Hot Cranberry Cider

Makes about 2 quarts

1 quart apple cider or juice
1 32 oz bottle cranberry juice cocktail
1/2 cup Lemon Juice
1/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
8 whole cloves
2 cinnamon sticks

In saucepan, bring ingreidents to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 10 mins. Remove spices.

Frozen Fruit Ring for Punch

This is a recipe from Nancy Morelock. And of course, her rings were BEAUTIFUL.

12 oz Frozen Raspberry or cranraspberry punch/juice concentrate
Mix up per directions. Fill up 1/3 of ring with juice.*
2 pkg frozen berry mix (*Can place some of this fruit in the ring with the juice above)
3 lemons
3 limes
Grapes (green or red, I like green)
Nectarine
White Grape Juice Concentrate (Mix with 3 cans water)
2 Liter bottle of 7UP

Carefully peel lemons and limes in spiral shape being careful not to break as much as possible.
Coil the peels into flowers. You can choose either edge to be the top. Place the 6 flowers around the frozen ring. Slice the nectarine and place between the flowers. Pour more of the frozen berry mix around the flowers and on the ice ring. Carefully pour more of the juice over the fruit, about another 1/3 of the ring. Freeze. Then pour the rest of the juice (and if you want more of the fruit) in the rest of the ring and freeze.

Make the punch with the white grape juice concentrate, water and 7UP before serving. Take ice ring out of freezer and place in hot water in sink until just loosened from the ring. Put the ring in the punch bowl. VOILA

Strawberry Agua Fresca

With strawberries on sale and Spring here to stay, I thought this was a fun way to celebrate a bit of warm weather.

Spanish for "fresh water," agua fresca is a refreshing, fruit-infused drink that is served throughout Mexico. Depending on the ripeness of the berries, adjust the amount of sugar for desired sweetness.

YIELD: 8 cups (serving size: 1 1/3 cups)

Ingredients

• 4 cups water
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 6 cups hulled strawberries
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice (about 2 limes)

Preparation

Combine water and sugar, stirring until sugar dissolves. Place strawberries in a blender, and process until smooth. Combine the sugar mixture, strawberry puree, and juice; stir well.

Traci Des Jardins, Mijita, San Francisco, California, Cooking Light MAY 2005

Leslie's Mock Libation

Leslie Melchert, Age 20, Des Plaines, IL (First Prize Winner)

1 cup fresh squeezed orange juice (3-4 oranges)
2-3 orange segments
1 Tbsp. vanilla yogurt
1/2 tsp. orange-flavored gelatin (dry)
Orange and/or grapefruit segments
Fresh mint

Prepare glass.*
In blender, combine all ingredients except garnish; blend until smooth. Pour into prepared glass; garnish with 3 citrus segments threaded on long wooden skewer. Top drink with mint. Makes one 9 oz serving.

*Chill tall (10-12 oz) glass in freezer. Turn frosted glass upside-down on small amount of additional orange-flavored gelatin to coat rim; return to freezer.

Whizzy Sour Mocktail

Whizzy Sour (Janna Jarvis, Age 17, Little Rock, AR)

2 cups fresh squeezed OJ (6-8 oranges)
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup maraschino cherry juice
1 bottle (1 liter) lemon-lime soda or club soda
Orange cartwheel slices
Maraschino cherries

Combine fruit juices. Pour into 2 ice cube trays; freeze.
To serve, place 3-4 frozen cubes in each 8oz glass.
Fill with soda; stirr well.
Garnish with orange slices and cherries.
(Makes 24 cubes for 6-8 7 oz. servings)

Note: Unused "orange cubes" can be stored in plastic bag in freezer. Make a couple of trays ahead and keep in freezer to have on hand.

Mocktails (Mock Cocktails)

Years ago I received a Sunkist pamphlet on Mock Cocktails. It included "Twenty-two award winning party time beverage recipes from the 1989 "Sunkist/S.A.D.D. )Students Against Driving Drunk) Mock-Cocktail Recipe Contest. Each recipe contains refreshing, flavorful citrus juices and a colorful citrus garnish for extra eye appeal." So credit goes to "Sunkist Growers, Inc., Consumer Affairs Dept., Box 7888, Van Nuys, CA 91409" just in case you want to write them for these recipes (by now they are probably on a website somewhere). So, not having tried any, I thought I'd like to write them down to try sometime!

Phantom of the Prom Punch (Elizabeth H. Brown, Age 14, Rex, GA)
2 quarts fresh squeezed orange juice, chilled (24-32 oranges)*
1 bottle (48 oz) guava fruit drink, chilled
1 can (12 oz) frozen concentrated cranberry juice cocktail, thawed
1 1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 1/2 bottles (1 liter each) club soda, chilled
Orange Peel Rose Ice Ring**

In large punch bowl, combine fruit juices and almond extract; stir well. Float Ice ring in punch. Makes 22 cups

*Make orange peel roses before cutting oranges in half and juicing.
**To unmold Ice Ring, place metal mold briefly in warm water; remove Ice Ring and float in punch.

Orange Peel Rose Ice Ring: With vegetable parer or knife, peel 4-6 oranges in thin continuous spirals (about 3/4 to 1 inch wide), removing outer colored layer of peel only. (If necessary, palce peel in near-boiling water for 1-2 minutes to make more pliable; cool in cold water for easy handling.) Cut peel into 6-8 inch length strips. To make roses, wind each strip of peel in revers, with colored side in. Roll peel to form a rose shape with the bottom of the roll tighter than the top so the rose will flare open a bit. Secure with toothpick. Make 8-12 roses; freeze for one hour. Pour about 1/2 inch of water into a 1 1/2 quart metal ring mold. Cut off excess toothpick from each rose. Arrange roses, upside-down, in mold; freeze until firm. Add enough water to cover roses, freeze again. Fill mold with water to within 1/2 inch of top; freeze until firm.

A Mexican Fiesta

Tamara and I made a delicious meal while singing Amigos Para Siempre tonight in Tennessee. Apparently, Tamara does not think I sound like José Carreras even with my best vibrato.

Here’s our menu:

Pepper Jack, Chicken, and Peach Quesadillas

Black refried beans

Rice

Jalapeño carrots

Plátanos

Horchata – (a recipe shared by Whitney Todd via Logan Julander)

For 2 quarts of Horchata:

Soak a cup of rice for 6 or so hours.

Blend the rice in the water it has been soaking in.

Add one can of sweetened condensed milk*, a couple of cinnamon sticks, ground cinnamon, and half a cap of vanilla.

Add water and lots of ice y gozar.

*I was under the impression that dulce de leche was the same thing as sweetened condensed milk. That is false. They are not the same. However, it makes an interesting (and tasty) variation that I would do again on purpose.

Eggnog

Here is the recipe for eggnog we used this year as emailed to me by my mom. Make sure that you turn off the burner when you’re done cooking, or you’ll end up with a thin lumpy custard instead of a drink.

Recipe By: Better Homes and Garden
Yield: 4 cups

1/3 cup sugar
2 egg yolks
1/4  teaspoon salt
4 cups milk
2 egg whites
3 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
whipping cream
nutmeg

Beat together 1/3 cup of sugar and 2 egg yolks.  Add salt and milk.  Heat on the stove at medium heat stirring constantly until the mixture starts to coat the spoon.  Mom and I watch for bubbles to form at the edge of the pot.  Cool (if you want).
Beat egg whites and slowly add the 3 teaspoons of sugar.  Beat to soft peaks.  Add vanilla.
Fold egg white mixture into milk mixture.
Serve warm or cold with a dollop of whipped cream sprinkled with a bit of ground nutmeg.

Zero Calorie Slushy

Ice
Water

Add ice and water in blender and blend until desired consistency.

Cool Summer Drinks

I loved Brent's summer beverage post. I'm always looking for ways to stay comfortable when the weather heats up. Check out this fun calendar for a month of cool beverages and refreshing sippers: My Recipes - June Calendar

Here's the list of non-alcoholic drinks from the calendar:

June 1 - Strawberry-Raspberry Soda
June 8 - Chocolate Fizz
June 10 - Homemade Orange Soda
June 11 - Pomegranate Orange Cooler
June 15 - Triple Berry Freeze
June 16 - Berry-Melon Agua Fresca
June 17 - White Grape-and-Orange Cooler
June 29 - Orange-Basil Cooler
June 30 - Fresh-Squeezed Lemonade

Does anyone have tips for making some of the other drinks without alcohol? I know Jack makes Mojitos without rum. Do you substitute extra juice or just leave out the alcohol?

Let us know if you try any of these fun drinks.

Ginger Limeade

I served this to my friends for my birthday party this year. It's from Cooking Light.

Instead of making my own limeade, I substituted frozen limeade from concentrate.

Ingredients

6 cups cold water, divided
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons chopped peeled fresh ginger
3 tablespoons grated lime rind
10 mint leaves
1 1/4 cups fresh lime juice (about 6 limes)
4 lime wedges (optional)

Preparation

Combine 1/4 cup water, sugar, ginger, rind, and mint leaves in a blender, and process until well blended. Cover; chill for 2 hours.

Add remaining 5 3/4 cups water and juice; stir to combine. Garnish with lime wedges, if desired.

Yield

4 servings (serving size: 2 cups)

Watermelon Cooler

This was the runner up for my birthday beverage this year. It's looks beautiful served in a glass pitcher. From SouthernLiving

Prep: 30 min., Freeze: 8 hr., Stand: 15 min.

Ingredients

8 cups (1/2-inch) watermelon cubes
1 1/2 cups ginger ale
1/3 cup water
1 (6-oz.) can frozen limeade concentrate

Preparation

1. Place watermelon cubes in a single layer in an extra-large zip-top plastic freezer bag, and freeze 8 hours. Let stand at room temperature 15 minutes.

2. Process half each of watermelon, ginger ale, water, and limeade concentrate in a blender until smooth; pour mixture into a pitcher. Repeat procedure with remaining half of ingredients; stir into pitcher, and serve immediately.

Honeydew Cooler: Substitute 8 cups (1/2-inch) honeydew melon cubes for watermelon cubes and 1 (6-oz.) can frozen lemonade concentrate for limeade concentrate; proceed as directed.

Cantaloupe Cooler: Substitute 8 cups (1/2-inch) cantaloupe cubes for watermelon, and add 2 tsp. grated fresh ginger to mixture in blender. Proceed as directed.

Yield

Makes about 8 cups (serving size: 1 cup)

Orange Julius

½ 6 oz can frozen OJ

½ c milk

½ cup water

¼ cup sugar

½ tsp vanilla

5-6 ice cubes

Blend all items on high speed in blender until ice is finely crushed. Serve immediately. (Our family of 5 doubles recipe)

I enjoyed making these on hot summer days to enjoy a little splash of coolness.