Saffron Cardamom Lemonade

Last month, I spent two happy, busy afternoons cooking with two groups of fifth graders at Discovering Options here in St. Louis. Those hours reminded me that when a child learns to cook, especially as part of a group, it is about so much more than just making a plate of food. To be able to cook, you have to be able to read a recipe, follow directions, identify ingredients, be able to measure accurately, work as part of a team, know cooking terminology such as dice, grate and bake, have knife skills, manage your time and learn to clean up after yourself- to name just a few things. Then, when you sit down to eat, it is a lesson in manners and etiquette, in sharing food equally and making sure all your friends get their fair portion, in appreciating new flavors and textures and carrying on a polite conversation at the table. Not to mention the lessons in culture, language and geography that comes from trying ingredients and recipes from a cuisine other than your own.

The menus I chose were simple ones involving lots of prep activities that the kids could do on their own. The first day, we made masala burgers, with flavorful patties containing potatoes, sweet potatoes, onion, peppers, carrots, corn, peas and cilantro. To go with the burgers, we made "Indian-style coleslaw", shredded red and green cabbage dressed with Greek yogurt, crushed roasted peanuts, cumin and salt. None of the children knew you could make a burger without meat.

For the second session (with a different set of kids), we made chutney-cheese sandwiches, the chutney being the popular one with mint, cilantro and some roasted dalia. We baked the sandwiches to get the cheesy all melty and gooey and served them with ketchup. To go with the sandwiches, we made chana chaat, tossing together chickpeas with halved grapes, boiled potato, cucumber and carrots. None of the children had tasted a chickpea before.

Both times, I wanted to serve a refreshing drink to wash down the food. I was thinking of making mango lassi as the beverage, but changed my mind when I read a comment by Mints! on the post where I requested ideas for kid-friendly eats. She said "Instead of lassi, you could make lemonade with keshar and ilaichi. kids will have fun squeezing lemons and stirring." And yes, they indeed had fun doing just that, and we ended up with tall pitchers of saffron cardamom lemonade.  Thank you Mints!, for sharing an excellent idea. None of the children had ever made lemonade from scratch.

In the US today, children consume a truly frightening amount of sodas and other sugary drinks. I would rather make some lemonade using real lemons, real sugar, pure water and interesting spices, then serve it to them in small cups and let them enjoy those sips as a special treat.

Lemonade is not only for kids, of course. As temperatures are soaring in St. Louis and we have made the unceremonious jump from 40 degrees F to 80 degrees F overnight, I made this very lemonade to share with our friends this weekend. They were surprised and delighted by the unique taste of saffron and cardamom in the otherwise-familiar lemonade. One thing I should mention is that most Indians love a hint of salt in their lemonade, but my American friends hate the addition of salt. I'm talking about people with adventurous palates who love foods from different cuisines, who relish unusual (to them) textures like sabudana. But they make a face and spit out lemonade that has salt in it. Lesson learned- no salt in lemonade when I have non-Indian friends over.

For the 21+ set, you could spike this lemonade with vodka to make an interesting cocktail. I'm just sayin'.

Saffron Cardamom Lemonade

(about 4 servings)

1. Make simple syrup by heating ¹⁄₂ cup sugar with ¹⁄₂ cup water until the sugar dissolves completely. You can do this either in a small saucepan on the stove, or in a glass bowl in the microwave. 
2. Add 1 large pinch of saffron threads to the warm syrup to coax out the color and flavor. 
3. Juice 3 fresh lemons.
4. In a pitcher, stir together the saffron syrup, lemon juice, 4 cups water and ¹⁄₂ tsp. cardamom powder.
5. Serve chilled or over ice.

Needless to say, the amounts of lemon juice and sugar can be adjusted to taste. And you can add more or less water depending on how concentrated you like your lemonade to be.

I took this picture too soon after making the lemonade; if you let it sit around for just a little bit, the saffron threads give it a vibrant sunset color.

What are your favorite summer beverages? What recipes are you planning to make this summer?

On the Hooks

I'm working on a rather ambitious project- a crochet blanket made by arranging dozens and dozens of colorful squares together. It is a highly popular pattern called Babette.

I chose what I thought was an autumnal color scheme...

...and I'm only 25% done at this point, so this is my work in progress:

Garish much? Looks like I need to return the blanket to the 70s? I'm hoping it will look OK when I am done. I'll post more pics as it progresses.

The Babette flickr picture gallery is a feast for the eyes. See you later!