day of this month's marathon, I have a very simple mocktail from Sujatha's blog. I hardly ever make juices at home, I'm just too lazy to make them. Because it takes quite a bit of effort to make these juices and takes mere seconds to finish them. Sigh!! Its better for everyone to just eat their fruits than drink them. This is totally my personal opinion, no offense meant to anyone.

But this particular mocktail caught my eye on Sujatha's blog. I loved her clicks and the combination of apple and orange with ginger sounded interesting. So I made it for my kids, but I guess I was the one enjoying it the most. The weather in our neck of woods has been quite summer like and this drink was very refreshing on a hot afternoon.

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Banana Nutella Milkshake

Blogging Marathon# 41: Week 1/ Day 3
Theme: Summer Specials
Dish: Banana Nutella Milkshake

For the 3rd and final day of BM# 41, I have a very simple and delicious kid friendly drink. It is calorie rich, and hence should be taken occasionally. Both my kids loved this creamy drink.

As I was thinking about this post's introduction, I was lost for a little bit since there is not much to write about the milkshake itself, apart from the fact that it is super simple to make and tastes amazing. So instead of me writing about something, I thought why not ask my readers a question and have you share your thoughts.

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Raspberry Lemonade

Here's another refreshing Summer drink that can be made ahead of time and can be served any time you have a craving for something cold and sweet. I was looking for a recipe to use up some raspberries I had in the fridge and found this Fresh Raspberry Syrup Soda recipe @ Savvy Eat. 

I made the syrup as per the recipe, but when I made the soda with just the syrup it tasted too sweet and one dimensional. Then  I added some lemon juice and voila it was instant hit with everyone.

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Strawberry Pink Lemonade

Summer is officially here in our neck of woods. Even though there has been more rain in the forecast than real sunny days, we are enjoying this time of the year to the maximum extent. This past weekend has been great, got to meet and spend time with some very good friends -- lots of yummy food and relaxed time. 

So if you are planning to entertain this summer, I have a great drink recipe that is sure to be a it at your next backyard/ BBQ party. It's super refreshing and can be made ahead of time.

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Mixed fruit Smoothie

Meeta of Whats for Lunch Honey invites all the foodies to her Monthly Mingle and comes up with a new theme for each month's mingle. Theme for this month is very aptly chosen - Beat the heat.
My entry is a mixed fruit smoothie that can be put together in no time. I used mango juice and strawberry puree that I already had in the refrigerator. You might have to adjust sweetness if you use fresh fruit.

Ingredients:
Mango juice - 1/2 cup
Strawberry puree - 1/4 cup
Banana - 1
Cold Milk - 1/2 cup
Berries - for garnish (optional)

Method:

• Blend all the ingredients till well combined.
• Pour in chilled glasses, garnish with any kind of berries and serve.

Notes: You can use Non-fat vanilla frozen yogurt instead of milk for a thicker & creamier smoothie.

Sweet Memories - Mango Juice

We bought these tiny mangoes from Indian store last week. They looked like rasam mamadipandlu (mangoes with juice instead of flesh), but they ended up being regular mangoes. I am not sure if we can even get rasalu in US. Anyway I had about 25 mangoes and only 3 people to eat them (outside heat was not helping us either). I made mango pudding (which has now become our staple mango dessert) with about 6 of them. With the rest of the mangoes I made Mango juice, recipe courtesy, Mom.

Years ago, my mom along with 2 of her best friends (our very lovely aunts, we call them both Atta) used to go to Canning & Nutrition Center in Hyderabad to make juices, jams and marmalades for the whole year and especially for the hot summer . This was like a yearly tradition during the months of march and april when there is abundance of seasonal fruit.

These ladies used to go to the center with baskets and bags full of apples, grapes, oranges, pineapples, guavas etc. (Shopping for these fruits two days earlier is another story) When they got back home they had big containers full of orange juice, grape juice, jam. They used to distribute everything among the three families. Sometimes they used to come back with surprise items like guava marmalade (this is the one I remember the most).

These are just very sweet memories....

Here is the recipe for Mango juice, it is more like a concentrate - you will need to add some cold water or water and ice to make the juice. I didnt add any preservatives or essence, cos according to my mom that might slightly change the taste.

Ingredients:
Mango pulp - 5 cups
Sugar - 4 cups
Water - 5 cups
Citric Acid - 2tsp

Method:

• Remove pulp from the mangoes. Keep aside.
• In a heavy bottom sauce pan, add sugar and water and let it come to a slow simmer.
• Dont simmer for too long, we just want the sugar to dissolve, around 10minutes on low flame.
• Add citric acid. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Strain the syrup to remove any impurities.
• After the sugar syrup is completely cooled, add the mango pulp and mix well.
• Pour into clean bottles and store in the fridge.

Notes: Make sure your hands are completely dry during the whole preparation and storing process. Pour about 1/3 of mango concentrate and the rest water to make a cup of mango juice.

Very tasty, home-made mango juice.