My mom is too cool. Even though I'm probably one of the most difficult people to buy presents for, she consistently comes up with wonderful gifts that brighten my life. This Christmas, she waded through the Black Friday crowds to get a great deal on a Ninja (trademarked) blender. Because its specialty is icy beverages, I waited until the weather warmed up to break it out and give it a thorough test run.
The recipe I made was frozen strawberry lemonade. I used several large frozen strawberries, about eight large ice cubes, the juice of two Meyer lemons, and a smidgen of sugar, and put about one and one-half cups of water in the mix to round it out.
This is a very mean brew to make with a standard blender, with frozen fruit as well as ice cubes, and I think the new addition did very well. I did have to remove the lid and poke a few of the topmost ice cubes down to where the blades could chop them, since they floated on top of the mixture halfway into blending, but I think an extra set of blades would have been the only way to get that to change. It chopped both frozen things and made a drink with incredible consistency--we even had to break out the straws!
I'll probably still keep my old blender for a backup, but this one is much more powerful (and actually chops ice without making screeching death sounds and leaving massive chunks).
With summer on the way, it's great to be able to stop ogling those amazing smoothie concoctions on Pinterest and start making a few of my own! We make lhassis, smoothies, milkshakes, and juice blends often, and this will be great for all of those things!
With a baby on the way, it's nice to know that I have a powerful, easy-to-clean blender to help me mix baby food on the fly. I love the idea of offering Minja some nutritious, whole food blends that are fresh from the garden, rather than buying over-processed baby food. I'm even planning on steaming/canning my own jarred baby food this summer so that I will have some ready to supplement whatever our table has to offer next season as well.
So, for those interested, here's the recipe in line form. Crack out those blenders and enjoy this amazing weather!
Frozen Strawberry Lemonade
8-12 large, frozen strawberries
8 ice cubes
the juice of 2 medium lemons (I used Meyer, but normal is good, too. 1 1/2 large lemons should be fine)
1 1/2-2 cups water
1/4 cup sugar (to taste--we don't like much sweet, so we used even less)
Add all ingredients to the hopper of a good blender. Blend until smooth. Scoop into cups and enjoy immediately. Yields 3 tall glasses of delicious strawberry lemonade!
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