July 23, 2011

Sweet Relief



With a majority of the country suffering from a blistering heat wave,  the thought of turning on the stove is honestly nauseating.   I'm sure I'm not alone in this, but when it is this hot I can barely stand the thought of eating anything warm so I decided to raid the freezer to see what I could make that did not involve cooking.

Luckily for me, I had stored a few pints of summer berries at their peak and I had some left-over simple syrup from the Summer Sangria so I was in business.

When I was younger, a slurpie was one of my favorite summer treats.  However, knowing what I know now I realize that perhaps all that sugar isn't the best thing for me so I've started making my own version of a "slurpie".  (I still get a frozen coke when I'm visiting home, it's just a food memory that I can't go without, but more on that another time)

When berries are at their peak in the summer months, it is a great thing to store in the freezer and take out in the winter when you are craving a little taste of sunshine.   The easist way to do this is to put them on a sheet pan in a single layer and freeze for 2 or 3 hours, then they can be transferred to a freezer safe container.  It is important to only use pristine berries when doing this. If the berries are bruised or mushy, it really isn't worth the effort in the end.

Berry Slushy
  • 2 and 1/4 cups frozen berries (Use what you have... I had blueberries and raspberries)
  • 1/4 cup simple syrup
  • 1 cup crushed ice
  • 1 1/2 cups seltzer (I used orange-flavored seltzer)

  1. Put the ice, seltzer, syrup and 2 cups of berries in the blender and puree.
  2. Pour into glasses and top each with a few frozen berries. (frozen berries help keep it cold)
*makes 4 cups


Happy Eating.

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