Lemonade with a Twist of Jalapeno

Hello Everybody!!!! 
I'm back from my cruise, feeling rested and energized, with a whole load of wonderful memories and interesting tales to tell. Good times just breeze past you, don't they???? The sun, clear blue waters, white sand and the salty breeze have had a magical effect on me and I feel inspired and raring to go like never before. 
The downside of travel is unpacking and picking up the pace again. So unpacking and doing laundry yesterday was no fun. So by afternoon I needed something refreshing to drink. Looked in the shelves of my fridge and sitting there were lemonade and ginger ale. A light bulb went off and thought of adding some jalapeno too. So came up with this portion and it tastes delightful. I love anything that has a zing to it and this sure does. The ginger ale adds the much needed fizz and the jalapeno adds the tinge of heat . It's a concoction you can whip up in minutes and looks deadly.

Lemonade with a twist

Ingredients: (Serving size 2)

2 cups  fresh chilled lemonade (keep a check on the sugar you add here as the ginger ale has it's own sugar content)  
3/4 cup  chilled ginger ale (I used Seagram's)
3-4 slices of jalapeno (more or less depending on the heat that you can take) 
1/4 " crushed ginger
a pinch of salt

Directions:

Add all the ingredients together and let it sit in the refrigerator for 15 minutes. Once all the flavors come together, pour into glasses and make sure you use a straw to sip into it (you don't want the jalapeno to get in the way of you enjoying your drink). Go ahead and make yourself a glass before summer fades away !!!!  

 

Love the punch  and flavor that a jalapeno brings to any dish

My son was trying to come up with a name for this concoction. Guess how it turned out : GINPENOADE (that's a combination of ginger, jalapeno and lemonade). Let me know what you think!!!

Stay tuned for more on Travel talk coming up this week.

 Images:Clicked by me. Please do not use without prior written permission.

Images are the property of Sruthi Singh and subject to copyright.

Island in a Glass - Watermelon Cooler

It's mid summer and in my part of the east coast we have a mix of sweltering heat on most of the days and when we are lucky, some cooler cloudy days. But I'm not complaining as 6 months in a year one is cooped up at home with the biting winter cold or the seasonal allergies. 
Well, today I have a watermelon cooler for you and it's the perfect treat to refresh and hydrate. 

Watermelon Cooler - refreshingly delicious

In the good old days when we were in school, we'd come back home, throw our bags on our beds and run into the kitchen to see what was on the menu for the day. I remember mom taking out these huge glasses of watermelon juice for us from the fridge. She would squeeze in some juice of a lime and hand it over to us. The coral color was a visual delight and we'd gulp it down and ask for more. The concoction of mint, ginger and lemon adds the extra zing to it. With this recipe, I'd like to think that you've got yourself an island in a glass.

It's a low calorie drink and it's Gluten Free.

Ingredients: (Serving size 1)

2 1/2 cups of seedless watermelon
6 mint leaves
1/2" piece of ginger
1 1/2 tsp lime juice
1 tsp sugar (or as needed)
a pinch of salt
a pinch of pepper

Directions:

Cut and chill the watermelon in the fridge before hand. Take all the other ingredients except the lime juice and blend in the mixer. Do not add ice or water as the watermelon has water content of its own. The diluted version would not taste as good. Now add the lime juice to it. Stir well. Garnish with a spray of mint. There you go, it's that simple. Go ahead make yourself a glass and celebrate summer while it lasts !!!

Images:Clicked by me. Please do not use without prior written permission.

Images are the property of Sruthi Singh and subject to copyright.