Red Slushie

Last Saturday, it was a warm day and I wanted to make a refreshing drink/treat for my family. The result was pretty good; absolutely NO nutrition but cheaper than a 7-11 Slurpee and I had the ingredients on hand.

Strawberry-lemonade Slushie
1/4 c lemon juice
1 1/2 c water
1 1/4 c sugar
about 1/2 packet strawberry Koolaid (unsweetened powder)
ice

Put the lemon juice, water, and sugar into the blender. Blend for a few minutes until the sugar is completely dissolved. Then add Koolaid mix, and blend. Keep in mind, red Koolaid can stain so keep the blender lid ON! Fill the blender up to the top with ice; in my case I have a 1.5 quart blender and the proportions were just right. Blend until it's a nice slushie texture; delicious!

Obviously some blenders can handle ice and full loads better than others; with mine I had to add a handful of ice at a time so it wouldn't get bogged down. It took several minutes to get it all blended thoroughly but it turned out nicely in the end. I made a second batch later that day; I'm going to remember this little trick throughout the hot summer.




photo found here

Wassail

This wassail is so soothing and warms you right to your bones when it's cold.

In a large pot, boil together for 20 minutes:

1 qt water
1 tsp cloves
5 cinnamon sticks
1 c sugar

Then add:

1 12-oz can orange juice concentrate
1 12-oz can lemonade concentrate
2 cans water
2 qts apple juice

Keep over medium heat until it's as hot as you like it! Makes a little more than a gallon.

Note: if you have a spice bag for the cinnamon sticks and cloves, use it. If not, strain out the spices before serving.


Recipe courtesy of my mother-in-law Ruth

Methodist Punch

My Grandma calls it Methodist Punch so that's what I call it too ~ although any demonination will enjoy it :) This recipe makes enough for a big crowd, and since it's frozen you can save the leftovers for later!


1 1/2 qt water
3 c sugar
12 oz can frozen orange juice, thawed
46 oz can of pineapple-grapefruit juice (or plain pineapple juice since hardly any store has pineapple-grapefruit)
-If using pineapple juice, squeeze in the juice of a couple of grapefruits if you have them on hand, or add about a cup of grapefruit juice
4 bananas, mashed
club soda

Mix water & sugar. Add orange juice concentrate, other juices, and bananas. Mixing with a whisk will help the bananas get mixed in well. Pour into containers and freeze. I use gallon-sized ziploc bags; this quantity will fit into 3 or 4 ziplocs. I would recommend freezing it in 3 or 4 batches, whatever the container: freezing it all together will a) take a long time to freeze through, and b) take forever to thaw out!

About an hour before serving, take frozen juice mixture out of the freezer. Use 1 qt of club soda per 2 quarts of juice mixture - not an exact science. What I do is put a ziploc's worth into a punch bowl and pour a quart of club soda over the top of it, helping it to thaw by attacking the frozen punch with a knife if need be. But if you get the punch out of the freezer in time, no knife-attacks will be necessary!


Recipe courtesy of my Grandma P