Summer...

It's summer! I took this photo a few days ago while driving...

We have been having the weirdest summer weather this week. Earlier in the week, it rained for a couple days, and then it's been overcast and misty for the rest of the week...Very strange for West Texas. But I'm not complaining :) I love the moisture, and I know it's helping the farmers in our area....Yay for no more drought! :)

And speaking of summer, I still have a couple recipes from the beach that I would like to share, so here's one for today.

One of my favorite things about being in a tropical climate is all the fresh fruit juices. At one of the places, they had fresh mamey juice, which is very sweet, and tastes similar to papaya (although, incidentally, I don't particularly care for papaya fruit by itself). 

The hotel we stayed at had a restaurant next to the pool that you could swim up to and order from... One of the new beverages I tried was a virgin Piña Colada drink, which I figured out is made with coconut milk and is super easy. I've also seen it made with a little evaporated milk thrown in, but for this post, I'm just going to keep it dairy-free. There's no real measurements for these--mainly by taste--so feel free to experiment.

Add equal parts pineapple juice and coconut milk in the blender (you can use coconut milk from the carton, or canned; from the can it will be more like heavy cream, which is more "typical," just remember to stir well before using). For 1 person, I do roughly 1/2c. of each. Then add a cupful or so of crushed ice (depending on how many people you're making it for--I'd do about a cup per person, but you can adjust accordingly).

Blend until smooth and frothy (the amount of liquid will double), stick in a straw, and enjoy while you imagine yourself on a beach somewhere!

 (or just enjoy it...personally, I like West Texas just the way it is! ;)