Category: Health and well being

When I lived in Paris, many years ago, I learned how to make real lemonade – fast and easy. The French call this citron pressé and it is served in every café.

1. Juice up (roll around on the counter) one lemon. Cut in half.

2. Place 2 teaspoons of sugar (or sweetener) in a tall glass. Squeeze in the juice of both lemon halves. Fill with ice. Add water to the top and stir.

Israelis add a handful of mint to this concoction. That’s good too.

Now, pull up a lounge chair on the patio. Get a good book. Get comfortable. Drink up!

Hint: Pour lemonade into a plastic bottle, leaving room at the top. Freeze. Take it with you for a cold drink that will last for hours on hot summer days.

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It was a dark and stormy Sunday night… We really hadn’t planned anything for dinner. Maybe fish & chips? Not really sure, I went to the grocery store. Strolling into the frozen food aisle, where I haven’t really shopped in some time, I couldn’t find anything that wasn’t loaded with cheese, salt or fat. Worse, no fish & chip options unless I wanted fish sticks with an entire meal (think Lean Cuisine, ugh!). Then, I saw it – a bag of frozen gnocchi. Suddenly any other ideas about dinner went out the window.

Gnocchi is fabulous, succulent, rich and wonderful. (Post Script: gnocchi is potato based for those who avoid wheat.) Even better, this gnocchi was made by the Pasta Works Restaurant nearby in Chisholm, Minnesota – a local business. Now all I needed was a can of tomato puree and some fresh basil for a fabulous meal.

You can try making gnocchi from scratch, but we’ve never had good luck with that. On the other hand, frozen gnocchi is inexpensive (around $3 for 8 side servings) and really easy to make. Boil water in a pot. Put in half a bag of the frozen gnocchi. Wait 5 minutes until they float to the top. Drain and you have two main servings. Top with the heated tomato sauce and thinly sliced fresh basil, a little pecorino or shredded Parmesan and Mmmm. It may never make it to the table.

Another option: with basil plentiful at farmers’ markets right now, try it with fresh pesto sauce – also delicious!

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