Heather is happiest when taking a beautiful photo, creating something in her kitchen, or elbows-deep in a DIY project.

Summer Drink Recipes

Prep Time

My mother gave me this recipe when my husband and I moved into our new home. She had about four of these cow-shaped recipe cards since the mid-70s. She gave me my very own little cow card to keep, and it's seriously cute. He has some wear on him since he's older than me. He traveled from Connecticut to Arizona in my mother's recipe box in 1980 when my family moved, and I'm happy to share it with you.

Peach Mikshakes

Ingredients for peach milkshake smoothie

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Ingredients

• 2 cups frozen or canned peaches and syrup
• OR
• 2 cups fresh peaches with 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 pint vanilla ice cream
• 2 cups cold millk
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Instructions

1. Place all ingredients in a blender or mixing bowl. If electric mixer is used, mash peaches and soften ice cream before adding milk and almond extract. Beat 2 minutes or until smooth and frothy.

Tips

• I used one 15.25 oz can of Del Monte sliced peaches. This was just under 2 cups. My husband doesn't love peaches as much as I do, so I just used the one can. You could easily use a second can for a peachier taste.
• I cut my canned peach slices and puréed them just because my blender is cheap and I didn't want to overload it with yummy goodness all at once. Then I added the remaining ingredients and blended for about a minute or so.

Frozen Peach Purée

Homemade popsicles

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Peach Moo-sicles

This recipe yields 4 servings, so after each drinking our shakes, I used the remaining mixture to make Popsicles. This fulfilled one of my personal summertime goals (making homemade Popsicles). There are tons of options when buying Popsicle molds, but I kept it very easy.

I bought these clear molds (four pops to a mold) for $1.00 in the summer/barbecue section of my grocery store (I bought two). The handles are intended for children (they were colorful teddy bears, I think) and had very minimal plastic that holds your pop and even less that you would hold onto while eating it. This could be ideal for tiny, child hands, but not for me. I threw the original handles into a junk drawer for a day when there are tiny hands in my household, and I used Popsicle sticks instead.

How-to

1. Pour mixture into the mold but not all the way to the rim.
2. Place in freezer on a flat, sturdy surface where they won't be interrupted.
3. Check on pops after the 30-or-45-minute mark. Try inserting Popsicle sticks into centers. If they fall over, wait a little bit longer. Continue freezing. (I did mine overnight.)

Tips

• Some Popsicle molds are designed to hold your sticks straight from the get-go. Mine did not, since it was the super cheap version. You can put your sticks in after pouring your mixture, but they'll fall over and freeze exactly like that. I wanted mine to be picture perfect, so I babysat them during their Popsicle infancy to get it perfect.
• If making Popsicles wasn't an afterthought, I would have reserved some fruit chunks to put into the pops for color, texture, and yummy-ness.

Heather Says

This drink hits the spot at the end of a summer day as a dessert treat or just because. It's fast and easy, which is always a plus. I served my drinks in mason jars with color-change striped straws, for fun. Any leftovers will begin to separate, so turn them into delicious peach moo pops for some frozen goodness. Enjoy.

© 2012 Heather

Comments

Esther Shamsunder from Bangalore,India on June 23, 2012:

Congrats! Easy and healthy too!

Heather (author) from Arizona on June 18, 2012:

Thanks everyone, especially my fortune teller-- Kelleyward ;)

kelleyward on June 18, 2012:

Yea! Congrats! I knew this was a winner!

Simone Haruko Smith from San Francisco on June 15, 2012:

Gosh Heather Says, your recipe Hubs are all so gorgeous! I'm not big on peaches, but even *I* am tempted to try this. Thanks for sharing this!

Jools Hogg from North-East UK on June 12, 2012:

Any kind of milkshake gets my vote. This one looks yummy!

Danette Watt from Illinois on June 12, 2012:

Looks yummy and easy to make. That cow card is cute!

Dana Strang from Ohio on June 12, 2012:

i love cows! that card is adorable! and i love peaches. and ice cream. i will definitely make this! Your popsicle ideas are great. Especially the idea of adding some fruit.... YUM! ... (shame on me. the thought of adding rum just popped into my head. ooopsy!)... :)

kelleyward on June 12, 2012:

I think this is a winner!!! Gave it 5 stars! Love it, love it, love it! Voted up and shared! Kelley