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Delicious Cherry Lemonade for a Crowd. Recipe & Tips

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    Best-Ever Flavored Lemonade on a Budget I recently hosted a graduation open house for over 150 people in honor of my daughter’s graduation from high school. A graduation open house is a tradition in the northern states, for you southerners who think I must be crazy! It is, actually, pretty crazy but a lot of fun, too! At any rate, when deciding on a menu, we looked at different options for beverages. The goal was to serve something easy and good tasting, but affordable at the same time. In the end we decided on water bottles and lemonade in dispensers. But not just any bland lemonade: I figured out a way to cut back on cost while serving a wonderful cherry flavored lemonade that not only looked beautiful, but also tasted absolutely delicious! It also ended up being very easy, even for such a large crowd of people, and yet so tasty! Using the following recipe also allows you to choose other flavors, although cherry is our favorite. Read on and you will see just how simple it can be to score big without breaking the bank, in addition to several good tips!   Other ideas that were considered:  We had looked at other beverage options as well. The easiest would have been soda cans and water bottles in a kids’ plastic pool filled with ice. But after we heard people say to provide 2-3 drinks per person (really??? That can’t be […] Read more »

Making Whole Juice: Vegetables, Fruits, Berries. Recipes

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  Early this past summer my husband surprised me with a Blendtec blender. My first thought was “do we really need such a fancy blender”, but then he showed me what it could do. He had seen demonstrations at Costco, and after doing some research, he felt he had found the right one for our family. He demonstrated it for me here at home, and I was totally sold! I never knew just how easy it is to use a surprisingly large variety of produce to make juices full of nutrition and fiber. And you don’t have to have a fancy, powerful blender to do it, but it sure helps. Our cheap OLD one could never have handled all that this new one can do. Here’s a link to the Blendtec at Amazon that is the closest to the model we own, also the best price out there that I can find. There are lots of reviews as well, on different models. Vitamix blenders are very good as well, so here’s another link, to Vitamix on Amazon, for comparison. I’m sure there are many other brands out there that will also do a great job. The point is, this is easy to learn and will benefit your health greatly. You don’t have to follow a recipe, just get an idea of what to do, then get started with whatever you have on hand. Some related posts I recently wrote, with […] Read more »

Everyday Luxury; Cold Brewed Coffee Recipe

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There are many different ways to make yourself a cup of coffee; some ways are more primitive, such as the way my father used to make it when hiking in the Norwegian mountains; he’d fill a pot with water from one of the many clear, clean streams, then pour in coarse coffee until it looked about right. He’d put a long stick through the handle and hold it over the fire. The grounds would stay on top of the water until hot, and would then sink to the bottom of the pot. The coffee was ready. There was a certain charm to it, most definitely. (Just not the time when he used snow for water, only to find sheep “pebbles” in the pot afterwards…… If you know what I mean by “pepples”…….) But, I regressssss! More traditional ways include the good-‘ol drip coffee maker (this is the one I own, and I love it!), then you can get more fancy and use a Keurig (I love this one as well, but it’s more expensive to use), French press or espresso maker. There are many ways, and real coffee lovers often feel strongly about their preferred method. My father is OK with his electric drip maker these days. Personally, I love cold brewed coffee when I want an extra treat. It’s comforting, smooth, flavorful, and gives me the feel of luxury without the cost. After this discovery, I can get myself a cup […] Read more »