Something for the Summer: Blueberry Lemonade

Summer's not really happening here, but I can still drink like it is!  I'm going to share my recipe for Blueberry Lemonade.  I didn't get any pictures, because it tasted too great and we drank it all right away.

1/2 - 3/4 cup Blueberries (Fresh or Frozen)
4-5 Lemons, depending on size
Sugar
Splenda
Blueberry Vodka (I had Smirnoff, but use your favorite.  Naturally flavored is best.)
Ice
Water

Juice the lemons, and add this to your pitcher.  (I love this one.)  Puree your berries or crush them up, and add them too.  I usually add 1-2 of the squeezed lemon rinds just to add more lemony goodness.  Cover this mixture with blueberry vodka and let it sit.

It should turn pinkish-purple from the berries.  Add sweetner to your taste. Depending on which vodka you use, you might not need to add as much sugar.  Some flavored vodkas have sugar added and some do not. I like to do half and half with Splenda and sugar because I like it really sweet without lots of calories.  Add some, taste it add some more.  You can even leave it out and add it by the glass later.  Fill the rest of the pitcher with as much water and ice as it will hold (or maybe not depending on its size.  Remember mine is 1 1/2 quarts or 1.6 L), and refrigerate.  The lemonade will get more purple and taste more like berries the next day!

Blackberries are next, because obviously Marionberry season is on and Stoli makes a lovely blackberry vodka.

Warning:  You can barely taste the alcohol in this.  Seriously.

Addendum:  Making this for kids?  Try a little Torani Blueberry Syrup instead of Vodka.

The big 64

The other day I bought 64 ounces of plain yogurt.  I've been eyeing up this jumbo tub of Nancy's for a while, but searching for something new to inspire me I went right ahead and bought it last week.  So, other than eating it covered in honey and frozen black raspberries (they were much more delicious-and a whole lot less money- back when I got them from grandma's back yard!) what in the world do you do with that much yogurt?

Well to start, you're going to want to whip yourself up a batch of this amazing low-fat pasta salad.  Its a bit summery, but that's what one needs in late January.  I found when I was making it that I had only about two tablespoons of mayonnaise left, so I just used more yogurt to replace it.  I also only had tomatoes, onions, and celery, but those seemed to work really well in this. I added feta cheese, and believe me, you'll want to.  It adds such a great texture to the yogurt dressing.  If you don't like feta, I'd still try adding just a bit of Parmesan cheese.  Don't forget lots of salt and pepper, but other than that it doesn't need much!  Its very similar to a pasta salad they sell where I volunteer and I'm constantly addicted to it.

This was great but I'll probably never eat red onions again...talk about two days of the worst stomachache possible!

Remember that cheap ice cream maker I bought last year? That's right, I'm way ahead of myself in terms of the seasons!  The husband and I happen to frequent those by-the-ounce frozen yogurt shops that cost a fortune.  Let me tell you, for less than one trip to a yogurt shop you can make yourself a pint and a half of creamy goodness and it is incredibly easy.  I found this recipe, and quickly whipped some up.  In less than an hour I had amazing frozen yogurt.

They claim you can't use low-fat yogurt, but guess what? You can. And its good.  Maybe not as creamy as ice cream, but it certainly beats those soft-serve places.  The yogurt plus the toppings ran us under 10 dollars, and we still have some left after a delicious and healthy dessert.

The recipe calls for greek yogurt but I used regular american-style plain yogurt.  Its very tangy and delicious and I can only imagine what using Fage would do for this yummy stuff.

The toppings are mini-mochi...we got them at our local asian market.  They're soft and chewy and make a great topping for ice cream and fro-yo.

So now maybe I feel a little snazzier than I did last week...but I still have some yogurt to eat!

Everything is a work in progress...

Nothing is new lately.  My sweater is only at 40%, no glaze firings have been completed, and I've been cooking the same old dinners for a month.  Its summer.

My porch garden has been slow.  It doesn't get full sun, so most of the plants have been slow-growing, and even though its August, we only have two tiny tomatoes.

Peppers have done a bit better, each plant has about 2, except the Jalapeños, which have none.  Shockingly, we paid the most money for that plant.  Zach blames Furball who munched the leaves early on, but I don't think he had anything to do with it.

It doesn't matter.  Growing them, on the whole, has been more interesting than anything.  I can buy tomatoes at the store.  This is Oregon, so I can buy home-grown tomatoes at the store.

The Petunias are doing much better than the vegetables.  The Brachycomes could be better, but they have had the same trauma as the Jalapeño: munching by a certain someone.

Zach and I both got haircuts.  Zach got at least a foot taken off:

So for now, that's all I have. Except for this:

Summer is here!

After three weeks of cold rain, the weather finally broke and the dry summer season has begun.  I have actually been experiencing some allergy sneezing and sniffles, and a local told me its allergy season!  I have never before actually had outdoor allergies, but I've always heard local honey is a good remedy for that.  And now that I think about it, I had been eating (or drinking) local honey back in Pittsburgh for a very long time.  Local honey was always purchased at the fair or Schramm's farm, and it may have been the reason I've never really had an outdoor allergy problem before.  Now if someone could only make indoor honey...

Portland Saturday market honey guy to the rescue!  At 3 dollars, this jar of honey is a lot smaller than it looks.  But I'm sure said honey guy's blood, sweat and tears went into it.  Actually, ew...I hope not.  It tastes pretty good though.

So besides sneezing, what am I doing with my life?  Short answer: nothing.  No job yet, and no word back from my interview.  But that's okay for now, being unemployed in the summertime is Childhood version 2.0.  Except nobody tells me when to go to bed, and I can have all the beer I want.

Enter kiddie crafts.  Lately, I've been making friendship bracelets among other things (things which I cannot post yet since I'm sending two of them off to Texas as a gift and I don't want to spoil the surprise).  I loved making bracelets when I was a kid, and the fun is not lost on me at 24 1/2.  Today, patterns for bracelets can be found all over the internet, not just in books, though my favorite still comes out of the original Klutz Friendship Bracelets book (by Laura Torres):

Double Chain Knot.  Not too intricate but you can make 5 in an hour

and wear them all at the same time.  Like, for instance, while watching

90's sitcoms at 3AM because you don't have a job.

Another thing we've been working on is our patio garden.  Not too much has sprouted yet, but when they do, I'll be swimming in cilantro.  Which will get made into pesto.  And frozen.  Tomatoes (I hope they don't get blight), jalapeno peppers, petunias, catnip (for guess who!), lemon balm, rosemary, and cilantro should soon be sprouting on our balcony.  Time will tell.