Frozen Boozy Arnold Palmer

If you don’t know what an Arnold Palmer is, let me tell you that it is a refreshing, non-alcoholic beverage made up of equal parts iced tea and lemonade. I am not a fan. When I drink iced tea I want to drink it in its purest form. I want to taste every tea leaf that went into the making of that glass of iced tea. I feel the same way about lemonade. I don’t want anything mixed in to alter the fresh, delicious, citrus taste.

But, when I made that big batch of homemade lemonade earlier in the week, I realized that I was going to have to find other ways in which to use it because I'd made A LOT! I started out by trying different flavors of daiquiri; they were quite good. Then I stumbled upon this recipe on Epicurious. It didn’t sound at all good to me, and there were only two reviews, but those reviews were so positive, and considering the amount of lemonade I had left over, coupled the amount of tea that I always have on hand, I figured what could possibly hurt?

I did not have plain vodka, only Maple Bacon and Whipped Cream, so I went with the latter. I was shocked at how delicious and refreshing this cocktail was! I am not kidding you when I tell you that this is my favorite summer cocktail so far this year. I cannot help but think that part of that goodness is owed to the Whipped Cream vodka, but don’t go out and buy a bottle if you have plain vodka on hand. Just know, that to be taken all of the way to heaven, you’re going to need the Whipped Cream variety.

The taste is phenomenal; it is cool, refreshing, and way too easy to guzzle the entire thing. The beauty of this is that you can make it up ahead of time, store each component (the boozy iced tea and the boozy lemonade) in separate containers in the freezer until you’re ready to make these. Or, if you use Mason Jars in which to serve them, like I did here, you can make up individual cocktails, secure the lid*, and shove them into the freezer to hang out until you’re ready to put them on a tray and deliver them to guests who will soon be in your debt. You absolutely must try these. You must!

Frozen Boozy Arnold Palmer

Slightly adapted from epicurious.com

8 black tea bags (I used Luzianne)

5 tablespoons sugar** (optional)

3 1/2 cups homemade lemonade, divided

1 cup Whipped Cream vodka, divided

Lemon wheels (for garnish)

Bring 3 1/2 cups water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Remove from heat and add tea bags and sugar (or not). Let steep 4 minutes. Discard tea bags and let cool slightly (you should have about 3 1/2 cups tea).

Divide 3 cups tea between 2 ice cube trays; chill remaining 1/2 cup tea. Divide 3 cups lemonade between remaining 2 ice cube trays; chill remaining 1/2 cup lemonade. Freeze until solid, 3–4 hours.

Blend lemonade ice cubes, 1/2 cup vodka, and 1/2 cup lemonade in a blender until smooth. Transfer to a spouted liquid measuring cup or pitcher. Rinse blender jar and add tea ice cubes and remaining 1/2 cup tea and 1/2 cup vodka; blend until smooth.

Tilt a large glass to one side and fill halfway with lemonade mixture. While slowly returning glass to upright position, pour in frozen tea mixture to fill glass and create a swirl.

Garnish with lemon wheels.

Ice cubes can be made 3 months ahead. Transfer to resealable plastic bags and keep frozen.

*Be sure to leave at least ½” headspace at the top to allow for slight expansion during freezing. Because of the alcoholic content, this will not freeze solid.

**I did not add the sugar and the cocktail was wonderful. Save yourself some calories here and forget it.

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If non-alcoholic is your goal, try this Strawberry Lemonade. So refreshing!

This post is linked to:

Full Plate Thursday

Thursday Favorite Things
 Funtastic Friday
Best of the Weekend
Pink Saturday
Snickerdoodle Create Bake & Create

Grace at Home

Friday at the Fire Station
Create, Bake, Grow and Gather

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Vietnamese Iced Coffee

I am a morning person; I love the freshness of early morning. I am also a night person, because I love the quietude of late night. Essentially, then, it's midday that I don't really care for, when we are stricken with what we like to call around here, “the afternoon blahs.” In the winter, a hot cup of tea and cookies warm from the oven can relieve the “blahs,” but in summer? Well, I recently found the remedy for this dreary time of day while trolling the Sweet Paul website and came across his recipe for Vietnamese Iced Coffee. Generally, I'm a purist when it comes to coffee, and want no part of sweetness or spicy flavor in my hot cuppa joe, but when I tasted this it was love at first sip. This recipe makes four servings. I made a batch of cold brew, and syrup, stored both in the fridge, and when the “blahs” struck, reached for this remedy, pouring a 4:1 ratio of coffee concentrate to syrup, but you can experiment on your own. It is a delightfully exotic way to tackle the dreariness of mid-afternoon.

Vietnamese Iced Coffee

​2 cups water

1 1/2 cups coconut sugar*

4 Melissa's canela (​cinnamon​)​ sticks

​ 4 cloves

5 black peppercorns

10 cardamom pods (I used black pods)

2 cups cold brew concentrate

1 cup ​Half ‘n half

Ice

Make syrup by putting water, sugar, cinnamon, cloves, pepper, and cardamom in a small saucepan, and bringing it to a boil. Let the mixture simmer for 5 minutes. Cool and strain.

When ready to serve, pour coffee concentrate, Half & Half, and 1/2 cup of the syrup into a cocktail shaker. Add ice and shake it baby, shake it. Pour into glasses and enjoy.

*I found this at Trader Joe's.

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 This post is linked to:

Full Plate Thursday

Crafty & Delicious

Create It Thursday

The DIY Collective

Simple and Sweet Fridays

Foodie Friday & Everything Else

Friday Frenzy

Making Coconut Ice

If you have never had the pleasure of sipping cool, refreshing coconut water directly out of a young coconut, then you are in for a real treat.

A coconut tool makes drilling a hole easy, but if not a Dremel or drill will do the trick. Once the hole is drilled, carefully insert a straw into the top and enjoy a highly nutritious, very delicious hydrating drink to take you through the scorching weather of summer. The tender flesh of this immature coconut can be scooped out with a spoon and eaten as a delicious treat, but there is another way to make use of this coconut and that is by making ice cubes out of the water.

After you drill your hole into the top, empty the contents into an ice cube tray. The water from one coconut fills one ice cube tray just perfectly. A bit of sediment may appear as the result of a flaking off of the interior, and that is just fine. After filling, place the tray into the freezer, and when the coconut water has turned to ice, pop the cubes out and into a freezer storage bag for later use.

They come in very handy in making smoothies and those tropical summer cocktails that we all love. The ice is also refreshing on its own when crushed and served in a chilled dessert dish. You will wonder how you ever got by without this wonderfully flavorful and refreshing coconut water.

Both the coconut and coconut tool are available from Melissa’s Produce.  Run, don’t walk, to get yours.  It’s going to be a long, hot summer!

This post is linked to:

Friday Finds

Show and Tell Friday 

Friday Unfolded
Fridays Flash Blog
Simple and Sweet Fridays