5 Summery Drinks to Make for Friends

It’s great to have friends or family come to visit but the effort to prepare food can make impromptu invitations off-putting.

And when it’s a lovely day none of us want to be slaving in the kitchen cooking.

So why not host a drinks
and nibbles afternoon?

Whip up a few of the fabulous drinks below and serve with a variety of crisps, nuts, olives etc. With a variety of drinks – including plenty of non-alcoholic – it’s perfect for a gathering of people of all ages.

Make all the drinks in advance and store in the fridge so that you can enjoy the afternoon with your visitors.

Minty Lemon Sorbet Tea

Servings: 4
Time: 5 mins plus cooling
Difficulty: easy
Print

Calories 59 per portion
Fat 0.2g (0g sat) per portion

Ingredients

Darjeeling tea 600ml (1 pint), hot and strong
Sprigs of mint 3
Golden granulated sugar to taste Lemon sorbet 4 scoops
Lemon 1, sliced
Strawberries and mint sprigs to decorate

Instructions

Pour the hot tea into a jug, add the mint sprigs and stir in the sugar to taste. Leave to brew and cool completely.
When ready to serve, remove the mint sprigs. Scoop the lemon sorbet into four tall glasses and pour in the tea.
Decorate with strawberries and mint and serve immediately.

Refreshing Lemonade

Servings: 6
Time: 15 mins
Difficulty: easy
Print

Calories 134 per portion
Fat 0g (0g sat) per portion

Ingredients

Caster sugar 200g (7oz)
Lemons 8 large, finely grated zest and juice (giving about 200ml/7fl oz)
Ice to serve

Instructions

Tip sugar, lemon zest and juice into a heavy-based pan with 1 litre (1¾ pints) water
and heat gently until sugar has dissolved.
Taste and adjust sugar and lemon juice to taste. Remove pan from the heat and leave to cool. Strain liquid (if wished) into a jug filled with ice.

Caribbean Shake

Servings: 2
Time: 5 mins
Difficulty: easy
Print

Calories 199 per portion
Fat 7g (4.2g sat) per portion

Ingredients

Banana 1, roughly chopped
Orange juice 2 tbsp
Pineapple juice 2 tbsp
Milk 300ml (½ pint)
Vanilla dairy ice cream 2 scoops

Instructions

Put banana in a blender with orange and pineapple juices. Add milk and whizz to blend.
Put a scoop of ice cream in two glasses and top up with fruit milk. Serve immediately and with straws, if you like.

Summer Berry Milkshakes

Servings: 3
Time: 20 mins
Difficulty: easy
Print

Calories 461 per portion
Fat 35g (20.4g sat) per portion

Ingredients

Fresh raspberries 110g (4oz)
Fresh strawberries 150g (5oz), hulled and sliced
Vanilla ice cream 2–3 good scoops
Whole milk 600ml (1 pint), chilled
Natural yogurt 150g (5oz)
Double cream 125ml (4 fl oz), whipped to a soft peak, to decorate, optional
Raspberries 12, to decorate, optional Strawberries 4, to decorate, optional

Instructions

Put raspberries, strawberries, ice cream, milk and yogurt into a blender and blend until smooth.
Pour milkshake through a non-reactive sieve into a large jug (to remove seeds), and then pour into four large, well-chilled glasses. Serve immediately.

TIP For some extra pizzazz, top each glass of milkshake with a spoonful of whipped cream topped with raspberries. Make a slit in each strawberry, place on rim of each glass and serve.

Iced Coffee

Servings: 2
Time: 12 mins
Difficulty: easy
Print

Calories 334 per portion
Fat 17.1g (11.2g sat) per portion

Ingredients

Instant coffee 1 tbsp
Caster sugar 1 tbsp
Boiling water 3 tbsp
Whole milk 250ml (9fl oz)
Vanilla ice cream 250g (9oz)
Grated chocolate a little for sprinkling, optional

Instructions

Put coffee and sugar into a heatproof jug, stir in boiling water, cover and leave to cool for 5–10 minutes.
Mix coffee with milk and chill well.
When ready to serve, pour coffee into a liquidiser, add ice cream and blend well. Pour into tall glasses, sprinkle with chocolate, if using, and serve immediately.

#summer

#nonalcoholicdrinks

#tripletested

#dairydiaryrecipe

Friendship Month | Competition: Win 25 superb stack-a-boxes

Friendship Month

Competition: Win 25 superb stack-a-boxes

Friends, where would we be without them?

My select group of special ladies are my lifeline, my fashion/interiors consultants, my sanity and my guarantee for a great night out! They have seen me through many great times and difficult times too.

So, during Friendship Month I would like to
say thank you buddies – you’re the best!

As well as being fabulous, my pals also test all my recipes for me. As you may know, here at DD headquarters we insist that everything is triple-tested – once by the recipe writer, then by an amateur cook (my friends) and finally at shoot by the food stylist. This is to ensure that every recipe will work each and every time and also tastes delicious.

Win a set of 25 stack-a-boxes

Almost every recipe tested for our new cookbook, Fantastic Food for Less, got 9 or 10 out of 10 for taste so we know that this book is going to be a huge success.

And to celebrate the launch of Fantastic Food for Less this month we have this fabulous set of stack-a-boxes to give-away. You’ll wonder how you ever lived without them and this recipe book!

ENTER NOW

And here’s a little taster from the book.

Autumn Vegetables with Feta

Time 50 minutes.
Per portion: 454 Kcal, 23g fat (8g saturated)
Serves 4

Butternut squash 450g (1lb), about ½ the squash
Sweet potato 450g (1lb)
Parsnips 450g (1lb)
Cumin seeds 1 tsp
Coriander seeds 2 tsp
Paprika 1 tsp
Olive or sunflower oil 4 tbsp
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Runny honey 1 tbsp
Feta cheese 200g (7oz)
Chopped mint 2 tbsp to serve (optional)
Warmed pitta bread to serve (optional)

1 Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas 6. Cut the squash in half, scoop out the seeds and then peel away the skin. Peel the sweet potato and parsnips, then cut all the vegetables into similar-sized chunks.

2 Crush the cumin and coriander seeds in a pestle and mortar or improvise using a mug and the end of a rolling pin. Add the seeds and paprika to a large plastic bag with the oil and a generous amount of salt and pepper. Squeeze the bag to mix, then add the vegetables and shake.

3 Preheat a large roasting tin in the oven for 5 minutes, then tip the vegetables out of the bag into the tin and spread into an even layer. Roast the vegetables for 30 minutes, turning once.

4 Turn the vegetables again and drizzle with the honey. Roast for 5–10 more minutes until browned around the edges. Crumble Feta over the top and scatter with mint, if using. Serve with warmed pitta if you like.

Cook’s tips
The beauty of this dish is that you can use whatever root vegetables you have available. Chop the leftover squash and use for soup: fry an onion, add the squash and 1 tbsp curry paste. Cook for 1 minute then cover with vegetable stock. Simmer until tender, then purée.

Recipe taken from Fantastic Food for Less.

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5 summery drinks to make for friends