Pool Party!

It’s HOT out and even though part of me wants to hide inside air-conditioned buildings till it’s not so hot I’m bound and determined to enjoy the weather – heat and all… what better way to do it than with a POOL PARTY?

So while planning a pool party for tots and their lovely mommas and poppas I had a key issue to tackle:

• I didn’t want to cook in the heat – and even though I advertised this as a BBQ I really didn’t want a BBQ on and hot with a bunch of little people running about.

Re the Cooking: I love to cook, I like to try out new recipes and make meals for my friends but when it’s hot outside I just want to stay hydrated and well out of the kitchen! Here are 3 make ahead recipes that made a splash at the party that never once had me opening the oven or turning on a burner.

Cold-pressed coffee frappe:

This refereshing pick me up – inspired by my coffee loving husband – was a bit of an experiment but one that worked well. It involves a few stages BUT no heat whatsoever (we used decaf and whole milk – delish!):

1. fill a jug with water – for every cup of water put twice the amount of extra coarse coffee grinds that you would use for a hot pot of coffee – let sit for 8 or so hours
2. filter the ‘coffee water’ slowly and pour strained cold coffee into ice trays – put in the freezer
3. repeat step one with new coffee and water
4. filter the coffee water – put the coffee and coffee ice in a blender (1 part each, till your blender’s 2/3rds full)
5. add 1 cup whole milk or cream (or more to taste)
6. add 3 tbs maple syrup
7. blend and ENJOY!

Gazpacho

This has been one of my all time favourite summer dishes for years – simple, make ahead, refreshing and nutritious – and the kids loved it as much as their parents! (I think it’s the garlic ) I adapted this recipe from the Complete Canadian Living Cookbook – a good staple cookbook to work from and have for reference

1. Peel and soup out seeds of 3 tomatoes, peel 1 and a half cucumbers, de-seed and coarse chop 1 red pepper, peel and coarse chop 5-7 garlic cloves
2. Puree (blender or hand blender) 2 tomatoes, 1 cucumber, the red pepper, garlic, 2 tbs balsamic viniger, 2 tbs olive oil, 2 tsb of hot sauce (we used Franks Red Hot) and 3.5 cups of veg cocktail (I make sure to get a low-sodium variety)
3. That’s it – your soup is made – it’s best if made the day ahead and left for the flavours to come together
4. Garnish is the last touch – that last tomato and half a cucumber are perfect finely chopped and sprinkled on top – you can serve this in a bowl with a spoon or keep things even easier with it in a glass

Guava Berry Popsicles

Break out that blender one more time for this treat! This was our ultimate experiment that worked out so well we’ve been hoarding the popsicles ever since!

Into the blender goes:

1. 1 cup of yogurt
2. 1/2 cup of frozen strawberries
3. 1/2 cup of frozen raspberries
4. 1/2 cup of milk
5. about 5 tbs of maple syrup
6. fill with guava juice
7. Blend and Freeze – then Enjoy!

(sorry there aren’t more pictures – we ate it all before I could snap them!)

How are you beating the heat, staying out of the kitchen and getting people fed this summer?