Y'all, I may be living up here in Chicago, and I may be a Yankee when it comes to politics and fashion; but when it comes to drink selections, I have to tell you that I'm a southern girl at heart (I love tea, punch, and simple syrup). Here are some delicious summertime beverages (both adult and all-ages) to cool you off.
TANGY ICED TEA
I picked up this recipe, or its origin, from a very fantastic southern woman who also happens to be one hell of a state senator.
Ingredients:
4 bags of Celestial Seasonings Magic Mint Iced Tea
Sugar (to taste)
1 lime
Water (boiling, cool, and ice)
It's also very preferable to have a fiestaware pitcher.
Place the tea bags in your pitcher, and fill it about halfway with boiling water. Let the teabags steep for quite some time - long enough for the water to cool off a little bit, so that it's merely warm or lukewarm. After the long steep, fish the teabags out (I use a slotted spoon). While the tea is still warm/lukewarm, add your sugar if any. This is where geography really counts - here in Chicago, I only added about 2 TB for the whole pitcher. Down in Atlanta, you might add as much as 3/4 of a cup. The amount of sugar is most likely going to be inversely proportional to your northerly distance from the equator. Stir real well, so the sugar can dissolve. Next, fill the pitcher the rest of the way up with cool water. Slice your fresh lime, squeeze all it's juice into the tea, add a couple ice, cubes, and stick it in the fridge. You can drink it as soon as it's cold enough for you (it's good when very very cold, IMHO~)
CRANBERRY PUNCH
I picked up this recipe very recently, from a terrific southern lady who also happens to have recently catered a lovely engagement party...!
Ingredients:
Cran-Something Juice (Cran-Raspberry works a charm)
Fresca
OPTIONAL SECRET INGREDIENT
That's it! Get a punch bowl or a very large pitcher. Pour about 3/4 of a regular-sized Cran-Something cocktail in there, and then add a can of Fresca and some ice. It is tasty, y'all! And I don't even like Fresca! If you want to make me and Blanche Devereaux really happy, you can also add (CLH OPTIONAL SECRET INGREDIENT) a block of raspberry sorbet. Ohh-la-la.
PEACHY WINE FIZZSTER (WARNING!! ADULT BEVERAGE!)
I picked this up from some terrific northern ladies who happen to live on Big Rock Candy Mountain. But we were drinking it in the deepest south of all, Miami Beach, Florida.
Ingredients:
White wine
Peach Juice
Seltzer OR citrus soda
Ice
This is really just punch with wine, y'all. It ain't complicated. I find that this one works best if the ingredients are in about equal amounts - but if you're working with a little less bubbly stuff, that's OK too. I mix this one right in the glass. First: ice in the glass (and who am I kidding - by glass I mean Solo cup), then wine, then peach juice, then seltzer or soda.
ENJOY! I am enjoying a tangy iced tea right now (guess what - it's caffeine free).
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