Real lemonade like grandma made

Go and buy yourself a real glass jug, a dainty tray and 6 little glasses for this delicious recipe. It’s just like Grandma made on those hot summer days.

Ingredients

• 3 unwaxed lemons , roughly chopped
• 140g caster sugar
• 1l cold water

Method:

1. Tip the lemons, sugar and half the water into a food processor and blend until the lemon is finely chopped.
2. Pour the mixture into a sieve over a bowl, then press through as much juice as you can. Top up with the remaining water and serve with plain ice or frozen with slices of lemon and lime.
3. Drink it…………

5 Simple Summer Dishes

Simple but tasteful and delicious- will impress even your mother in law.

1. Eggs with asparagus

Simmer eggs gently for six minutes, run under cold water until cool, then peel. Serve over steamed asparagus.

2. Herby pasta

Toss a couple of handfuls of fresh chopped herbs with a few tbs of olive oil in a hot pan. Serve over angel-hair pasta (capellini, a very fine spaghetti), diluting the sauce if necessary with pasta cooking water.

3. Scallop ceviche with lime

Cut eight raw scallops into four horizontal slices each. Sprinkle with lime juice, salt and crushed chillies; serve after five minutes.

4. Prawns with white beans

Open a tin of white beans and combine with olive oil, salt, prawns, minced garlic and thyme leaves in a pan. Cook, stirring, until the prawns are done; garnish with more olive oil.

5. Mussels with basil and tomato

Put 1.4 kilos of washed mussels in a deep pan with 250ml white wine, garlic cloves, basil leaves and chopped tomatoes. Steam until mussels open – just a few minutes

Summer Pudding

Here’s an old favourite.

Maybe the reason why this pudding is such a favourite is because we only have these particular fruits for such a short time each year – anyway in our house it’s become a sort of annual event. Do try to get a well-made white loaf though: the texture of sliced white is most unsuitable.

Separate the redcurrants and blackcurrants from their stalks . Rinse all the fruits, picking out any raspberries that look at all musty.

Place the fruits with the sugar in a large saucepan over a medium heat and let them cook for about 3-5 minutes, only until the sugar has dissolved and the juices begin to run –Now remove the fruit from the heat, and line the pudding basin with the slices of bread, overlapping them and sealing well by pressing the edges together. Fill in any gaps with small pieces of bread, so that no juice can get through when you add the fruit.

Pour the fruit and juice in (except for about two thirds of a cupful), then cover the pudding with another slice of bread. Then place a small plate or saucer (one that will fit exactly inside the rim of the bowl) on top, and on top of that place a 3 lb or 4 lb (1.3 kg or 1.8 kg) weight, and leave in the fridge overnight.

Just before serving the pudding, turn it out on to a large serving dish and spoon the reserved juice all over, to soak any bits of bread that still look white. Serve cut into wedges, with a bowl of thick cream on the table.

Ingredients

8 oz (225 g) redcurrants
4 oz (110 g) blackcurrants
1 lb (450 g) raspberries
5 oz (150 g) caster sugar
7-8 medium slices white bread from a large loaf

You will also need a 1½ pint (850 ml) pudding basin, lightly buttered.

 

Summer Eating

Breakfast like a pauper, lunch like a lord and dinner like a king. Maybe so. In summer we often don’t feel the need to eat as much, so here are a few snacks I cook up for my hubby. The kids love it too- when they are around!

After a good day’s shopping,, sit back and relax in the jacuzzi with one of these:

Black Velvet

1/2 qt Guinness

1 glass Champagne

Mix both! And Eat with strawberries.

 

 

If you can still stand, you might want to attempt the following to eat with a nice up of tea

Irish Scones

Makes 6 Scones

1 cup white flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 pound butter, softened
2 ounces sugar
1 egg, slightly beaten
2 ounces milk
Sultanas (white raisins) optional
Walnut halves (optional)

Mix flour and baking powder. Add butter, blending
until mixture is butter-colored. Add sugar and continue
to mix well. Add half the beaten egg and all the milk.
Add raisins or some nuts, if desired, mixing well to
make a sticky dough. Turn dough onto floured board and
knead at least 5 minutes or longer. Cut dough into
rounds and place on greased baking sheet or hot frying
pan. Brush tops of scones with remainder of beaten egg.
Place walnut halves on top, if desired. Bake at 350 to
375 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes, or until brown. If
preparing over an open fire, heat frying pan till very
hot. Place scones in pan and cook 7 to 8 minutes. Turn
and cook 7 to 8 minutes more.