Are you thirsty yet?
If you're like me and live in Arkansas, or just about anywhere in the deep south, you're in the midst of an awfully hot and humid summer. High temperatures here in Arkansas have hovered in the upper 90s with a few locations topping out over 100 degrees just about every day for the last month.
Sadly, no relief from the sweltering temperatures is in sight.
But there is relief as close as your kitchen with cool, savory drinks you can easily make at home.
In early June, I teamed up once again with the creative team at P. Allen Smith, partnering with Bonnie Plants, to work on their latest issue of A Taste of the Garden.
We photographed this issue over two days at a private home in Little Rock featuring all things drinks. I photographed a variety of items ranging from Southern iced tea to infused waters and a killer good Lemon Basil Martini. That recipe came courtesy of our very own Capital Hotel.
And oh my was it great. It was the PERFECT way to wrap our two day photo shoot.
The idea is pretty simple and quite tasty; instead of resorting to sodas to wet your palate, try using some of the wonderful things you've grown in your garden with Bonnie Plants and create fresh and new drink ideas. For their series on infused waters (above photo at left) you can use items such as: mint, stevia and even cucumber to add flavor to water. All of these plants are available from Bonnie Plants.
To involve the kiddos, try making a watermelon slushie (above). And you don't have to actually be a kid to enjoy this. It's a perfect drink for any summer's day...for kids of all ages.
For the adults, the tangy and tomato juice (below at right) is perfect accompaniment for lunch!
The muddled mint and strawberry orange juice (below) is simply delicious. It's perfect by itself or add a splash, or a generous amount of champagne, for your next Sunday brunch.
And if you're looking for great ideas for something fresh and new for your next brunch, P. Allen Smith and Bonnie Plants shares a lot of great recipes in their A Taste of Brunch which I photographed in May. You can see the photos and recipes by going here.
