Lawsie mercy, it has been hot here!
Hot and humid and sticky. The garden is loving this weather, even if the people are just a mite tired of it. But, being of a resourceful bent, we try to find ways to feel a little less miserable, or at least not care quite so much. Enter the Blueberry Lime Cooler. Our nightly meetings on the porch are often accompanied by some kind of snack, plus a refreshing beverage of one sort or another.
I admit I have a tendency to become entangled in a rut, where I have the same thing night after night. A month or so ago, when the mint was about the only thing really growing in the herb garden, it was Mojitos. Lately I have rediscovered my fondness for Margaritas, as anyone who follows my Instagram feed may have noticed. But all that changes once the blueberries are ripe – they make such pretty drinks. Plus it is way too hot to bake muffins, and we have to use them up somehow, right?.
Not only is a Blueberry Lime Cooler a wonderful way to help you ignore the fact your toenails are melting in this insane heat, but I submit that it is also quite healthful. There is a lot of fruit in this drink, and fruit is very good for you. Limes have plenty of vitamin C, along with something called macrominerals, which we all apparently need, and blueberries are packed with all sorts of good things. Lots of fiber – we all know how vital it is that we get enough fiber. Manganese – you certainly don’t want to have low manganese levels, now do you? Potassium, Vitamin K, and those all-important antioxidants. And remember – 1 cup of blueberries contains about 25% of your body’s daily need for Vitamin C!
Ok, so if you drank enough of these to equal 1 cup of blueberries, you probably would no longer care about vitamins, among other things, so I’m not recommending that. Just eat some blueberries while you are making the drinks and you will be good to go.
It is necessary to prepare a few things ahead of time, but that is not unusual when preparing adult beverages, and in fact makes mixing the drinks easier later on. You get to spend more time with your guests, instead of being stuck in the kitchen with the fiddly bits while they are enjoying themselves.
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup water
- ½ cup fresh blueberries
- ½ cup freshly squeezed lime juice
- 2 jiggers Vodka
- Lime flavored seltzer
- whole blueberries and lime slices for garnish
- Prepare the simple syrup by combining the sugar and water in a small saucepan - bring to a boil and stir until sugar is dissolved. Chill for several hours.
- Place the blueberries in a deep bowl and crush with a hand blender, or a potato masher. Strain into a bowl, pressing on solids to extract all the juice, and keep in the fridge.
- In a cocktail shaker, add a handful of ice cubes, ¼ cup lime juice, a tablespoon of simple syrup, 3 tablespoons blueberry juice and 1 jigger of vodka. Shake vigorously, and empty into a 16 ounce glass. Add a few more ice cubes, and top off with lime seltzer. Garnish each drink with a few whole blueberries and a couple slices of lime. Serve with a straw.
See? Don’t you feel all cooled off now?
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