Drinks

Many of us tend to drink the same-old-same-old on a regular basis, not trying something different. But for those times when you do want something else to drink, today's post will help out. Check out the Homemade Ginger Tea, the Apple Cider Floats, and the rest of today's yummy drinks. Enjoy!

STRAWBERRY SMOOTHIE

This is from Martha Rose Shulman in The New York Times cooking enewsletter. For this yumminess, Martha wrote, "This will taste like a strawberry shake if you use a banana that is truly ripe. Frozen strawberries will lend it a shake-like texture."

Total Time: 5 minutes; Yield: One 16-ounce or two 8-ounce servings

This was featured in "Want More Fruit? Get Out the Blender," and can be viewed online at https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1012542-strawberry-smoothie. While you're at it, if you haven't already signed up for The New York Times cooking enewsletter, I highly recommend doing so. Great recipes, guides, and more.

Ingredients

1 medium-size or large, ripe banana

1 heaped cup fresh or frozen hulled strawberries

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon honey

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)

2 to 3 ice cubes

Preparation

Place all of the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Serve right away.

Tip

Advance preparation: Smoothies should be made and drunk right away. This will thicken and lose flavor if it sits.

WATERMELON GINGER BEER

This is from Nicole Taylor in The New York Times cooking enewsletter. The recipe begins, "The recipe for this batch drink, from Nicole Taylor’s book, “Watermelon and Red Birds,” includes the juice from a red-fleshed watermelon, ideally from one with seeds. (They can be hard to find; seedless melons work too.) If you own a juicer, proceed with the seeds and all and don’t worry about straining. Watermelon is over 90 percent water and is a nutrient-dense food. This drink can serve as an everyday accompaniment at breakfast, lunch, dinner or with a snack."

Total Time: 10 minutes; Yield: 4 drinks

This was featured in "Building a Juneteenth Menu for the 21st Century, One Recipe at a Time," and can be viewed online at https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1023219-watermelon-ginger-beer.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons fresh fennel fronds (optional)

Filtered water

6 cups (1-inch) cubed red watermelon (from about 3 pounds watermelon)

2 cups ginger beer, homemade or store-bought (see Tip)

Preparation

Divide the fennel fronds, if using, between two ice cube trays. Fill with filtered water and freeze until solid, 4 to 8 hours.

Meanwhile, place the watermelon in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Scrape the sides of the blender or food processor using a rubber spatula and blend again.

Place a fine metal sieve over a large bowl and strain the pureed watermelon through the sieve. (This should yield 2 to 3 cups of juice). Store in the refrigerator until ready to serve; it will keep in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

To serve, fill four highball glasses or rocks glasses with the ice cubes. Stir the watermelon juice and add 1/2 cup to each glass. Top off with 1/2 cup ginger beer.

Tip

Unlike ginger ale, ginger beer is fermented. It’s nonalcoholic and has a spicy kick and tends to have more flavor than the soft drink. If buying ginger beer from the store, try finding the options from Barritt’s or Bruce Cost.

APPLE CIDER FLOATS

This is from Lauren Miyashiro on Delish. The recipe begins, “You'll want to float away with these apple cider floats!”

Total Time: 10 minutes; Prep Time: 10 minutes; Level: Easy; Servings: 2

To view this online, click here.

Ingredients

1/2 c. caramel sauce

1/2 c. cinnamon-sugar

2 c. apple cider, warmed

Vanilla ice cream, for serving

cinnamon sticks

Whipped cream, for serving

Apple slices

Directions

Pour caramel in a small dish. Dip the top of each mug in the caramel to rim the cup. Then dip the caramel rim in cinnamon-sugar.

Ladle apple cider into each mug then add a scoop of ice cream to each. Top with whipped cream and garnish with apple slices and cinnamon stick.

Drizzle more caramel over the whipped cream and serve immediately.

WATERMELON PUNCH

Years ago, I was a bride’s maid at a friend’s wedding. A friend of the couple held the reception dinner; this punch was served with the hors d’oeuvres. I’ve added ginger ale to the recipe; it’s good either way.

This recipe is from my e-cookbook, Off the Wall Cooking, soon to be updated.)

Ingredients

1 watermelon

1 T honey

6 oz. can orange juice, undiluted

2 liter bottle ginger ale

Directions

Put watermelon (excluding rind and seeds) in a blender—and blend. Pour juice through a strainer into a large bowl. Add orange juice and honey, stir, and add ice. Add ginger ale just before serving.

HOMEMADE GINGER TEA

This is from Jolinda Hackett on The Spruce Eats. Jolinda wrote, “Wondering how to make a simple and easy homemade ginger tea? Why go out and buy stale old tea bags when you can easily make your own fresh and homemade ginger tea at home using fresh ginger? Treat yourself to a cup of piping hot ginger tea, a healthy drink that's great for digestion.

”Here's how to make the tastiest and most soothing and healing ginger tea you've ever had! There's really no comparison.

“This healing ginger tea recipe actually comes from the raw food and natural health retreat center I used to work at in Thailand, where we served it to our guests bright and early every single morning, seven days a week. The secret to the perfect healing ginger tea? Lots and lots of fresh ginger, simmered for a long time to bring out the flavor, and the lime, which compliments the ginger perfectly, and plenty of natural agave nectar or honey for a refined sugar-free sweetener (or you might prefer it unsweetened, depending on your health goals - It's still delicious, I promise!). Try this simple ginger tea for an immune system boost or for an invigorating way to start the morning.

Prep Time: 5 minutes; Cook Time: 10 minutes; Total Time: 15 minutes; Yield: 2 servings of ginger tea

To check this out online, click here.

Ingredients

About 2 inches of fresh raw ginger (use more or less, depending on how strong you want it!)

1-1/2 to 2 cups water

1 to 2 tablespoons honey (or agave nectar, to taste)

Optional: 1/2 lime (juiced, or to taste)

Directions

First, prepare the fresh ginger by peeling it and slicing it thinly to maximize the surface area. This will help you make a very flavorful ginger tea.

Boil the ginger in water for at least 10 minutes. For a stronger and tangier tea, allow to boil for 20 minutes or more, and use more slices of ginger. You really can't over do it, so feel free to add as much ginger and simmer it for as long as you want.

Remove from heat and add lime juice and honey (or agave nectar) to taste.

The secret to making a really flavorful ginger tea is to use plenty of ginger-more than you think you will need-and also to add a bit of lime juice and honey to your ginger tea. You will also probably want to add more honey than you think you will need as well.

Enjoy your hot ginger tea! A homemade ginger tea is excellent in soothing stomach aches and in aiding digestion.

LIZARD LOUNGE TEA

My oldest son spent several summers traveling the country, both singly and with friends. Several times, he wound up at the Rainbow Gathering, where he hooked up with a larger group of friends. Most of them had grown up in hot areas of the country, so they nicknamed themselves lizards; their area of the camp site was the lizard lounge. They would cook up their version of iced tea, which they would barter for other commodities. They were frequently asked what their secret ingredient was.

This is a scaled down version. I found that cranberry or cranberry-apple herb tea works very nicely with this, but any herbal tea can be used.

Ingredients

1/2 gallon apple cider

4 – 5 herbal tea bags

Directions

Place cider in a large pan or teakettle and bring to a boil. Place herbal tea bags into a large container and pour the boiled cider over the tea bags. Let steep for 15-30 minutes and cool. Very good.