Diabetic Friendly Lemonade

A few years back, when I lived in Brooklyn, I was returning some camera equipment to an Iranian TV presenter (this was the kind of life I lived. Sigh) and she offered me some lemonade, because it was the hottest summer the city had seen in 10 years and I think my pale skin looked pretty flustered after lugging the equipment up the L Train and then getting a little bit lost.

What she gave me, and kindly even filled in an empty water bottle for me to take away, was this homemade concoction of wonder: water, freshly squeezed lemons, mint, ice and cinnamon sugar. This simple mix travelled much further with me than back down the L Train (not least because I kept refilling the old bottle with the used mint and lemons in it for at least 2 weeks - gross but it worked) - it's also travelled round in my mind for years since. My plight has been the cinnamon sugar, which I am STILL YET TO FIND. But this is not necessarily a bad thing.

As a diabetic, I probably shouldn't be dedicating my time to finding sugar. I don't want to confuse people - I'm a Type 1, which means sometimes I physically need sugar (something which a lot of people don't seem to understand), but it's not really something I should be consuming as often as I do water. So the other day, I was just staring at my spice rack (I do this sometimes) and my two little sticks of cinnamon basically jumped into my face and started saying 'Lemonade! Lemonade!'. The obvious answer was a long time coming. If I just replaced the cinnamon sugar with natural cinnamon bark, I would still get the unique taste of this wondrous marriage of ingredients - and in a Diabetic Friendly way, too. Cinnamon's even been reported recently to lower bloodsugar, so double score.

Here is how I made this beautifully simple but necessary-to-life drink:

Diabetic Friendly Lemonade

1) I like using a good aesthetic carafe for stuff like this - but any old jug will do. Fill your chosen vessel with ice - lots of it, and squeeze the juice of each of your lemon quarters over it. Then chuck in the squeezed lemons with the ice.

2) Add your mint and cinnamon. Give it a slight mix, then at this point, add the agave syrup if desired. I used this because it's really low in sugar compared to - um - sugar, and other alternatives like honey and golden syrup. It's got about 7g carb per serving, so if you divvy that serving up in regards to your whole carafe, you're really only getting a few grams of sugar. But please - it is honestly just as nice without this, just slightly zingier.

3) Fill with water. Mix. Place the jug in the sunshine and take a moment to admire your work. Even if you DID use any old jug, this is still something that's just beautiful to look at. It's better if you let it infuse for a little while, but you probably won't be able to wait for this, so enjoy a little glass to start with.

(I love the way the ingredients just naturally separated themselves - cinnamon at the bottom, mint taking the middle and lemons owning the top, like it was some colourful, aesthetic agreement.)

It goes without saying, this is perfect for summer eves such as these (although as I'm writing this, it's started thundering down with rain. I'm definitely not living abroad any more, am I). It's great if you're trying to cut down on alcohol a bit - I find that when I get home after a long, hot day, I really do enjoy an ice cold beer or a cider, and this fills that gap just nicely if you don't want to do that every single day. Although - the lemonade would also be AWESOME with a bit of gin or whisky thrown in, winky face.

New Tricks: Freshly Ground Iced Coffee

Recently I've been on a bit of a mission to bring lots of nice smells into the house. When you live in a basement, have a laundry space that is far away from one of the two windows, AND have a rabbit, it can be a little hard sometimes to keep things smelling, erm, fresh. One length I went to was to go on the definition of all sprees at Lush Cosmetics, which is pretty much one of my favourite shops in the world and universe. Their passionate use of fresh ingredients is not unlike my love of food, and the aromas their products emit as a consequence is really kind of heavenly. Queue a load of soaps and bathbombs dotted around the house for everyone's smelling pleasure, and a nice bit of escapism because each time you walk by, they make you feel like you're in Happy Dreamland.

Aroma Type #2 was inspired by our recent purchase, the Andrew James 4 in 1 Smoothie Maker. We were looking for an affordable blender because 1) The VT-BF wanted to start blending his own protein shakes in line with his recent health kick, and 2) I LOVE breakfast but it slows me down. I'm kind of thinking if I can whizz up some lovely fruits, oats, yoghurt and maybe even nuts in the morning I can drink one of the best breakfasts ever on the bus, whilst consuming plenty of stuff that helps to bring down my high, Diabetic cholesterol. So with that philosophy in place, there were really two more things that sold me on the reasonably priced Andrew James model: 1) it was red. Lots of things in my kitchen are red. 2) It came with a detachable GRINDER.

The grinder, not to be mistaken for a particular social media app, excited me ridiculous amounts. I've always wanted to be able to grind my own spice blends and coffee; we have a beauuutiful old coffee grinder which the VT-BF's grandmother acquired many years ago, but its grinding isn't actually all that. It's more of an aesthetic-but-completely-essential piece on the coffee table (also given to us by VT-BF-Nan).

So back to my smell mission. There is nothing more heartwrenchingly satisfying than the smell of freshly brewed coffee, and it's therefore one I wouldn't mind my house smelling of all the time. With my new grinder in place, the flat was just asking for some coffee beans that I could grind at least once a week, to re-release the aroma on a consistent basis and so smoothly eradicate any memory of damp clothing or rabbit pee.

I settled on a strength 5 Italian bean from Waitrose, and because it had been a particularly hot and tiring day (probably because I spent ages choosing the coffee bean) I excitedly came to the decision that I would ice my blend. I first became obsessed with iced coffee (just plain coffee with ice, milk or no milk, sugar if you want it but I don't - not the cream blended syruppy milkshake style things we get in all the high street chains) when I moved to Brooklyn and my soul was invaded by amazing coffee shops everywhere I explored. Having at least one iced coffee a day seemed to enlighten my life in all sorts of ways.

The instruction manual for the smoothie maker was just the kind I love - short and with big fonts. All I did to make my magic beans was pop them in the grinder cup, attach the RIGHT attachment (an area I could easily go wrong) and blend for thirty little secs. A nice little touch was that the grinder cup has a seal, so you can store whatever it is you might be grinding and keep it fresh - so I got to make wonderful hot coffee the next morning, too. To make the iced coffee, I took two big spoonfuls of my freshly ground beans and put them in a cafetiere. Treat as normal - add hot water and allow to brew. I lied earlier when I mentioned what the most heartwrenchingly satisfying thing was - because it's actually pushing down the plunger on a cafetiere. Arguments welcome.

Put a good handful of ice cubes in a cup - make sure it's heatproof! I love these glass ones - they're meant for tea, really, but whenever I need something heatproof I take advantage of their subtle gloriousness. Then just pour in the hot coffee and stir, and add milk or/and sugar if relevant. Give it a wee taste to see if it's chilled enough - just chuck some more ice cubes in if not.

Basically, I can't recommend all of the above highly enough. From choosing a bean that you think will suit you, to blitzing them up to oblivion and releasing their spellbinding smells, and then drinking your work in a way that tells you 'this is iced, so it is actually summer now', is just all the best. Seeing your coffee transform from those wholesome, nutlike beans into a mystical, silky, chocolate-coloured powder is a wonderful thing. And I'm happy to report that the house is still benefitting from the experiment. It's the most refreshing and inspiring thing to wake up and smell the coffee.

PS - here's what's next on my blitz-list. Pink peppercorns, fennel seeds and coriander seeds... my house is happy with me!