Summer-time meals

Smooth tastes

I believe that there is a song with lyrics that say, "Summer-time and the living is easy." Perhaps true, but to quote yet another song, "It ain't necessarily so." With the heat and the humidity soaring, sometimes the living isn't easy and our appetites just want to leave the rest of the body behind and holiday somewhere cooler. However, keeping our fluids and strength up in the face of all this heat is important, so what simpler way to do it than with delicious refreshing drinks that can substitute as a meal?

For some of these drinks you will need a blender or hand-held processor but there are also some refreshing drinks included that only need the energy required to make them.

BERRY SMOOTHIES
For this recipe, use whatever berries you can get your hands on - blueberries, raspberries, strawberries or mulberries. There are also some excellent frozen berries available in freezer packs in the supermarkets that work well in this smoothie.

The thickness of the berry smoothie depends on the amount of yoghurt that you put in - anywhere from ½ a cup to one cup is fine. After that, you might need a spoon instead of a straw.

The quantities shown will make two smoothies.

The recipe is easy: simply blend until smooth. Add a little crushed ice to the glass to make this smoothie really refreshing.

MANGO LASSI
The ingredients and the technique are similar to the berry smoothie. Simply substitute a chopped ripe mango for the berries, buttermilk for the milk (optional, you can use milk) and add a couple of tablespoons of lime juice before blending. All the wonderful summery flavour of a mango lassi will leave you feeling refreshed and satisfied.

CITRUS SPRITZER
You can use any type of citrus juice for this spritzer, which is absolutely taste-bud tingling. The quantities shown will make four drinks, but you will definitely need to cater for top-ups.

Add enough sugar to the citrus juice to make it palatable for your taste buds. You need to do this before adding the sparkling water or you will lose all your bubbles when you stir it.

Combine the sweetened citrus juice, chilled sparkling water and the mint in a large jug. Stir gently to combine. Serve in glasses with a couple of ice cubes.

SPIDERS
These drinks were always a huge hit when I was a kid. They were so simple to make but seemed so exotic, not to mention refreshing and fun.

You simply add a generous scoop of vanilla ice-cream to about three-quarters of a glass of cold soft drink. The less-than-full glass is to cope with the creamy frothy explosion when the ice cream meets the soft drink.

My dad used to experiment with different flavours of ice-cream in his spiders but the rest of the family were traditionalists and stuck to vanilla. Coke and lemonade were the family favourites but I do make a strong stand for sarsaparilla.

Even the family dog used to have a tiny spider in his bowl.

TRIPLE CHOCOLATE MILKSHAKE
This is one for the chockie lovers but you could do a version using strawberry ice-cream and strawberry syrup.

In fact, I have experimented with a milkshake using ice-cold milk, a teaspoon of vanilla extract and a generous scoop of vanilla ice-cream. For an end-of-the-day version, add a splash of Tia Maria or Kahlua to the mix.

This milkshake can be made in a blender or a plastic shaker.

Combine the milk, chocolate syrup and three of the scoops of chocolate ice-cream in a blender or shaker. Blend (or shake) until smooth(ish). Pour the chocolate shake into glasses, top with a scoop of chocolate ice-cream and sprinkle the whole thing with some Flake shards.

BLOODY MARY
This is a wonderfully refreshing "the day is done" drink. However, you can omit the vodka and make this into an anytime-of-the-day drink.

The celery stick in the ingredients list is kind of a traditional way to stir your bloody Mary. Don't have any celery? Don't despair, use a spoon.

The following quantities will make one bloody Mary.

A small handful of ice cubes

Combine all of the ingredients except for the ice cubes and celery. Place the ice cubes into a glass before filling the glass with the combined liquid ingredients. Pop a celery stick into the glass, put your feet up and enjoy.