My new favourite drink - Mint LemonadeThis drink is to die for and I stress, is only made well with fresh ingredients!

In Dubai it is a specialty and found everywhere, a few places use syrups instead of the fresh ingredients to make it cheaper for them, but they do not taste half as good. For a small dinner gathering at the Onion's house the other night I brought all the ingredients and made some, although mine were a little too sour and the mint was ground so coarsely, it was like eating some freshly mown grass. Luckily the guests were gracious and spit out the extra grass, erm..mint into the sink. Next time I will blend the mint longer and skim a layer of it off so only very fine bits are left. It was a trial session so no complaints please.

For you to try it at home - get a few lemons, a few limes, some brown sugar and a handful of fresh mint with some ice and cold water (squeeze the juice though-don't throw the whole lemons and limes in the blender and it would be good to peel the mint leaves off their stem).

Whiz it all in the blender for a few minutes and voila you have a healthy & refreshing drink.

Since I don't know the exact measurements of each you need to test out the sugar levels as I didn't use any measuring spoons. After my first few sips when I thought my cheeks would remain in a permanent pucker I added a few more generous scoops of sugar. If you can make lemonade you are halfway there - just add lime and mint!

Belli's mohitosKids mixing drinks?

Well, what else do you get kids to do in the summer? We put them to work making mohitos for us a few weekends ago at the beach. They are great at picking the fresh mint from the garden, stirring in the sugar and very exact at pouring the lemon & lime juice and mixing in the solda and vodka; it is like being in home economics class! Kids love tasks that are usually left to grownups. They didn't get a chance to taste the drinks but we did make them a virgin version.

Belli is the cutest little angel and a great helper. I wish I was a teacher like her mother and had a little star sticker to give her. Thanks for your help cutie and see you soon!

x

Westwood Mohito Recipe:

*We altered the recipe for what was in the cupboard

- Lots of fresh mint from the garden

- A squirt of lemon and lime juice (as much as we had in the fridge)

- A tbsp of sugar per glass – brown sugar is nice

- We used Havana Club rum – but any rum will do – the flavored Bacardi Limon one would be nice

- Ice

- We didn’t have club soda so we used Perrier water with a hint of lime

Summer Sun
It was a fantastically sunny weekend in London and spent most of it outside. The amount of people walking outside has tripled and my street is filled with prams, people, bikes, dogs and everyone that was hibernating. What started off as a bad weekend turned into a fantastic one...

Drink of choice for the weekend was the Caipirinha. Had one at Beach Blanket Babylon in Notting Hill which is a must see, its interior is spectacular with caves, rope bridge and beautiful mosaics and mirrors. Very trendy and cool with high drink prices to match. Rahul met the owner who is an eclectic Londoner who's sense of style epitomizes the bar/restaurant. Go there for a drink and find some nice men to buy you more...

The C is a Brazilian drink made from Cachaça alcohol (fermented sugarcane), sugar and lime and is the national drink of Brazil.
The average Brazilian drinks about three gallons of Cachaça annually. It is so sweet so if you don't like sugary cocktails than steer clear.
p.s. am still getting to know how to use my new Mac so will post more pics once I figure out how to find them on my computer!

x

Beks and Rahul at BBB