Spicy Lemonade

I’m on day one of my annual juice cleanse and this year I’m supplementing my usual BluePrint cleanse with some homemade beverages. I can just about stomach spending $11 for a bottle of green juice for the convenience factor alone of not having to wash up the juicer but I really don’t understand spending that much for lemonade when it’s so easy to whip up a batch at home. Plus the Blueprint cleanse Ginger Aid that you can buy at Wholefoods is much too sweet for my liking – better to buy a bag of organic Meyer lemons and squeeze your own juice. Meyer Lemons are also excellent because they are naturally sweeter and so require less agave nectar.

To be honest I’m not hungry – rather I’m bored. I want to jump in the kitchen and whip up a batch of chocolate chip cookies but I know I’d inhale the whole lot – or cut up lots of crisp veggies for a crunchy chopped salad – but no instead I am focused on green juice and spicy lemonade. The thought of slipping into my new Marchesa gown for Didier’s big award show in a week’s time is enough to keep my mitts out of the cookie jar and my will power strong. There will be no cheating! I choose to be thin…

As part of our recent experiments in ice I bought a kit on Amazon, Final Touch Ice Balls Silicone Ice Mold, Set of 6, to make large spherical ice for the summer. Well these have proved just the right amount of a distraction from my need to eat, create and crunch! Do you have any idea how thrilling it is to think of different edible things to freeze into balls? – glitter for fairy balls, flowers for pretty balls, and even a dash of fruit juice for colorful balls…

Then there is the time spent in my pursuit of excellence – my obsession to make the clearest ice possible. I’ve even tried to invert the ball over a tub of water with a homemade wire contraption- all very wet and involved and really not worth the fuss. Simply boiling pure water twice, letting it cool between each boil, pouring it into the molds and freezing produces great results – perfect for much need homework helping Gin and Tonics as well as jazzing up the monotony of sipping spicy lemonade for a week!

Spicy Lemonade Recipe

7 organic meyer lemons
2 liter filtered water – add the water to dilute as you drink the lemonade
agave nectar
ice
fresh ginger
cayenne pepper

1. Squeeze the lemons, dilute with some of the water and sweeten to taste with the agave nectar. Peel and pound a large stalk of fresh ginger in the pestle and mortar and add to the lemonade to steep.

2. Place an ice sphere in a large wine glass, add half a glass of concentrated lemonade through a tea strainer to catch any bits of ginger, dilute with water to the top of the glass and add 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper.