Strawberry-Basil Lemonade Recipe
Difficulty: Easy | Total Time: 1 hr | Makes: About 12 cups
Fresh strawberries and basil turn the drink kids love to make and sell into a sophisticated booze-free refreshment. Add plenty of ice or use an ice ring to keep it cold.
What to buy: Although bottled lemon juice works just fine in this recipe, it’s worth checking the refrigerated aisle for freshly squeezed lemon juice. If you’re feeling ambitious, squeeze the juice yourself (you’ll need about 14 lemons), straining out the pulp and seeds.
INGREDIENTS
For the strawberry-basil syrup:
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup water
1 pound strawberries, washed, hulled, and sliced 1/2 inch thick
3/4 cup tightly packed basil leaves
For the lemonade:
8 cups cold water
2 cups lemon juice, chilled
Ice
1/2 pound strawberries, washed, hulled, and sliced 1/2 inch thick, for garnish
1/4 cup tightly packed, blemish-free basil leaves, for garnish
INSTRUCTIONS
For the strawberry-basil syrup:
Place the sugar and water in a medium saucepan over high heat and stir until the sugar dissolves and the mixture comes to a boil. Add the strawberries, reduce the heat to medium low, and simmer until the strawberries have softened, about 10 minutes.
Remove from the heat, add the basil leaves, and stir to incorporate. Cool to room temperature, about 45 minutes. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer set over a medium bowl; discard the solids. Cover the syrup and refrigerate until ready to use.
For the lemonade:
Pour the water, lemon juice, and 1 1/2 cups of the strawberry-basil syrup into a 3-quart pitcher or punch bowl and stir to combine. Taste and add additional strawberry-basil syrup as needed. Add ice and garnish with the sliced strawberries and basil leaves.
(source: http://www.chow.com/recipes/28510-strawberry-basil-lemonade)
Virgin Pomegranate-Lime Rickey Recipe
Difficulty: Easy | Total Time: 1 hr 45 mins | Makes: 5 1/4 cups
A classic summer cooler, a lime rickey can be mixed up with gin or bourbon or, for a virgin rickey (like this one), with fruit syrup. Either rendition is equally bubbly, limey, and thirst-quenching.
INGREDIENTS
2/3 cup pomegranate juice (no sugar added)
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 to 3 drops orange-flower water (optional)
4 cups club soda, chilled
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (from about 2 medium limes)
Lime slices, for garnish
Ice
INSTRUCTIONS
Heat the pomegranate juice in a small saucepan over medium heat until steam rises from the surface and a few bubbles have formed around the perimeter of the pan, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
Add the sugar and stir until it has dissolved and the mixture is no longer cloudy, about 5 minutes.
Stir in the orange-flower water (if using) and let the syrup cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes. Refrigerate until chilled, about 1 hour.
Pour the chilled pomegranate syrup, club soda, and lime juice into a 6-cup pitcher and stir gently to combine (stirring too vigorously will deflate the fizz). Float lime slices in the pitcher. Serve over ice with additional lime slices.
(source: http://www.chow.com/recipes/28511-virgin-pomegranate-lime-rickey)
It is like, roasting this year. Construction sucks at this time of year for workers.
Patriotic Drink For Kids
3 ounces cranberry juice or 3 ounces fruit punch
3 ounces Gatorade sports drink (blue)
3 ounces sugar free 7-Up or 3 ounces Sprite
ice cubes, fill glass to the top with cubes
Directions:
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Place the ice cubes in the bottom 3rd of a tall 12 ounce clear glass. Pour the cranberry juice or fruit punch in to fill the bottom 3rd.
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Place a few more cubes in to the middle and pour in the blue Gatorade to fill the glass 2/3 full.
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Place the final 3rd of ice in the glass. Pour in the diet 7up or diet Sprite.
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Serve and enjoy!
(source - http://www.food.com/recipe/patriotic-drink-for-kids-175888)
Red-White-and-Blue Drinks
Turn summer drinks into firecrackers by coating the glass rims with Pop Rocks. Just dampen with lemon juice, then dip the rims in the candies on a plate. To get the red-white-and-blue effect, use Tropical Punch (blue) Pop Rocks, then fill the glasses with any red drink or cocktail; Pictured is mixed pomegranate and cranberry juice with seltzer.
