Blackberry Lemonade

When it is super hot, all you would need is a drink that could cool you down. And if it looks pretty too then you could enjoy its beauty while you sip it, when everything else that surrounds you looks dry and withering away with the heat. These days, I have been drinking a lot when compared to eating. When I say, drinking, I mean lemonades and coolers :P etc. This Blackberry lemonade is one such drink that you would want on such days. You cannot say no to this pretty drink and when you do drink it, you'd be glad that you tried it.

Lil J doesn't eat blackberry as such, but for this lemonade I did have to restrict him from having more. try and let me know if you did like it.

Blackberry Smoothie

Its always a joy to slurp over a smoothie on a hot afternoon. I consider it as a fun activity during my summer while I catch up on some movie :). And unlike having too many dishes to do after a whole lot of cooking, this is pretty simple and filling too. And I love smoothie because these are the most disguised way of making some fruits or berries go into my toddler....Shhh It's a secret. I cannot let that get revealed to him.

These blackberry smoothies look so pretty and taste amazing. We have been into too much smoothie lately, as the temperature rise and drink it as is, or may be even have it with cereals or oats. They are good.

Watermelon Juice

I dislike Summer. Its hot. Its dusty. It drains away energy from me. Mangoes and watermelons are what makes me love it a bit. When you get back from a days outing, all tired, a glass of mango shake/ mango lassi or plain lassi or watermelon juice could just refresh me up and help me gain back the energy.

I used to love the way they arrange the watermelons and mangoes underneath a stall roofed with palm leaves, during summer. And its so strategically placed at the entrance of the store, that you just can't miss picking them up even though you might have forgotten to write it down on your grocery list. So we ended up buying it on every grocery shopping.

Lemon, Ginger and Mint cooler

Summer at grandparents place, as kids has so many fond memories attached. It would include playing in the sun with cousins, climbing trees(yes, you heard it right.. I was good at that :)), feeding the cattle and what not and then rushing home every now and then to drink something cold or snack on something yummy. How I wish I could get back those days. Yes, those times included long academic years with books, exams and science projects and what not. But the thought of those 2 month long vacation was always looked forward to. 

We have a huge bunch of cousins. So every single get together would look like a ceremony with house full of people. It is super fun and blessing to have born in a family like that. Well, I think I drifted a little beyond the topic..he he. Lemon juice was one of the favorite drinks after a tiring day. And the elder ones used to get the job of squeezing out the juice from the lemon and making the juice. It was so frustrating to get the sugar dissolve by stirring. As a parent I now understand, why the request for making powdered sugar or sugar syrup was refused by the elders. It helped us learn patience :). Well, all said, this recipe of cooler includes concentrate that has sugar syrup added into it to make my life easier now every time I make the cooler.

Ginger Tea / Adrak Chai

Nothing like a hot tea to drive away the tiredness and bring about a fresh feeling. If the tea is flavorful then it is a bonus. It is rightly said that a lot can happen over a cup of coffee. It stands so true for tea too . Because this very blog started, as a result of the teatime conversation between me and my husband.

This ginger tea is perfect for a cold evening esp. if you are down with sore throat, then it does the job of healing it as well. 

Raw Mango Juice/ Cooler

This time when we were home, my MIL made this drink quite often. The raw mangoes were in season and whenever she would ask if anyone wanted the drink, which never had the answer as NO, she would go out pluck a mango from the tree and make it for us. It was delicious and so filling. She infact asked me to post this recipe on my blog for my readers to enjoy.

MIL had seen this recipe in the TV in some reality show. She tried it at home and was a big hit. My lil one also would put down the glass only when the last drop was also dripped into his mouth and only to ask for more juice.

Mango Lassi

The time when you come in home from the scorching heat in this summer, all you would need is to gulp down something cold, refreshing and filling. This is one absolute delight for such occasions.

Summers can't pass by without us indulging in these mangoes. So how about enjoying some mangoes in the form of mango lassi. Lassi and Mangoes are always our favorite. So this is just like 2 in 1 drink for us. 

Product Review - Chilli Guava by paper Boat

One afternoon, the security called up to say that I had a parcel. I asked him to confirm if it was for me. Because I was not expecting a courier and also every now and then, the courier guys land up in my apartment by mistake. It was a surprise to receive this package from Paper Boat , yet again. And see how beautifully packed it came, in a box of memories.

The wordings on the box was enough to bring back those childhood memories. Indeed, I had such a box where I used to store such precious( to me) but junk (for my mom) stuff. I remember storing manjadi kuru, old photos, stamps, cute little bottles of homeo medicines or some oil. Now when I think about it, I feel so silly. But at the same time, I think how we used to find happiness in little things the so called junk too :), while we were kids. 

Mango Iced tea

Have you ever had mango iced tea? Unlike the usual iced tea it has the flavours of mango in it. Now if you are a die hard fan of mangoes you would know what I mean and would be almost at the verge of trying it as soon as you can. But let me warn you, they are addictive. So control yourself. 

You could very well make it with preserved mango pulp. But there is something different and fresh feeling when you make it right from the scratch with those irresistible juicy mangoes that are available during this summer season. So why wait for it to get canned or preserved to try it. Go for making it this summer season. 

Aam panna - Spiced Raw Mango Drink !

Have you seen the ad of Paperboat? Their ad with the tune of Malgudi days would make anyone go nostalgic about those good old days and go buy one of their drinks. Atleast it worked on me, esp. when the cashier keeps repeating everytime I am there, saying there is an offer on it and I am eligible for it. Ahh, I fell for it one day and then the next day and then the next..

That was last year. And that's when the Maggi tragedy happened. I decided to give up packaged items as much as possible. But by then I was addicted to Aam Panna. So the next grocery shopping I got mangoes to make it at home myself. And when the cashier offered it again, it was hard to refuse, but I did.

Sweet Lassi

Sweet Lassi was one of my favorite while I was pregnant. I survived the first trimester, having lassi and dosa, made by one of the restaurants. We were so frequent there, that once, they didn't even take our order but brought us masala dosas and lassi. Well the server was a rude one too and was trying to make fun of us I suppose.

My hormones were so active that I wanted to just send back that plate of dosa and lassi saying I never ordered for them. But Jacob somehow calmed me down saying, afterall this is what we wanted to order and that this was the only place he could source dosa for me. I couldn't make it myself as it would make me sick. Well, that was the last time we were there at that restaurant because I hunted down another restaurant the very next day which turned out to be serving awesome menu.

Grape Juice Concentrate/ Grape Squash

It's getting hotter day by day. I can't imagine what the world would be like in a couple of years down the line with all the weather change that is happening. Our part of the world is already short of water.  Its only March and we have couple of hotter months to go for the summer to end. 

Juice, smoothies, ice creams are all what we want right now to help us calm down. Grape juice seemed like a good idea to me to help us keep the cool this summer. My mom makes it very often. If we have a function at home, its a must. Its so easy to mix and prepare the drink that a tiny kid could also do it by themselves. And should I say about how amazing they taste. Its awesome. This drink is one super cooler when I get back home after the day out. And see what I got to read while I enjoy my drink - The Jungle Book. It was a surprise by the Paper boat team. All thanks to them, I got back memories of those days when we used to rush back from the church on Sundays to watch Mowgli while we would munch on some snack. I miss those days and Paper Boat is doing a great job in recreating memories.

Arabian grape juice

Arabian grape juice reminds me of Oasis, a hotel that had opened up just next to our college. We used to looove the Arabian grape juice served there. We being a huge gang of friends, every month there would be one or two birthdays that we would celebrate. With Oasis having come up so close, we changed the birthday cake cuttings from cafeteria's or parks to Oasis. We(the noisy bunch of college students) could cut the cake as well as get a glass of this juice (which was super filling) so the restaurant guys also could not say no to us. Later we overheard a server nicknaming us as 'The juice gang'. So we had to put a full stop to our birthdays celebrations to be held there but used to still go there in small bunch to drink this juice.

I have no idea if the same restaurant does exist there but I would so love to go back and enjoy that chilled glass of juice to refresh old memories. But for now, as an alternative I am just going to drink this homemade juice sitting at home and pretend I am with that same noisy gang back there in Oasis :). Even though you may not have nostalgic moments attached to this grape juice, you should try it. It is so good and filling that you are sure to make this quite often.

Mango Shake / Mango Milkshake

Summer is almost here. Do you have any plans for this summer? Well, with the past year's experience I think we would keep ourselves locked inside rather than going out. Last year, we kept running away from sun. It was pretty hot. Atleast, we felt so. Five minutes in the sun was like sedative for me. I would fall off to sleep as soon as we would be back home, all tanned and burnt. I wonder how harsh it would be this time. If at all there was a weather moderate enough and remained the same all through out the year. Ahh, but then again, we would complain...human nature.

Now that mangoes are in season, I thought I should do this post. I must admit, I really miss the taste and smell of mangoes back home. The mangoes that we get here are no way close to comparison what we get there.

Iced Lemon Tea ~ A substitute for hot tea for this boiling summer !

The temperature hit 120 F over this weekend. Oh boy, it is so hot and they say the summer has just begun :(. I could literally feel being placed in an oven. Lots of buttermilk, cool drinks, chilled desserts is all what we want to have.

Evening tea time is never spared without a cup of hot coffee, at our home. But with the heat here, we loved sipping this iced tea. Every gulp of it felt heavenly :). Would you like to try some?

Strawberry Smoothie

It has been a long time since I posted something here. Not that I didn't want to, but was left with no choice. I got few warts removed from my fingers on my right hand. All I was left with was my little finger without bandages. Like how we say in malayalam Vellukan thechathe pande ayi - I now see that saying coming true. I shouldn't have messed with the painless/harmless warts, else it would have been so easy to type out this post using both hands. I did not think that through !

                            

Last week when I got so hungry and figured out that it is gonna take me a lot of time to serve and have food with my left hand, I chose to have this strawberry smoothie to calm down my hunger a little before I go for lunch. Surprisingly, these were so filling and refreshing that I was left with no room for lunch.