[Photograph: Robyn Lee]
Yes, you can juice fresh mint leaves in a juice extractor. Mint and lime add a bright flavor to this kale and parsnip drink. Head here for more kale juice recipes we love »
Note: This recipe yields about 1 pint of juice, enough for two 1-cup servings. You can double the recipe, but juice is best served immediately and will lost flavor and color with time. Store leftover juice in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 1 day. In our testing, it took about 1 1/2 pounds of kale to produce 1 cup of juice. Results may vary based on kale and on juicer. This recipe calls for lots of mint, so it's better to look for mint in bunches rather than individual clamshell containers.
Special equipment: juicer
serves makes about 1 pint of juice, serving 2, active time 10 minutes, total time 10 minutes
Mix kale juice, parsnip juice, apple juice, lime juice, and mint juice well. Serve on ice with mint and lime wedge garnish.
[Photograph: Robyn Lee]
The natural sweetness of grape tomatoes is a wonderful partner for kale juice in this Bloody Mary inspired non-alcoholic drink. Head here for more kale juice recipes we love »
Note: Grape or cherry tomatoes generally have better flavor than out-of-season regular tomatoes. If you have ripe in-season tomatoes, you can substitute them for the grape or cherry tomatoes. This recipe yields about 1 cup of juice, enough for two 1/2-cup servings. Juice is best served immediately and will lost flavor and color with time. Store leftover juice in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 1 day. In our testing, it took about 1 1/2 pounds of kale to produce 1 cup of juice. Results may vary based on kale and on juicer.
Special equipment: juicer
serves makes about 1 cup juice, serving 2, active time 15 minutes, total time 15 minutes
Mix horseradish and soy sauce in a glass. Add tomato juice and stir well until horseradish is well distributed. Add kale juice, celery juice, lemon juice, and hot sauce. Stir well. Serve with celery rib garnish, over ice if desired.
[Photograph: Robyn Lee]
Ginger adds heat to this tart kale limeade. Think of this as green juice for beginners—it's friendly, fun, and a little (naturally) sweet. Head here for more kale juice recipes we love »
Note: This recipe yields about 3 cups of juice, enough for two 1 1/2-cup servings. Juice is best served immediately and will lost flavor and color with time. Store leftover juice in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 1 day. In our testing, it took about 1 1/2 pounds of kale to produce 1 cup of juice. Results may vary based on kale and on juicer.
Special equipment: juicer
serves makes 2 servings, active time 15 minutes, total time 15 minutes
Mix kale juice, ginger juice, and apple juice with coconut water. Serve in tall glasses. Garnish with lime slice if desired.
[Photograph: Alice Gao]
The Virgin Island Punch from Slightly Oliver in New York combines strawberry, aloe juice, vanilla, and fresh fruit. It tastes like a fresh, well-balanced version of a favorite fruit punch from childhood, with added complexity from the vanilla.
Get more punch recipes from Slightly Oliver and other NYC bars here »
Special equipment: blender, strainer
serves Serves 40, active time 10 minutes, total time 10 minutes
Combine aloe vera juice and strawberries in a blender, pulse until pureed.
Strain the blended mixture, then stir in lime juice, simple syrup, and vanilla. Serve with fresh raspberries and blueberries.
[Photo: Christianne Winthrop]
Whether you're taking to the streets or staying home to pass out candy, try stirring up a witch's brew in your cauldron this Halloween. Made with equal parts pomegranate and cranberry juices, this deliciously dark (but alcohol-free) concoction is perfect for sipping between trips to the front door or packed into a Thermos for a spooky night out with candy-seeking trick-or-treaters.
The secret to this warm brew is in the spice mixture—a slight variation on Chinese five spice that with a bit of fresh ginger and black pepper. Peppercorns might seem like an unusual choice for a sweet drink, but it adds a subtle warmth that is delightfully complex when mixed with the cinnamon and star anise.
I like to use unsweetened cranberry juice, which you can find in natural and health food stores and most well-stocked supermarkets, because it allows me to control the sweetness. However, if you're having trouble finding it, feel free to substitute sweetened cranberry juice and decrease the amount of simple syrup.
While this drink really doesn't need a garnish, an orange slice makes for a bright and colorful addition. You could also use eye of newt if you have some lying around.
About the author: Christianne Winthrop is a freelance food writer, boutique caterer and culinary instructor. Her personal blog is Better Bitter Blonde and she lives in Los Angeles with her husband Bob and their beta fish, Hercules.
Special equipment: 2 quart saucepot, vegetable peeler, sieve
serves 4, active time 5 minutes, total time 35 minutes
For the simple syrup: Combine sugar and water in the sauce pot and bring to a boil. Stir and let simmer until sugar has dissolved, about 2 minutes. Pour into a separate container and set aside.
For the Warm Witch's Brew: Pour juices into the sauce pot. Using a vegetable peeler, remove the outermost layer of zest from the orange, being careful not to get the bitter white pith. Add zest to the juices in the pot. Save orange to slice and use for garnish if desired.
Add all of the spices and fresh ginger to the pot and let simmer over low heat for 30 minutes.
Remove the pot from the heat, add 1/2 cup simple syrup and stir. Pour the juice through a sieve into thermal pitcher or punchbowl and taste for sweetness. Add more simple syrup if desired. Serve warm, with desired garnishes.
[Photo: Christianne Winthrop]
Some prefer the filling, others the crust, but everyone I know likes pie. I'm sorry if you're a crust person, because this milkshake is really for the filling people—those who enjoy scooping out the creamy, spice-filled custard from the pie, leaving broken crust shells all over the plate. It has all the flavor of a pumpkin pie without the hassle of a crust, oven, or cooling time.
While a heaping spoonful of pumpkin pie spice will certainly suffice, I found the best results came from using small amounts of cinnamon, ginger, clove, and nutmeg. Premixed spice blends can sit around on shelves for months—losing vibrancy and potency. Whole spices have a much longer shelf-life than their ground counterparts, and a quick shaving from a whole nutmeg gives unparalleled flavor. If you think grating your own nutmeg is a bit over the top for a simple milkshake, you'll quickly smell and taste the difference. Once you've tried whole nutmeg, you'll find yourself using it all season long, sprinkled over sweet potatoes, folded into gingerbread dough, or as a last minute addition to creamed spinach and eggnog. You might even just find yourself using it in your favorite pumpkin pie recipe.
About the author: Christianne Winthrop is a freelance food writer, boutique caterer and culinary instructor. Her personal blog is Better Bitter Blonde and she lives in Los Angeles with her husband Bob and their beta fish, Hercules.
Special equipment: blender, bowl, whisk
serves 2, active time 5 minutes, total time 8 minutes
To make the whipped cream topping:
Pour heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla extract into a bowl and whisk continuously until soft peaks form, about 3 minutes. (You could also use an electric mixer.) Refrigerate while making the milkshake.
To make the Pumpkin Pie Milkshake: Place canned pumpkin, ice cream, milk, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg in blender. Combine until smooth and frothy. Top with whipped cream and garnish with cinnamon stick if desired.
[Photo: Christianne Winthrop]
Growing up in Santa Monica, summer never really felt like summer until mid-August when the "June gloom" finally lifted. Most of our summertime family photos show us sitting at the beach, hazy skies behind, my siblings and I wearing sweatshirts over our swimsuits. Throughout high school I taught swimming lessons at the local pool to shivering toddlers who didn't want to get out of the water because it was 72 degrees, while the air temperature was 65. But summer in Southern California strikes just when you've given up on it. Now that Labor Day has come and gone and school is back in session, the heat has finally, truly hit. I love a cool glass of rosé when the heat is radiating off the sidewalk, and nothing hydrates better than water, but when I want a true cure, it has to be lemonade.
If you could cram everything about summer into a glass, it would be this blueberry lavender lemonade. It's sweet, floral, and refreshing. Doctor it up with vodka or tequila, or drink it straight and cold from the refrigerator, barely pausing to pour it from the pitcher. You could try raspberries or strawberries, but for the tastiest, prettiest punch, your best bet is a blueberry.
There are two ways to go about getting your blueberry fix. The first is the method I employed, which was to blend the berries together with a bit of lavender syrup before straining into the lemonade. If you don't want to clean a blender, and you don't mind the seeds, you could simply muddle the berries at the bottom of each serving glass with the handle of a wooden spoon. Either way is just as tasty, but straining the berries gives you a seed-free smile with which to enjoy the last days of summer.
About the author: Christianne Winthrop is a freelance food writer, caterer and culinary instructor. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband Bob and their beta fish, Hercules.
Special equipment: 2 quart pot with lid, pitcher, blender, strainer (optional)
serves 4-6, active time 20 minutes, total time 45 minutes
To make the lavender syrup, bring sugar and 1 cup water to a boil in a sauce pot. Reduce heat and let simmer until sugar is dissolved. Add lavender, cover and let steep for 8 to 10 minutes. Strain into a clean bowl and chill.
Strain lavender syrup into a blender, add blueberries. Puree until smooth. Pour blended blueberries into a pitcher, straining and pushing on the solids if desired. Add lemon juice and 3 1/2 cups chilled water to the pitcher. Stir and serve over ice. Garnish with additional blueberries if desired.
[Photo: Christianne Winthrop]
No matter how many warnings about the dangers of eating raw eggs, I was one of those kids who always scooped out a bite of cookie dough before the bowl went into the sink. I've learned the hard way that red velvet cake batter will turn both your mouth and hands hot pink, and pound cake batter—especially lemon—is tasty too.
I think we can all agree that raw cookie dough is awesome, and some cake batters are pretty good. But when it comes to muffins, they're better off cooked. I'm fond of blueberry, especially recipes that include a crunchy cinnamon sugar topping. But after reading that the average coffee shop muffin weighs in at around 350 calories, I decided that there had to be another way to get that flavor. That's how the Blueberry Muffin Smoothie was born. This smoothie is creamy and full of blueberries, with just a pinch of cinnamon and a dash of vanilla, making it a little reminiscent of muffin batter. Where traditional blueberry muffins are chock full of white sugar, this blueberry smoothie scores extra points for being significantly healthier.
About the author: Christianne Winthrop is a freelance food writer, caterer and culinary instructor. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband Bob and their beta fish, Hercules.
Special equipment: blender
serves 2, active time 5 minutes, total time 5 minutes
Place all ingredients in blender, and blend until well-combined. Garnish with blueberries and serve immediately.
[Photo: Christianne Winthrop]
Soon after my parents got married, they bought a plum tree. I'm not quite sure why, but I believe it had something to do with the new couple "planting roots" or being told to "be fruitful and multiply." Now, thirty-three years later, I have five siblings and that same tree drops forty to fifty pounds of fruit between July and September each year. The plums are great all by themselves or made into jams and tarts, but when you're facing 2 to 3 pounds of plums each day, you've got to get really creative. That's where a shrub syrup comes into play.
Shrub syrups were covered in a Cocktail 101 post earlier this summer, but if you missed it or are a little hesitant about drinking vinegar, we'll go over it again. First things first: what's a shrub? Well, it's not just a decorative plant. A shrub is a deliciously tart fruit syrup, usually made of sugar, fresh fruit, and vinegar. The syrup is then used to flavor beverages both alcoholic and non-, and is frequently topped up with something sparkling.
How do you make it? I highly recommend doing it the slow way, which is hands down the easiest. Chop fruit. Add vinegar. Refrigerate. Add sugar. Simmer. Chill.
Remember that it's still summertime, so chilling is the most important part.
About the author: Christianne Winthrop is a freelance food writer, caterer and culinary instructor. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband Bob and their beta fish, Hercules.
Special equipment: bowl, plastic wrap, 2 quart pot, sieve
serves 4, active time 25 minutes, total time 3 days, 25 minutes
Place chopped plums and apple cider vinegar in a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 72 hours. A mason jar also works well.
Remove plum vinegar from refrigerator and empty into a 2 quart pot. Add sugar and simmer just until sugar is dissolved, about 5 minutes. Let cool.
When syrup is cool, strain through a sieve into a bowl, pushing on the solids to extract extra juice. Chill in refrigerator till cool.
Pour a tablespoon of ginger ale on a saucer and dip rims of four serving glasses into it, rotating to wet the rims. Combine kosher salt and granulated sugar in a small plate. Dip glasses into sugar/salt mixture, rotating to coat rim.
Fill glasses with ice and pour 1/4 cup of plum shrub syrup in each glass. Top up with ginger ale and serve immediately.
[Photo: Christianne Winthrop]
If iced tea and lemonade is an Arnold Palmer, then this shiso limeade is a Ryo Ishikawa.
Don't know who Ryo Ishikawa is just yet? Think of him as the Tiger Woods of Japan. Since going pro at 15, he's collected nine wins on the Japan Golf Tour and is donating all of his 2011 earnings to the Japan earthquake relief effort, which year-to-date is just shy of $1 million US. Oh, and Ishikawa's got a thing for bubblegum pink pants—which is why he immediately came to mind for this edgier twist on a classic summer drink.
Shiso is available in the produce section of Asian markets and you'll probably recognize it as the garnish from your sushi platters. It's a member of the mint family, and is similar in flavor and appearance to Thai basil. You'll want to use purple shiso for this tea, and after the herbs steep for a few minutes, you'll see that the water has turned an off-putting murky brown. It's not until you mix the limeade into the tea that it turns bright pink, just like the pH tests you did in elementary school with red cabbage juice and lemon. After your two mixers are sufficiently cold, mix together and enjoy on a hot day—regardless of your summer sport.
About the author: Christianne Winthrop is a freelance food writer, caterer and culinary instructor. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband Bob and their beta fish, Hercules.
Special equipment: 2 quart pot with lid, strainer
serves 6, active time 15 minutes, total time 2 hours (includes cooling)
For the Shiso Tea: In 2-quart lidded pot, heat 3 cups water to a simmer, remove from heat before water starts to boil. Drop in shiso and mint leaves, cover and let steep for 5 to 10 minutes.
Strain herbs from pot and let cool. Refrigerate until ready to mix with limeade.
For the Limeade: Heat 3/4 cup water with sugar over medium flame, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool.
Combine remaining 2 cups water with lime juice and cooled sugar syrup. Stir and refrigerate until chilled.
For the Shiso Limeade: Pour equal parts chilled shiso tea and limeade into a pitcher or serving glasses and garnish with slices of lime.
[Photo: Christianne Winthrop]
Do you drink coffee? I don't. Try as I might, caffeine gives me the shakes and makes my hair stand on end. My pulse races and my mind cannot be caught. Like most people balancing a couple of jobs, I get tired and occasionally need a little pick-me-up; a bit of something to get me going when I'm just too tired to put one foot in front of the other. Caffeine works wonders for this, but for me it's just not an option.
I have to rely on sugar for my instant get-up-and-go—so I recently came up with this salted caramel blended ice milk. Similar to the popular ice blended drinks found at coffee shops, this beverage blends salty sweet caramel and cold milk into a frothy mix that is this close to a mocha-frappa-something-ccino, but better, and it lacks the caffeinated kick.
Start with homemade caramel and from there, simply blend in whole milk with crushed ice. While I chose to flavor the caramel with sea salt and vanilla, you could easily replace any extract you want, or even leave the salt out all together. Of course, you could even replace some of the milk with cold coffee, but why ruin a perfectly good sugar rush with all that caffeine?
About the author: Christianne Winthrop is a freelance food writer, caterer and culinary instructor. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband Bob and their beta fish, Hercules.
Special equipment: blender, 2 quart pot
serves 2, active time 20, total time 2 hours, 20 minutes
For the Salted Caramel: Bring the cream and butter to a low simmer until butter is melted. Set aside.
In a saucepot, cook sugar over medium heat without stirring, brushing down sides of pot occasionally with a moist pastry brush until sugar registers 320°F on a candy thermometer or instant-read thermometer (sugar should be light amber). Lower heat to medium low and slowly pour in the cream and melted butter. The mixture will bubble up. Stir in the salt and vanilla.
Cook and stir over low heat for 1 minute. Caramel will thicken slightly. Transfer to a bowl and cool to room temperature.
For the Salted Caramel Blended Ice Milk: Combine crushed ice, milk, and 1/2 cup caramel in blender and mix until frothy. Pour into two glasses and garnish with whipped cream and extra caramel.
[Photo: Christianne Winthrop]
I don't know where you are, but here—it's hot. Not just warm, but sleep-with-an-ice-pack, shower-thrice-a-day hot. I have no desire to even look at the kitchen, and the refrigerator is only open so we can stand in front of it. My old neighborhood had an ice cream truck, which was a wonder to behold on days like these, but unfortunately my new place doesn't seem to have been blessed. It's hot enough to even consider the quickie mart slushie, those neon-colored sugar concoctions that taste nothing like the flavors they're named for. The 99 cent price tag may be right, but the completely unnatural ingredients are not.
Why would I go that route when just a few ingredients in the fridge can give me far healthier and much tastier results? To make this strawberry and watermelon slush, I just dropped the diced fruit in my blender, added some citrus juice to help the blender move, a little honey for sweetness, and then it's straight to the freezer. You could strain out the strawberry seeds if you like, but I found it to be an unnecessary step since the seeds are so small. The mixture will be at proper slushie consistency after 5 hours, but you can also leave it in the freezer overnight. Take it out of the freezer about 20 minutes before you want to use it, toss the frozen chunks back in the blender and enjoy!
About the author: Christianne Winthrop is a freelance food writer, caterer and culinary instructor. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband Bob and their beta fish, Hercules.
Special equipment: blender, freezer-safe container, wooden spoon
serves 4, active time 10 minutes, total time 8 hours, 10 minutes
Combine all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth. Pour liquid into freezer-safe container (I used a 11"x7" Pyrex baking dish).
Put container in freezer and let freeze for at least 5 hours and up to overnight. If frozen solid, let stand at room temperature for 15-20 minutes, then cut into chunks and put back in blender.
Pulse the frozen chunks in blender for 20-30 seconds, removing top and moving the chunks with a wooden spoon if necessary. Serve immediately with a straw and spoon.
[Photo: Christianne Winthrop]
Summer is officially in full swing at my local farmer's market: piles of peaches, plums, and apricots are everywhere. My small garden is also bearing fruit, and the pots are bursting with chili peppers. This time of year, pick one and two grow back in its place. Pico de gallo and fruit salsas are always an option, but the peppers are coming in fast and I need something that helps the pile-up.
Developing this recipe was, in a word, messy. I knew peaches and chilies were a near perfect match, and already decided that the mild heat of jalapeno was the right way to go. I thought I had it all figured out and was convinced that homemade, fresh juice was the only acceptable base. However, throwing fresh peaches through the juicer yielded little juice, and whizzing them in the food processor before pushing through a sieve resulted in a puree better suited for bellinis or smoothies. Both of these techniques also required simple syrup to sweeten up the homemade peach "juice"—another step and another pot to wash. Before long, I had a sink full of dishes and every kitchen surface from floor to ceiling was covered in peaches.
I opened a bottle of peach nectar. You can garnish the drink with fresh peaches if you wish.
Fresh lime juice is essential in this recipe as it brightens up the bottled juices, as does jalapeno and mint. This drink is best served immediately after shaking. Letting it sit for too long really amps up the heat and can make it taste more like blended salsa than the sweet and spicy juice it is. Finally, don't skip the sugared rim. If you're opposed to a full sugar rim, opt for half—as soon as the spice hits you, you'll be glad you did.
About the author: Christianne Winthrop is a freelance food writer, caterer and culinary instructor. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband Bob and their beta fish, Hercules.
Special equipment: cocktail shaker, muddler or long-handled wooden spoon
serves 2, active time 5 minutes, total time 5 minutes
Place jalapenos, lime juice, and mint leaves in cocktail shaker and muddle gently.
Add ice and juices. Replace top on shaker and shake vigorously for 20 seconds.
To serve, wet rim of glass with lime or peach juice and then dip in a plate of sugar. Pour juice from the shaker into glass and serve immediately, garnished with peach slices if desired.
[Photo: Christianne Winthrop]
I've recently returned from a week-long family adventure in Hawaii, and alongside a gnarly sunburn and a few bags of li hing mui (also known as "crack seed"), I came back with this refreshing cooler recipe. It all started with a trip to the Honolulu farmer's market, and a local's warning to arrive before 10 am and beat the hoards of tourists.
We fought our way through the throngs of fanny packs, stopping for taro buns filled with pulled pork, tempura vegetables, sea asparagus, and other treats. After an hour, we discovered the ginger cooler stand.
The stand employees were squeezing halved calamansi, a small, super-sour citrus fruit, and tossing them in cups with handfuls of mint before topping up with mango and sparkling water. Since fresh calamansi isn't readily available in most of the country, I've used regular Persian limes in its place, and found that muddling the limes and mint together really releases the natural oils, making for more flavorful drink.
About the author: Christianne Winthrop is a freelance food writer, caterer and culinary instructor. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband Bob and their beta fish, Hercules.
Special equipment: 2 quart pot with lid, blender, muddler or long handled wooden spoon
serves 2, active time 10 minutes, total time 30 minutes
For the ginger syrup: Add water, sugar and ginger slices to the pot. Heat over medium-high until sugar has dissolved. Cover, remove from heat, and let steep for 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes, remove ginger slices from syrup and transfer syrup to another container. Chill.
For the Hawaiian Ginger Cooler: Place mango and ginger syrup in blender and puree until smooth.
In your serving glasses, gently muddle limes and mint together with either a muddler or the handle of a wooden spoon. Add ice and 1/2 cup mango mixture to each glass. Top up with sparkling water (about 1/2 cup per glass), stir gently, and serve immediately.
[Photo: Christianne Winthrop]
I'd tried every flavor from mint to passionfruit, added lemonade floaters and sugared the rim, but my iced tea habit was getting old. As refreshing as a glass of iced tea can be on a hot summer day, I needed something new and different.
This drink is halfway between a classic Arnold Palmer and a vivid red sangria. Adding ginger and blackberries to the tea punched up the flavor, and using sparkling apple cider instead of a sugar syrup gave it just the right amount of sweetness. Serve it in a wineglass garnished with blackberries—it's the perfect nonalcoholic thirst quencher for lounging on the front porch.
About the author: Christianne Winthrop is a freelance food writer, caterer and culinary instructor. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband Bob and their beta fish, Hercules.
Special equipment: 2 quart pot, strainer, pitcher
serves 4, active time 20 minutes, total time 2 hours, 20 minutes (includes chilling)
Place water, 1 pint blackberries, and ginger in a 2-quart pot and bring to a boil. Slice vanilla bean open, scrape out seeds and add to pot.
Remove pot from heat and add tea bags. Cover and let steep for 15 minutes. Strain mixture into pitcher, pressing on solids to get every last drop. Chill for at least 2 hours.
To serve, add sparkling cider to pitcher and stir gently. Divide blackberries among serving glasses and top with sangria.