Here in Pennsylvania, we have had torrential rain for 40 days and 40 nights, and it’s hard to believe that summer will ever come. But when it does, I’ll be ready with these 5 easy summer treats to keep my kids and myself nice and cool.
1. Frozen grapes on a stick. Get a bamboo skewer and stick some good grapes (not the yucky ones) on it, and put everything in the freezer. This is an especially good idea when you are kind of sick of eating grapes but you still have half a bag left, and don’t know what to do with them, and don’t want them to go to waste. Just be careful no one pokes an eye out with the skewers while eating them.
2. Fresh lemon soda. You can make this with premade organic lemonade, or you can make your own lemonade first. But the real trick is to dilute the lemonade with club soda or sparkling water (and ice) to make a thirst-quenching and highly refreshing beverage that’s not too sweet.
3. Izze floats. Izze is one of the few brands of soda I occasionally buy for my kids, because they taste so good and have no added sugar—they are all sweetened with fruit juice. Plus the colors are really pretty. To make Izze floats, take a glass or mug of your favorite flavor (I like orange) and add a scoop of vanilla ice cream or frozen vanilla yogurt. Enjoy! (Izze was bought by PepsiCo In 2006. Hopefully they’ll keep the sodas good and pure…please.)
4. Iced coffee or tea, with a paper straw! I can’t tell you how many times I have made a nice glass of iced coffee and then spilled the drink down the front of my white shirt. Something about the way ice fuses together can cause diversion out the side of the glass and accidental spillage. Straws solve that problem, but they are usually plastic. I found a great source of good old-fashioned paper straws (Aardvark Paper Drinking Straws) that bring all the fun with none of the pollution.
5. A bag of frozen berries (preferably blue). As I described in a previous post, all you have to do is wash the berries, put them on a cookie tray, freeze them, and then move them to a bag or container to enjoy whenever you or your kids want something cold, sweet, and good (and good for you, too!).
Homemade spearmint icecream! Oh, is it divine! Recipe here: http://mmmmmama.blogspot.com/2009/05/marvelous-mint-ice-cream.html
Love those frozen grapes too.
please send some of that rain down south. It hasn’t been enough for the last couple of weeks and I am tiered of watering the gardens!
I make a kind of slushy puree with fruit and ice and a splash of soda. Place in a cake pan to about -up to and inch thick. ( what size pan you need depends upon how much you make) Let freeze- then with ice cream scooper ( the old fashion kind works best or a large spoon) scrape out the slush into sherbet glasses or small bowls. yummy. ( if it is very solid just let ‘thaw’ a few minutes on a counter) It can taste (depending on fruit used) from sorbet to Italian ices. great use of too much ripening fruit. ( I have also scraped it and put it in freezer baggies for later use as left uncovered it would frost the ice and make it taste bad. )
This is so good to know (about the paper straws) I almost ruined my dishwasher last year trying to wash plastic straws and re-use them.
My summer favorite is Sunrise ginger syrup from kfoodsinc.com. I brew tea and then add a 1 cup to a pitcher. It makes the tea a slightly sweet gingery taste. Even better I add it to champagne and make Gingermosa’s. YUM!
Freeze bananas on a stick, dip them in melted chocolate and enjoy!
I freeze blueberries your way and when I want a treat, I put some in a bowl and pour milk over them. The milk freezes to the blueberries and you have a delicious, healthy frozen treat!
Great post – I love summer treats! Re: straws – try GLASS STRAWS! (they are even great for kids!!) I love mine from http://www.strawesome.com
I love your ideas.. I already love frozen grapes but the skewer is a fun way to eat them!! I’m gonna try the other recipes. what do you think of hansen’s soda? is it any good, their raspberry is soooo yummmie!!