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Delightful Summery Drinks

With Christmas coming up faster then we can prepare, we thought we would find some delicious summer drink ideas! This of course, can be adult friendly, or just a lovely drink to enjoy with family and friends.

Of course, all inclusive of our Honey bee friends, who have been working all year to bring us premium honey to share.

You can never be too early with preparation, so check out some of the yummy recipes below and make your Christmas and New Years a relaxing holiday.

Honey-Sweetened Limeade with Strawberries and Basil

Ingredients:

To Make the Honey-Sweetened Simple Syrup:

1 cup Happy Valley Liquid Honey
1 1/2 cups water

For the Limeade:

12-15medium size fresh limes plus 1 more as garnish (you need 1 cup of lime juice)
1 cup strawberries, sliced – plus more as garnish
1/4 cup of basil, chopped – plus more as garnish
ice
5-6 cups of water

Method:

To make the honey-sweetened simple syrup:Place honey and 1 1/2 cups of water in a small saucepan. Cook until honey is completely dissolved. Set aside and let it cool.

Zest 3 limes and place the zest in the saucepan with the dissolved honey.

Squeeze the juices of the limes. You should have at least one cup of lime juice.

To make the limeade: Place the honey mixture and lime juice in a pitcher. Add in sliced strawberries and chopped basil.

Add in 5 cups of cold water and give it a good stir. Place it in the fridge to cool for at least 2 hours.

When ready to serve, pour limeade into glasses filled with ice and garnish with chunks of strawberries and fresh basil leaves. Feel free to add alcohol if using!

Honey Roasted Pear Sparkling Cocktail/Mocktail

Ingredients:

6 pears
1/4 to 1/3 c Happy Valley Lemon Honey (or a flavour of your choice) (divided)
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/4 tsp cinnamon (divided)
pinch of ground nutmeg
2 tbsp apple juice or water
Pinch of ground clove
1 tsp vanilla
24-28 ounces sparkling wine, champagne, orsparking white grape juice
Brown sugar or coconut palm sugar to coat rims of glasses (optional)
Optional 1 ounce of vodka or whiskey (see notes forgluten free brands)

Garnishes:

Fresh thyme, sage, or rosemary

Method:

Preheat oven to 400F and line a baking sheet or grease it well. Slice your pears in halves or quarters. Remove the stems.

In a small bowl, whisk together 2 tbsp honey, 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar, 1/8 tsp cinnamon, and pinch of ground nutmeg. Brush this over the pears, evenly.

Place pears in oven for about 20 to 25 minutes, until soft and pears are browned on bottom. If you are using larger pears, they will take longer to roast. Steckler Pears take closer to 22 minutes.

Remove from oven. Once cooled, scoop out the seeds from the pears.

Place your honey roasted pears in a blender or food processor with vanilla and 2 tbsp juice or water. Blend until puréed.

Add puréed pears to large glass pitcher or glass serving bowl. Let it chill before serving.

Once ready to serve, add a pinch of ground clove, 3 to 4 more tablespoons of honey, 24-28 ounces sparkling white wine, champagne, orsparking white grape juice to the pitcher or bowl. Stir together. Optional 1 ounce of vodka if you would like the sparkling cocktails less sweet with a bolder liquor flavor.

Coat wine classes or cocktail classes in brown sugar or coconut sugar. Then pour 5- 6 ounces of the sparkling cocktail mix into each class.

Garnish with a sprig of thyme, sage, or rosemary (optional)

Honeyed Strawberry Lemonade

Ingredients:

1 punnet strawberries, washed & cut in halves, about 4 cups
2 lemons, washed and quartered (use limes to make strawberry limeade)
½- ¾ cup Happy Valley Honey or sugar to taste, adjust based on your preference and sweetness of strawberries
6 cups of water
Ice

Garnishes:

Strawberry slices, lemon slices and/or fresh herbs (mint, lemon verbena, lemon balm, basil)

Method:

Blend the strawberries, lemons and honey with 2 cups of water

Strain the strawberry lemon mix, add the additional 4 cups of water through the strainer

Taste and add additional honey/sugar if needed

Serve cold over ice and garnished with strawberry slices, lemon slices and herbs

Method 2 (this one helps make the straining easier and keeps all strawberry goodness):

First blend only the strawberries with the honey and 1 cup of water. You don’t need to strain this, it’s better to keep all the strawberries goodness. Then place the blended strawberries mix in a pitcher.

Then in the same blender, you don’t need to wash or rinse it, blend the quartered lemons with the 1-2 cups of water.

Strain the lemon mix into the pitcher, mix well and add the rest of the water. Taste and adjust sweetness level if needed.

Serve as indicated above.

Notes: For a refreshing summer cocktail, add your choice of alcohol. You can use vodka, tequila, or rum. You can also mix the strained mix with white wine or sparkling wine, instead of the additional 4 cups of water, for delicious strawberry sangria.