Drinking Night and Day

Hah! I fooled you with that title. You thought it was cocktails...well maybe that's what I should try next, cocktail recipes. But for now, these two drinks are meant to wake you up in the morning, and help you sleep at night. I've never been too excited by smoothie drinks. They usually include some ingredient like kale that just doesn't seem like a refreshing drink, but when I got the most recent Cooking Light magazine, there were two beverages that caught my attention. The first one is called "Double-Apple Morning Elixer" and the other "Golden Milk Tea." The recipes for both can be found at http://www.cookinglight.com/recipes/double-apple-morning-elixir.

Double-Apple Morning Elixir"

The drink is mostly comprised of Granny Smith apple, but it also has vinegar, water, and a little honey in it. I'm afraid I couldn't find fresh cilantro on my most recent grocery shopping trip (I'll save that rant for another day), so I didn't include it. I'm not terribly fond of cilantro anyway, so no loss. And the blender which is on its last legs was not up to the challenge, and I tried, so I ended up processing it my food processor. It worked just fine. And of course it had to be strained. My good old strainer really is a work horse. I'm always using it.

I took this picture of it just so you could see the lovely color of it. It looked so good, but I was convinced that it was going to taste horrible. Boy, was I surprised. A little tart, a little sour, but with that little honey in it, it really seemed to balance the flavors. The darn thing tasted like spring, and it made be think of spring grass without actually tasting like it. During the week, my morning is rushed enough. I don't think I'll be doing this on a regular basis, but on a relaxed weekend, I'll definitely be doing this again.

Golden Milk Tea

This drink is mostly comprised of coconut milk, turmeric, ginger, a little honey, and even less cardamon. We've all heard how great turmeric is and how we should include it in our diets, so I thought this might be the way to do it. I've only had one other thing with turmeric in it. It was a turmeric kombucha, and it was horrible, so I was wary. I think this drink is greatly improved with the honey and ginger. I LOVE ginger. I was happy to do this recipe for no other reason than it was an excuse to have the scent of freshly ground ginger in my kitchen for a while.

Ok, it's not repulsive. It's not bad at all, but it's not exactly my new favorite refreshment. The texture is thin, but it makes me think of squash soup, which isn't thin, so it sort of startles my senses. And with that little kick of ginger it sort of smells like squash soup as well. I really like squash soup, so it is sort of a disappointment, but the color is lovely. I've been sipping it the entire time I've been writing this, and I've been trying to come up with a description of the flavor, and I'm afraid, I'm coming up short. It definitely has a spicy flavor, but at the same time, sort of flat. To be honest, I really preferred the apple morning drink. This drink is supposed to help you sleep. I really don't see that happening. By the way, I dumped half of it down the sink if that tells you anything.