Thursday, August 18, 2011

I love MOCKTAILS!

As the summer enters it`s last few weeks, it is now most important that you sit back and relax and enjoy every last minute of it! Now imagine you're sitting, relaxing poolside or even just on a patio chair in your backyard and you feel the warmth of the sun on your skin and the nice cool breeze and you think to yourself, what could be better than this? Well I know something that could take that relaxing moment up a notch, what's better than sitting back and relaxing with a nice cool beverage! Hmm, I don't think anything can beat that, so ladies get out your blenders and get ready to try one of these recipes to make an icy cold treat!

Fruity concoctions


Strawberry Lemonade Daiquiri
1/2 cup of lemonade
1/2 cup of strawberries
crushed ice

Recipe
Add lemonade, strawberries, and 5 ice cubes to the blender.
Blend until slushy.
Place a sugared strawberry on the rim of the glass and add a little umbrella for style
Best served in a margarita glass

Watermelon Mojito
Serves 4
Ingredients
2 limes
4 1/2 cups of watermelon (seedless)
1/2 spoons of sugar
3 cups of mineral water
40 mint leaves

Recipe
Cut the limes in quarters
Squeeze the limes in a glass
Add pureed watermelon, mint leaves and the sugar
Crush all of the ingredients with a spoon for 2 to 3 minutes for the flavours to incorporate.
Add the mineral water and mix well
Best served in a tall glass with ice
Decorate with mint leave, little pieces of watermelon and a slice of lime

Very Berry Mix
Serves 8
Ingredients
3 cups of blackberries
1 cup of raspberries
1/2 cup of sugar syrup ( 1 cup of sugar
                                          1/2 cup of boiled water, you might have extra so measure out 1 cup of the syrup
                                           click this link for further instruction)
1/2 cup of of grape juice
1/3 cup of lime juice
1 cup of cold  mineral water

Recipe
Blend blackberries, raspberries, sugar syrup, grape juice, lime juice
Mix until everything is completely blended together
Strain the mixture to remove the remaining solids
Fill 8 tall glasses with ice
Serve the mixture equally between the glass and finish with adding mineral water
Serve immediately

Cucumber Lemonade
( I know what your thinking cucumber with lemonade but it actually looks extremely refreshing!!)
Ingredients
1 large cucumber
1/4 sea salt
2 limes
1 1/2 cups of water
1 cup of ice
1/4 cups of sugar

Recipe
Peel the cucumber and remove the seeds
Slice the cucumber and cut the slices in half
Blend the cucumber pieces, the water, sugar, salt, and the ice until smooth
Serve in tall glasses and decorate with slices of cucumber

Shirley Temple (completely virgin of course)
Ingredients
1/2 cups of chilled Ginger Ale
1 tablespoon of grenadine*
2 limes
And Ice

Recipe
Add all the ingredients and squeeze limes for the juice
Stir all ingredients
Pour over Ice
Garnish with a cherry
Serve in a frosted high ball glass

Sex on the Beach (mocktail)
Ingredients
3 tablespoons peach nectar
1/2 cup of cranberry juice
1/2 of pineapple juice
Ice

Recipe
Place ice at the bottom of the glass
Pour nectar followed by cranberry juice and pineapple juice

Chocolate Lovers' Concoctions

Chocolate Martini  
Ingredients
1/2 cups of milk
3 tablespoons of chocolate syrup
Crushed ice

Recipe
Place milk, chocolate syrup, and crushed ice in the blender.
Blend until icy and slushy
Coat the glass with chocolate syrup on the inside walls of the glass
Rim the edges with chocolate powder
Pour chocolate slushy into the glass
Top with a chocolate covered cheery or strawberry
Best served in a martini glass

White Chocolate Milkshake
Ingredients
1/4 cup of Vanilla Chocolate Syrup
2 1/2 cups of Vanilla Ice Cream
1/4 cup of milk
Recipe

Combine all ingredients into blender
Blend on high until smooth
Serve in a tall pre-chilled glass

Coffee Lovers

Caramel Frappuchino
Ingredients
Chocolate powder mix
1 cup of skim milk
1tbsp of instant coffee
Ice cubes
Caramel
Whip cream

Recipe
Combine hot chocolate mix, skim milk and instant coffee in a blender
Add the ice to the blender and blend until smooth
Coat the inside of the glass with drizzles of caramel then pour the frappuchino in
Add whip cream to the top
Drizzle caramel over the whip cream and add a dash of cinnamon on top

******* Featured Smoothie*********
Sandra`s Mango- Banana-Strawberry Smoothie
Sandra is a fellow blogger and I just thought this smoothie was very creative and certainly presentable which is why I wanted to share it!
Try this oust and check out her blog  for all types of food recipes.
Ingredients
***1st layer:
1 mango, peeled, pitted and chopped
½ cup orange juice
1 tablespoon lime juice
2 tablespoons honey                                            
3 medium ice cubes
***2nd Layer:                                                      
1 banana, chopped
10 strawberries, cut in half
1 tablespoon lime juice
3 medium ice cubes

Method
In a blender, puree the mango, orange juice, lime juice, honey, and ice cubes, until smooth, and divide amongst 2 straight-sided 8 oz. glasses, and set aside.
Rinse blender, then puree banana, strawberries, lemon juice, and ice cubes, until smooth, and gently pour into glasses while trying to maintain a line separating the layers. – Enjoy!

*Note: if you don't have grenadine and can not find it in your local stores, it isn't a problem, I have done my research of an easy way to make a Grenadine Substitute

Grenadine Substitute
2 cups of pomegranate juice
1 cup sugar syrup             ( 1 cup of sugar
                                          1/2 cup of boiled water, you might have extra so measure out 1 cup of the syrup
                                           click this link for further instruction)
Shake the liquids together in a tight jar


So there you have it along list of cool drinks to try that scream summer. Have fun and Enjoy making and drinking your summer concoctions.

P.S I would love to add additional photos to these drinks so, if any of you dare to make them send in a picture and I will feature it giving you credit! Also if any of you have a favourite drink, don`t be shy, and let me know, I'm always looking for a great summer drink!!!