rayz of sunshine

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Mint-Day 4

Mojito Sorbet

1 cup water

1 cup white sugar

1/2 cup mint leaves, packed

1/4 cup grated lime zest

1 cup freshly squeezed lime juice

1 1/2 cups citrus-flavored sparkling water

Heat the water, sugar, and mint leaves in a saucepan over medium heat, and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 3 to 5 minutes to extract the mint flavor.

Set the mixture aside to cool, and strain out the mint leaves.

Pour the cooled mint mixture, lime zest, lime juice, and sparkling water into a bowl and mix well. Pour into the container of an ice cream maker, and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Serve immediately for a softer texture, or freeze in a sealed container for a harder sorbet. Let hard-frozen sorbet thaw a few minutes before serving.

This was SOOOO yummy!!!!
Thanks Renae for letting me use your ice-cream maker :)

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Mint-Day 3

Mint and Lemon Dressing

1/3 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint leaves

1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint leaves

Stir together olive oil, lemon juice, and 1 1/2 tablespoons of mint until well blended. Set aside for 2 hours.

Strain mint out of dressing with a fine mesh strainer. Stir in remaining 1 tablespoon chopped mint leaves and serve.

Sadly, I do not have a picture for this one....And honestly, it was not very good at all. It was a dreary greenish yellowish color and it tasted just like oil.

This recipe was a DUD! Oh well, at least I didn't make it for company!!

Monday, June 13, 2011

Mint-Day 2

Day #2 Mint Tea Punch

3 cups boiling water

12 sprigs fresh mint

4 tea bags

1 cup white sugar

1 cup orange juice

1/4 cup lemon juice

5 cups cold water

3 orange slices for garnish (optional)

3 lemon slices for garnish (optional

Place the tea bags and mint sprigs into a large pitcher.

Pour boiling water over them, and allow to steep for about 8 minutes.
Remove and discard the tea bags and mint leaves, squeezing out excess liquid. Stir in sugar until dissolved, then stir in the orange juice and lemon juice. Pour in the cold water.

Serve over ice cubes, garnished with orange or lemon slices

This was really delicious and I plan to make it often during the summer!!

xoxo, Amy

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Mint-Day 1

Day 1: Mint Ice Cubes

Fresh mint leaves

2 cups boiling water as needed

Place 1-2 mint leaves into each cell of a heatproof ice cube tray.

Fill the cells with the boiling water, then let stand for 10min.

Remove leaves if desired. Freeze the ice cube tray until solid.

Aren't they cute? I am very excited to put them into my mint tea punch tomorrow :)

xoxox, Amy

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

5 days of Mint

I will make something new using fresh mint every day for the next 5 days! I am very excited to use this herb in my kitchen to make some yummy creations. I have mapped out the following 5 days for your viewing pleasure. I would like to do 10 days, but I don't think my little plant can handle that much! :)

Day 1: Mint Ice Cubes
Day 2: Mint Tea Punch
Day 3: Mint and Lemon Dressing
Day 4: Mojito Sorbet
Day 5: Tomato Cucumber and Red Onion Salad with Mint

Hope you have a "mint" of a day! :)

xoxox, Amy

Summer Dresses

I am very tall. Taller than most girls. While tall has its advantages, come summer time I am wishing I was 5 foot 4 inches! Why? Well all of the "summer dresses" out there might as well be t-shirts for me! Most of them barely go half way down my thigh, and believe me, wearing anything out of the house that short may scar you for life....

I decided to see what they have out there for long dresses and I found some adorable ones I want to share with you. :)