Black Rice Dessert

1 cup black rice
1.5 cups water
1 can coconut milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar

Open coconut milk from bottom of can. Pour coconut milk into a glass and scoop out the cream into a small bowl. Put cream into the fridge. Mix sugar salt and water until all dissolve. Put in rice cooker with black rice and coconut milk. Press button. Wait with bated breath until rice is done. Allow to cool a bit. With wet hands form into balls, place on dessert plates. Dab some coconut cream on each ball.

Garnish with mango or mint leaves or something if you feel extra fancy tonight. This might take advance planning, so you should have decided how fancy you were going to feel ahead of time.

This is the recipe I should have followed, not the recipe I did follow.

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.