Sweet Raspberry Lemonade

The last couple days have been pretty hot, close to 80. It was perfect weather to play outside with sprinklers and drink lemonade. Normally my idea of making lemonade is opening a can of frozen concentrate and maybe mixing it with some frozen berries, if im feeling fancy. This time I decided to go all out and do it home made. It's not something i'll do everytime, but definitely when i'm feeling up to it. Even with making the mistake of adding all of the raspberry puree to the lemonade (oops! I was wondering why it was so strong..) it still turned out fine.

Sweet Raspberry Lemonade

Joy the Baker

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar, for a less sweet lemonade, take the sugar down to 3/4 cup

1 cup water to make the simple syrup

1 cup fresh lemon juice (about 4-6 lemons)

4 cups cold water

2 Tablespoons to 1/4 cup raspberry sauce, depending on how much raspberry you like (recipe below)

Directions: Make simple syrup by heating the sugar and water in a small saucepan until the sugar is dissolved completely. While the sugar is dissolving, use a juicer to extract the juice from 4 to 6 lemons, enough for one cup of juice. Add the juice and the sugar water to a pitcher. Add 4 cups of cold water, more or less to the desired strength. Add the prepared raspberry sauce and stir to combine. Refrigerate 30 to 40 minutes. If the lemonade is a little sweet for your taste, add a little more straight lemon juice to it. Serve over ice. Serves 6.

Easy Raspberry Sauce

Ingredients:

1/2 of a 12-ounce bag frozen raspberries, thawed

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon water

Directions: Place the thawed raspberries in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a blade attachment. Add sugar and water and mix until the raspberries form a smooth puree. Transfer raspberry puree to a fine mesh strainer fit over a bowl. Press the puree through the strainer, until only the raspberry seeds and a bit of pulp remain the the strainer, and a beautiful raspberry sauce is all that’s in the bowl.

Christmas Wassail

I forgot to get a picture, but it's just an apple cider-like drink. I made this for our Halloween party since it was going to be outside. I just put it on warm in the crockpot and it stayed hot all night. This is the perfect drink for cold nights and reminds me so much of Christmas time.

Christmas Wassail
GoodLife Eats

Ingredients:
2 quarts apple juice
2 cups orange juice
1 1/2 cup 100% cranberry juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup brown sugar
4 cinnamon sticks
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp whole cloves

Directions:
Combine all ingredients and bring to a boil. Lower heat to medium-low and simmer for 15 minutes. Turn to low to keep warm or put in a crock-pot on warm to keep all day

Frozen Hot Chocolate

What's with this weather?? It's been hotter the last couple of days, now that it's fall, than it has almost all summer! Simple to make and delicious to drink, this beverage is a perfect mix of summer and fall and appropriate for any season. I gave Rylee a sip and she kept wanting more! I also added about 1/2 t. of pumpkin pie spice and it was really good in it.

Frozen Hot Chocolate
mels kitchen cafe


Serves 4
Ingredients:
4 ounces of your favorite chocolate (I used semi-sweet chocolate chips)
2 teaspoons store-bought hot chocolate powder
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 cups milk
3 cups ice cubes
slightly sweetened whipped cream (I didn't have whipped cream and instead used marshmallows which were good but obviously don't melt)
chocolate shavings (optional)

Directions:
Chop chocolate into small pieces and melt in microwave on low heat. Once melted, add hot chocolate mix and sugar, stirring constantly until thoroughly blended. Slowly add 1/2 cup milk, stirring until smooth. Cool to room temperature.
In blender, place the remaining 1 cup milk, room-temperature chocolate mixture and ice. Blend on high speed until smooth and the consistency of a frozen daiquiri. Enjoy!