Back in the summer, we popped into a farm shop for lunch. We love finding farm shops, when we’re out and about. They tend to have local produce on the menu, which means that they really care about the food they serve. This one was no exception. They specialised in apples and we were able to wander through the orchards. They also had goats, pigs and chickens to feed, along with a tractor that TF could not resist.
As part of lunch we ordered apple juice. The children love apple juice, so I was confident that they would enjoy the extra treat of having a really fresh version. They drank it, but it was not he success I imagined. The problem. Well, it boils down to the sweetness. The fresh juice was not as sweet as the type we buy at home in cartons. Different apple varieties, I know, can make a difference, but it just didn’t win them over. It got me thinking.
When we got home, I decided I needed to give the children a chance to re-educate their taste buds. I made two drinks. One was an apple smoothie with strawberries. Basic ingredients were chopped up eating apples, frozen strawberries and sparkling mineral water, processed in the smoothie maker. They loved it and, as a bonus, I made a dent in our apple glut.
I’m sure the umbrellas and borage flowers helped, but they all had multiple servings. This is one I shall be doing again. In fact, they have been dropping hints.
The second drink, was a blackcurrant drink. We harvest kilos of blackcurrants every year. I freeze them in bags, ready for inspiration during the winter. I made the mistake of not sieving out every last bit of the pulp and I should have served it with sparkling mineral water, until they had grown used to the different taste. Here’s the recipe.
Recipe for Homebena
450 g blackcurrants
250g caster sugar
260ml water
peel and juice from 1 lemon
1. Put currants, sugar and water in a saucepan and heat on a low heat until the sugar has completely dissolved, stirring occasionally.
2. Bring it to a gentle simmer for about 5 minutes.
3. Add the lemon juice and skin to the saucepan and simmer for another 5 minutes.
4. Cool and sieve.
I put it in a jug in the fridge, but it can be bottled up in sterilised bottles. This is a cordial, so I mixed it with water when serving. Depends on taste, but we diluted it by one part cordial and 3 or 4 parts water.
Wonderful if you have a glut of blackcurrants and a larder already full of blackcurrant jelly. The children loved the name I gave it. A nod to a commercial alternative!
The children decided to vote on which drink was their favourite. As the photos show, they didn’t want me to forget which they preferred. The apple smoothie was the clear winner with all of them. Two children, out of three, liked the Homebena. I’ll do both again. Reality tells me that I am unlikely to move them totally over to homemade fruit drinks. Maybe I will experiment with other combinations. The children already help me to polish up the homemade elderflower cordial and lemonade. I am still keen to show them that there are more alternatives to shop bought cordials.
So how about you? Do you have a favourite homemade fruity drink that has children asking for more, without masses of added sugar?
Youngest loves a Banana smoothy….it’s almost like banana icecream
slice a banana into small slices and freeze
then drop slices of banana into a food processor or liquidizer with a cup of milk and blend till it’s smooth :0)
I think my youngest would go for this as well. Maybe even the Middling one. Thinking about it, I would go for it too! Thanks Val. Another one to add to my list.
Your drinks look and sound delicious!
Chase likes smoothies at home — frozen fruit, plain yogurt, and a smidge of honey.
Oh, I like the idea of using honey in the smoothie. We have yogurt and honey as a pudding quite often, so I’m sure they would like a fruity smoothie version. Thanks, Emily.
You’re a cool mom. 😛 My fam. loves basil lemonade.
I’ve got an abundance of basil in the greenhouse, so I’ll have to give this a go. Sounds yum. Thanks, Jodi. 🙂
basil lemonade,,, whaaaaaaaa???
i want to try that for sure.
ive got a blender here , which is dusty. hmn..perhaps tomorrow i’ll give it a whirl.
ps. hey which shawls are you lookin at cheryl? im in love with the cladonia so much, but the silky shells was much smaller, like more of a cool scarf. but in other ways, too small to be a ‘real’ shawl( imo)… anyway would love to peek at your list…x
Mmm. I’m looking forward to trying it too. I wondered if the cladonia would scale up. I’m hoping to make a good sized shawl. My list is a collection of bookmarks at the moment, which really need to be sorted out into something readable!
I will have to try a few of these homemade juice drinks on the grandchildren, they do look delicious…………I love to whizz up bananas, yogurt, vanilla and milk……….I’ve always preferred milky drinks to juicy ones. x
I love the milk and yogurt drinks, but I’ve found that the children are not so keen. They have milk for breakfast, so I suspect they like a bit of variety for the rest of the day. I’ve not added vanilla before, so I’ll try that next time. Thanks, lily.
looks delicious!
Believe me. They are! 🙂
I’m glad that the strawberry apple smoothie was their favorite since i don’t have access to currents but apples and strawberries I always have on hand! Now I just need to purchase some cocktail umbrellas and plant some borage… gorgeous!
Blessings, Debbie
I’m sure it would taste just perfect without the umbrella and borage. I think they just got in the way, to be honest. Now if you didn’t have the apples and strawberries, well that would be another matter! 😀 Enjoy!