Hot hot hot!!! If you immediately thought of the Cure song, you and I are obviously of the same era. I’m not here to wax nostalgic over great 80’s bands, though- just to share with you one of my favorite beverages for hot weather. It contains fresh, juicy Apples, crunchy Celery, ice and milk. Sounds good, doesn’t it? It is good- taste-wise, and for you.

If, like my mother, you’re lactose intolerant, feel free to substitute the regular milk with soy milk, rice milk, or no milk at all! That’s right, this still tastes awesome with just the Apples and Celery.

If, like my husband, you’re diabetic, go ahead and use Splenda or Stevia in place of the sugar. Or, again, none at all! When our apples are particularly sweet, my husband prefers his smoothie without any sweetener. He likes the tartness.

Apple Celery Smoothie

4 green apples, peeled and cored
4 stalks celery, peeled
4 tablespoons sugar
2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups ice
1 cup water

Chop apples and celery up into little pieces, and pulse to blend a few seconds in your blender. Add sugar, milk, ice, and water. Blend, blend, blend- and pour into tall glasses.

Serve with thick straws (or none, if you like milk moustaches)

I’ve posted previously about my love for strawberries, but my second favorite berry and berry flavor, has got to be raspberry. A bowl of fresh and tangy, sweet, refreshing, juicy raspberries- is there anything better?

Turns out, there’s a large number of raspberry recipes online- from raspberry sherbet, to raspberry pie, to this ridiculously easy-to-assemble Raspberry Chocolate Torte (which I’ve tried, and which is awesome, by the way). There’s even raspberry vinaigrette, which, I’m sorry, looks so much like a pitcher of delicious raspberry juice in the photo, I want to down a glass right now.

Still, the best way I like my raspberries is fresh and plain. No sugar, no cream, just a bowl of plain deliciousness, thank you very much. I like to wash them quickly in very cold water, and serve them immediately. They’re packed full of good things like antioxidants, vitamins b and c, and lots of fiber (which means I can enjoy them without breaking my low-carb diet). It’s foods like these, perfect from nature, that really make me smile.

A friend sent us five kilos of sweet and juicy strawberries (thanks, Vincent!)- and so far we’ve had Strawberry Cake, Strawberry Pie (a recipe I’ll share with you soon, it was swooningly delicious), even Strawberry Pancakes. But my all-time favorite way to enjoy these strawberries has been simply: by macerating them.

If you find yourself with fresh strawberries, please please try this. The maceration brings out the strawberry’s natural flavor in an awesome way. A perfect recipe to celebrate Earth Day with:

Macerated Strawberries

2 pints fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
1 bottle of your favorite red wine
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon finely chopped lemon zest
1 teaspoon ground black pepper (the powdery kind. Seriously.)
1/2 cup sugar

Combine all of the above in a large bowl. Cover and sit in refrigerator for a few hours. Serve with dollops of creme fraiche. Mmmm.