{"id":1119,"date":"2022-09-02T17:55:00","date_gmt":"2022-09-02T08:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.alphabendi.com\/?p=1119"},"modified":"2022-09-02T20:22:55","modified_gmt":"2022-09-02T11:22:55","slug":"stephens-blog-75","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.alphabendi.com\/?p=1119","title":{"rendered":"Stephen’s blog"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dear Newsletter Readers,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Welcome to this week\u2019s newsletter and as always I hope you find something in it that you find interesting.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It\u2019s been a while since I\u2019ve put the pads of my finger tips to my keyboard in order to contribute to our weekly newsletter and just to ease myself back in gently I thought I would share with you a very refreshing summertime libation or should I say drink that I concocted very recently due in most part to a need to use up a bunch of mint that I had bought to make an Indian food dip\/dressing called Raita.  <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

I made the Raita to accompany some tandoori chicken that my daughter had asked me to make for her and I only needed about 20~30 mint leaves which meant that I had lots left over.  In the past, I\u2019ve tended to keep the mint leaves in the refrigerator always meaning to get around to doing something with them, but whenever I\u2019ve gone back to them they have turned brown and become unusable.  This time around I was determined to make something with them and when I asked my daughter to check out what sort of drink I could make with them she came back to me with mint lemonade which sounded interesting and refreshing, so I made some which was actually easier than easy.  Below is the recipe I followed and the result, if I do say so myself, was pretty surprising, surprising in the sense that my wife and daughter kept filling up their glasses until it was all gone.  Please try the recipe below as I think you may well like the end result, perhaps to the point of addiction.    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Mint Lemonade<\/mark><\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

You need the following ingredients:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

l  A generous handful of mint (peppermint or spearmint are good substitutes).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

l  1 whole lemon (squeezed)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

l  A couple of tablespoons of honey (brown sugar will work, but honey is a tad healthier)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

l  A few thin slices of fresh ginger (optional)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

l  600ml boiling hot water<\/p>\n\n\n\n

l  Ice cubes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

l  This slices of lime (optional)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to make mint lemonade<\/u><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Wash the mint leaves and put them into a bowl.<\/li>
  2. Add the hot water, honey, ginger and fresh lemon juice and allow the mint leaves to steep in the liquid until cooled down completely.  <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    l  The good thing about using mint leaves is that it doesn\u2019t matter how long you leave them to steep in the hot water the taste does not become bitter, unlike with tea leaves which beyond 2\/3 minutes of steeping will become bitter if the leaves are not removed from the water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1.  Once the liquid has cooled, strain the liquid to remove all the mint leaves and then pour the mint lemonade into a jug.<\/li>
    2.  You can then either put the jug into the refrigerator to allow the mint lemonade to get cold or serve some immediately in a glass over ice cubes. <\/li>
    3.  You can also in a thin slice of lime if you want to.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      Mint Lemonade<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      To boiling hot water, add in a generous handful of mint.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Add in ginger, but only a hint.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Add in two tablespoons of honey.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      It\u2019s better if it\u2019s clear and runny.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Now let the lemon come to its aid.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      That\u2019s the drink just about made.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      You could also add in a slice of lime,<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      If you were so inclined.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      A poem by Stephen Austwick.<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Dear Newsletter Readers, Welcome to this week\u2019s newsletter and as always I hope you find something in it that …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-stephens-corner"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.alphabendi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1119","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.alphabendi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.alphabendi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.alphabendi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.alphabendi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1119"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/www.alphabendi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1119\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1127,"href":"http:\/\/www.alphabendi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1119\/revisions\/1127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.alphabendi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.alphabendi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.alphabendi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}