Hot Summer Drinks

I remember Rachel Ray showing us how to make a simple syrup; getting her saucepan out, adding sugar and water, simmering it until the sugar dissolved. I said to my husband, "That should be called 'not-so-simple syrup'!" After all, if you want a really simple syrup, like to make a cool and refreshing spearmint tea, strawberry lemonade, etc, you can much more easily just put some sugar in a ceramic bowl, add a bit of water, and microwave until hot. The sugar will get good and dissolved, and you don't have to heat the kitchen at all (by warming it up on that burner). Lord knows we need to keep our cool as much as possible when summer temps are through the roof...

The current heat wave sweeping the nation has put recipes for cool, refreshing drinks in the headlines. You can almost lose your appetite when it gets that hot. (Maybe a perfect time to try that juice fast?) A few of the latest drink recipes caught my eye. Here's my list of faves, plus my personal commentary:

• Strawberry Basil Lemonade: If you have access to good strawberries (no, not those flavorless ones from the grocery store), then you might try this. These flavors are perfect together! A friend turned me on to the idea of adding basil to fruits. (Fruit kabobs are great with a bit of basil syrup drizzled over.) I would try the microwave for the strawberry basil syrup; just microwave the sugar/water until piping hot, then let the basil and strawberries steep in it. (Or rewarm the mix in the microwave a bit more, to extract more flavor.)

• Ginger Ale: The idea for this is good. Use some fresh ginger juice for optimum flavor. Yes, you can grate the fresh ginger and strain the juice out. We did this once for a wedding, when we wanted to add lots of ginger flavor to the sauce at the last minute; we used our Champion juice to juice a pound or two of fresh ginger. Made ginger ice cubes out of it and had that fresh ginger juice handy for months. (Without the pesky pulp floating around with it.) The recipe posted includes vanilla for more flavor, and some seltzer water (or soda water). But I say it fails by suggesting Stevia. I have concerns about the use of stevia. I'll post my theory on that in an upcoming post. I would opt for sugar granules myself.

• Watermelon Strawberry Lemonade: Super easy recipe; just blend the fruits with some sugar and lemon juice. What a great way to have that refreshing watermelon flavor, without all those rinds floating around!

Can't wait to try these!