Drink! Drink!

 

As you can tell by the three posts today, we are indeed a foodie family. I'm here to share with you two drinks....not the kind you may be thinking of, rather the kind you can serve your Grandmother.

On a nice summer's day serve this up and you will have everyone eating out of your hand or sipping out of your palm, as it were.

 

Strawberry Lemonade
8 Servings (I triple or even more)
Cool: About 1 hour
Stand: About 1 hour

Ingredients
1 1/2 c. sugar
4 c. water
2 c. strawberries, hulled
1 T. finely shredded lemon peel
1 c. fresh lemon juice (4 - 5 lemons)

In a small saucepan combine 1 cup of the sugar and 1 cup of the water; cook and stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Set aside to cool.

In a blender combine remaining 3 c. water, 1/2 c. sugar, and the strawberries; process until smooth. Transfer to a 2-quart pitcher; add cooled syrup, lemon peel, and lemon juice. Stir to combine. Fill pitcher with crushed ice. Makes 8, 8-oz. servings.

Make ahead tip: Prepare lemonade but do not add ice. Cover and chill up to 8 hours. Add ice and serve.

For something very classy (via Martha Stewart) serve the following (a favorite among all who have tried it).

 

Vanilla Egg Cream (There's no egg and no cream in it. Go figure the name.)

Makes 1.
2 T. Vanilla Simple Syrup (recipe follows)
4 oz. whole milk
4 oz. cold seltzer

In a tall glass mix together vanilla simple syrup, milk, and seltzer; stir well to combine. Serve immediately.

Vanilla Simple Syrup
Makes 1 1/2 c.

1 c. sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract.

Bring sugar and 1 c. water to a boil in a saucepan over medium heat, and cook, stirring, until sugar has dissolved. Let cool completely. Stir in vanilla extract. Store in refrigerator.

Source: Martha Stewart website. You can find it here.

Notes: We discovered that different kinds of seltzer made for more or less bubbles. Either way (bubbly or not), this drink is delicious!

 

Above: My drink was not so bubbly.

 

 

Above: My sister made it another day with a different kind of seltzer and hers was much more bubbly.

 

Above: Experiment to see what kind of seltzer you prefer.