Where: Gananoque, Ontario to Montreal, Québec along the St Lawrence Seaway
Who: Jeff (Escapade is his boat), Susan, Sarah, and me
Why: Susan is training for her Pedaling for Parkinsons big bike ride next month in Nova Scotia, PEI, and Ontario, Jeff is getting Escapade through to Montreal, en route to Nova Scotia, and needs crew for locks, and Sarah and I are along for bike rides, lock assisting, playing cards, and enjoying the all round excellent company of Jeff and Susan.
Sarah and I know these bike routes well from the Friends for Life Bike Rally and we wanted to show some of the cycling highlights to Susan.
Besides, biking and boating is a lot of fun. On bikes we go about the same speed as the boat and on this stretch of water there’s lots of options for meeting up for lunch and dropping off and picking up people. I love swimming off the boat after a hot day of bike riding.
There were whole days where we went straight from jammies to bike kit to bathing suits and back to jammies. Add in cards, fiction, and ice cream, and you’ve got a pretty excellent holiday.
How it worked: On Day 1 we left Guelph and picked up Susan and her bike in Toronto. We drove to Gananoque where loaded bikes, bags, and groceries. The next day, Day 2, we rode with Susan on the Thousand Island Parkway. We met Jeff for lunch, and then Sarah and I left Susan on the boat with Jeff. Sarah and I rode back to Gananoque and picked up the car. We put the bikes on the back rack and then drove to meet Jeff and Susan for dinner. They’d motored ahead in the afternoon.
The next day, Day 3, the roads weren’t so friendly so Sarah and I rode alone to catch the car up to the boat, meeting up with friends who live around here en route.
Day 4 was the best day, I think. Sarah, Susan and I rode through the Upper Canada Village and through the Long Sault Parkway. Beautiful mostly car free bike riding. We met Jeff and Escapade in Long Sault for lunch, dropped off Susan, and then Sarah and I did the trip in reverse to fetch the car.
Day 5 was a boat day, with locks. Interestingly, some of the locks are Canadian and others American. No passports are needed to lock through the US locks on the St Lawrence. The St Lawrence is managed as a binational waterway. It makes me think about all the valuable US and Canada cooperation that continues to exist despite Trump.
The locks are quite dramatic, with a drop of about 40 feet, but there are no photos. Dropping phones overboard is a family habit, and it’s one I’m trying to avoid. Lol.
By Day 6, we were approaching Montreal, and it was a mostly boating day, but for some morning riding and an excellent patio lunch in Lachine. Family visited on the boat late in the day and a very keen 11 year old got lessons in driving the inflatable. We spend Day 7 in Montreal, shuffling crew, welcoming Bill aboard, and helping to get Jeff ready for his journey east.
I love this part of the country. I really enjoy the small towns along the St Lawrence, both in Ontario and in Quebec. They’ve got a seaside feel, lots of beaches and bike paths. Great ship watching opportunities as well.
After a long day of driving Montreal to Guelph with stops in Toronto, we’re happy to be home!
Susan blogged about our trip too, over on Jeff’s blog. And Jeff did as well, over at Boating Adventures.
Visit a beach, sit in the sand and read a book, splash in the waves and swim. ✔️ (Many NZ beaches and we even went in the water!)
Read 24 books, two books a month. (I’m only at 7 so far this year. It’s my year of starting and not finishing books. But also, I’ve adjusted my goal to 20.) ❌
Swim in a swimming pool. (Movati) ✔️
Go bike-packing. ❌
Sail the Snipe. (But there are two good sailing months left yet.) ❓
Go canoe camping. ❓(Not yet but it’s booked
Try one new group fitness class at Movati. (Kettlebell Intensity)✔️
Host a bloggers’ backyard party in August. (Planned!)✔️
Ice cream ride at the farm. Slickers! (Not yet. Also I’m increasingly lactose intolerant, more on that later one I figure this mess out, so I’ll need to see if they have any dairy free flavours.) ❓
Yes, it’s already July 20th– where has the month gone? But just this week I discovered that both my workplace and my yoga studio are doing a kind of motivation bingo.
This cat is confused, too. Let me explain. Photo from Unsplash.
Gamification of tasks is a tried-and-true way of making otherwise dull jobs more interesting, and also can help us focus on goals by offering us incentives, an element of competition, and rewards for completion. The idea of a bingo card for tasks is simple but brilliant (in my humble opinion).
The tasks or challenges are laid out clearly
You have choices about which tasks to do, and in what order
There’s a reward after doing a certain number of them (yelling BINGO! and of course little prizes)
At the end of the game, you’ve done a bunch of tasks, which is probably good
Here’s a mood-boost bingo card my workplace sent out last week. They used some campus-specific tasks, but you could adjust it for your own environment.
A 5 x 5 bingo card from my university for a mid-summer mood boost. Imma do it!
My yoga studio– Artemis in Watertown, MA– is doing a summer yoga bingo game. My friend Norah is on the case in a serious way. Here’s their yoga bingo card:
Yoga bingo card, encouraging folks to do classes and also check out the neighborhood.
Norah and I went to Good Harbor beach in Gloucester yesterday with our friend Nina, and Norah regaled us with her strategies. She thinks she can get 5 classes in this week, which, if she plans it right, will cover many spaces. Each bingo she gets puts her in a raffle to win yoga swag. But I think it’s the thrill of the chase and the triumph of hitting those bingos that makes it fun. She already loves yoga and our studio (as do I), but this focuses the attention and reawakens the worthy competitor in her.
And, I admit, it’s doing the same for me. I just found out about this yesterday, but I’m in. I’m signing up for a restorative class this afternoon, thus giving me two spots- weekend class plus restorative class. Who knows where I’ll go from there… 🙂
Hey readers: have you/are you in the midst of any motivator bingo games? What do you think? I’d love to hear from you.
A wood teeter-totter looks like two worried ducks.
Don’t get me wrong, I love a good go on a teeter-totter. The playground levers that are all the fun of a swing AND the pusher gets a ride too. Amazing.
However, teeter-totters are always in motion. You can bang against the ground at the bottom or, after quickly passing through neutral, be nearly flung off at the top.
It’s exciting! It is somewhat predictable as what goes up must come down. You need 2 to play.
It’s dynamic. There is no moment of not moving. Whee?
UGH. I WANT OFF!
This metaphor is getting as tired as my lower back this morning.
I have been searching for why the phrase “work-life balance” really chaps my ass and I think it’s this idea of equilibrium.
That, somehow, if one is smart enough, disciplined enough and cheerful enough you will attain calm equanimity and an orderly life.
Life has no interest in order. It is entropy.
“Entropy is a scientific concept, most commonly associated with states of disorder, randomness, or uncertainty.”
It takes a significant amount of energy to establish and preserve order.
Work
My paid work is all about organizing, analyzing and maintaining an orderly business with people, processes and technology. It requires precisely 7.5 hours 5 days a week. let’s bump that to 8 hours for commute/powering up ye olde laptop etc.
Sleep
I’m in bed 8 hours a night chasing, hoping, begging for more than 6 hours of sleep.
Life
That leaves 5 days a week with 8, uh, not unspoken for but possibly less structured time and 2 days a week with glorious 16 hour days.
Ready Player 2
Ok, so not all that time is available or useful. For example, at 6 am I zombie shuffle to my chair where Michel ply’s me with coffee. He follows that with a smoothie. Sometimes we talk. It’s a minimum of 90 minutes before I am at full function.
Sweet Mother of God, let me sit
On weekends I could just sit until 11.
Just.
Sit.
Breathe.
Think.
Rest.
Those unstructured weekend mornings are rare. More often than not we stick to our daily routine of shower, dress, walk the dog.
Weekdays that walk is roughly 30 minutes. On weekends it could be as long as 90. We have the more time, after all.
Bikey-bike
It’s summer here and that means Michel and I have cycling goals. So lately we leave on our separate ways to ride.
Different paces.
Different goals.
Divide and conquer.
We meet up by lunchtime, sweaty and hungry. We laugh, swap stories then off to our other things.
Single Player Mode
Michel is taking courses on AI. Roughly 15 hours of his non-paid work time is currently devoted to that. His paid work takes more of his day too, more like 10 hours during the week and often a half day on the weekend.
Keeping entropy at bay
Outside of his work, he commits to laundry, dishes, cleaning, garbage and recycling. I’m so glad I live with a feminist.
I focus on groceries, cooking, gardening, house repairs and some cleaning/tidying.
That is a lot to balance
Ok forget the old school lever teeter-totter. My life is a new fangled multi axel device requiring many people. It’s a Rube-Goldberg machine.
Deep dive focus vs MVP
My brain craves and thrives in deep dive focus. I practically orgasm at the thought of four hours working in my gardens.
The sheer joy.
The quiet.
The time to process the whirlwind of a week.
But it’s mostly done in 5 and 10 minute moments. It’s about to rain, quick, pull the crabgrass out of a tiny corner.
Back from a bike ride, water while cooling down.
Good lord, are those aphids?
So my garden is always 1 weekend away from awesome because once it gets to a minimum viable product (MVP) I need to shift to another aspect of my life.
I get to have one truly good thing
Every year 1 thing excels while other things wither on the vine (yes I’m looking at you cherry tomatoes of woe)
Right now my cycling is going great! MS Bike Tour fundraising is at my all time best. WAHOO!
The list of other things, like time spent with friends, household tasks…they have taken a hit.
I know I’ll shift my focus and swing wildly through neutral and deep dive into knitting or beading or breadmaking or…you get the idea.
Life is chaos, all hail Cthulhu!
I’m writing this post mere minutes before it is due. I’ll probably prep a few more posts to make a couple weeks easier.
Or not.
I may just jump on my bike or clean the fish tank or wash the windows or…
But I’ll definitely not be doing paid work stuff! Or sleeping. But honestly I’m never sleeping. GAH.
I recently discovered that World Goth Day is a thing, but Goths at the beach is a twist I hadn’t expected. Silly me.
It turns out there are Goth beach events and barbecues and beach toys and swimwear and more.
My recollection of Goth culture from the past was that people into the Goth aesthetic tend not to be into fitness activities. Maybe things have changed. Maybe things haven’t changed and some were always into fitness but trapped by the stereotype.
Either way, I hope they have a fabulous time at the beach tomorrow.
As from the Goth Beach Day at Britannia Beach in Ottawa shows a woman in a black dress, wearing sunglasses and a wide-brimmed black hat. She is sitting on a sandy beach, holding a large black umbrella.
A couple of months ago I moved back to Toronto after 33 years in London, Ontario. I last lived in Toronto when I was a Master’s student at U of T from 1987-88. Both I and the city have changed a lot since then. So I had nothing familiar as far as working goes to tap into when I got here in May. Not only that, but my routines had fallen to the side completely over the winter as I prepped for my move. And finally, it’s been a stinking hot summer, not a great time to get back into running.
So when a friend suggested that we try out the Y, which turns out to be just a 12-minute walk from where I live, it sounded like the perfect solution for so many reasons. Most notably, if we were going to join a gym, we wanted it to be a relaxed place with a truly inclusive vibe. The Y definitely ticks that box. It’s also convenient, has great equipment, lots of programming, and a 25m pool. We joined, and here’s what I’ve tried so far:
Aquafit — you can do this 45-minute class in shallow or deep water. So far, I’ve only signed up for shallow. I had a bit of a misconception about aquafit, I have to admit. I thought it would be easy and not feel like much of a workout. It turns out to be a good workout, very much more exerting than I anticipated, especially the part where you use the water dumbbells to create resistance. I’ve been using the blue ones, which are apparently easier than the yellow. I can’t imagine feeling ready for the yellow. But then that is the wonderful thing about resistance training — it makes you stronger.
MuscleFit — another 45-minute class, this time in the gym. Each participant gathers a mixture of light-medium and medium-heavy barbells and dumbbells for a guided full body workout. Again it’s a tough one, where the muscle fatigue is from high reps rather than heavy weights (even the “heavy” weights aren’t especially heavy). The first time I did it I overdid the barbell weights and had to lighten my load. I did better the second time, and have also learned over time that it’s okay to set the weights down and do body weight or take a break if needed. Will I keep doing that? Maybe on occasion but I also want to reintroduce resistance training on my own. The Y has lots of equipment in multiple different rooms and studios. So even when it’s busy it looks as if no one has to fight too hard to get the weights they need, and I remember enjoying the community atmosphere in the weight room.
Yoga — I haven’t found a hot yoga studio yet and will likely wait until the fall to do that, given the heat this summer. But I wanted to get back into a yoga class and it turns out that the Y has those too. I’ve gone a couple of times and had a good experience. Not the most challenging yoga or the most careful instruction, but it’s in a pleasant studio with loads of space, and as with anything, if you know what you’re doing you can make yoga as challenging or as unchallenging as you wish.
Lane swimming — I couldn’t be around a 25m pool for too many days without feeling tempted to get back to lane swimming. I did that this week for the first time, gathering up my gear from back in the day with the intention of doing 40 x 25m in 30 minutes. That would be a pretty slow pace and I didn’t quite make it. I started off with 10 x 25m of breast stroke, which took me to 10 minutes, then cut back from 20 to 15 x 25m freestyle, following by another 10 of breast stroke. It was a lot tougher than I expected it to be but now I have a benchmark and a goal. The goal is to get back to 40 x 25m by the end of the summer. I have no idea if that is realistic. I want to add drills and workouts to my lane swimming at some point. I remember enjoying that kind of training. Being in the pool again feels incredibly good.
As far as running goes, I’ve been out a few times and have reconnected with the “getting started” series of the Nike Run Club again. It’s been a sticky hot summer and I miss my running crew and my familiar routes. But if I can get back to 3x a week, I’ll be pleased with that.
Living in a large urban centre again means a lot more walking in my day to day than before. The traffic here is horrendous at unpredictable times, and if at all possible you want to avoid paying for parking. So much is easily accessible to me on foot, and though people complain about the transit, I adore the subway and live conveniently close to a few stations.
So that’s my report on establishing some fitness routines in a new city. As with anything, it can feel daunting at first. And the loss of community (in my case my running group and the hot yoga studio I frequented) is no small thing. But now that I’ve reconnected with the Y, it’s been an enjoyable experience that’s put me in touch with new and familiar activities in a relaxed atmosphere that offers a sense of community and belonging that I really like.
Image description: Overhead shot of gym stuff lined up on a towel: shower shoes, swim cap, goggles, swim suit, and running shoes. Photo by Tracy I
I bet a bunch of you reading this will have had the rare and wondrous experience of learning from, and maybe being active with, a professional in your chosen sport or activity. It’s been a while, but I did some mountain bike clinics with pros, and I learned a TON. Pro mountain bike racer and Olympian Jimena Florit (who also raced for the Luna Chix pro team) gave a clinic at Wompatuck State Park near Boston, and I got to ride in the woods on her wheel. I’ve never felt smoother or faster on a mountain bike! She also taught us how to manage tougher sections of the course (we were racing the next day). Among other things, I learned that if you stall in a rock garden get off the bike and run with it. DON’T try to remount and ride through. Bad idea.
Not sure what I’m talking about here, or just want to see it broken it down? Well, here you go– a video by Anna Glowinski (experienced cyclist and TV presenter).
Another great experience I had (again, a long time ago, but the memory is vivid) was going on a Wednesday shop road bike ride with some guys I didn’t know. Turns out they were way faster than me. I offered to let them go on ahead and ride at my own pace, but instead they did this: They tucked me in between two of them, with another cyclist riding beside me in the wind to shelter me. Well, I went faster that day than ever before or since– 28mph on the flats! I wasn’t even pushing super-hard. It felt magical. After a while I did break off from them and do a nice solo ride, but it was a lovely feeling, spinning with them and feeling like one of the fast crowd.
Lots of us, I’m sure, have taken clinics or lessons from pros or super-experienced sports folks. Doing this has taught me at least two things:
Learning the proper technique for something that seems impossible at first (and then practicing it a lot) can maybe put it within my reach (e.g. yes to solo rescue in a sea kayak, no as of yet to rolling said sea kayak)
Being in the same activity space with a pro/veteran sports person shows me the vast differences between them and me–on a bike, in a boat, on a horse, you name it. And it’s awe-inspiring to watch them in motion.
Okay, fair enough. But what about the what NOT to do part?
Professional tennis taught us what not to do last week (and this week). Billionaire Bill Ackman apparently really loves tennis, and so decided that he wanted to play in the Hall of Fame Open, which is the second highest tier of professional tennis tournament. Here’s more on the situation from sports writer Giri Nathan, in this article in the Defector:
The Hall of Fame Open takes place in Newport, R.I., on the grass courts at the International Tennis Hall of Fame. It is perhaps most noteworthy for being the only tour-level grass-court tournament held outside of Europe. It was an ATP 250 event from 2009 until 2025, when it was downgraded to a Challenger 125 event. Even with this diminished status, it is still an event that active touring professionals are seeking to compete at in order to win ATP points and prize money. It’s not an event that random guys can just amble into. Entry is determined by existing ATP ranking points. Ackman, being a 59-year-old hedge fund manager, does not have any ATP ranking points.
Ackman’s partner is not an active ATP player, either. An elite doubles player who also peaked at No. 8 in singles, Jack Sock retired in 2023 and promptly switched over to professional pickleball. At the end of his career, his conditioning was in visible disrepair, and he lost an official ATP match to a part-time tennis player with a day job in real estate. Sock unretired in order to pursue a wildcard at this week’s tournament, and the tournament happily obliged, per Front Office Sports.
Ackman and Sock did, in fact, play some pros (Bernard Tomic and Omar Jasika) and lost 6-1, 7-5. But the score does not reflect the quality of play. You can see for yourself below: basically, they dinked shots straight back to Ackman just to get and keep some rallies going.
As Nathan noted in his article, Ackman can afford to hire just about any professional tennis player on the planet for coaching or just to rally with him. But making his way into a professional tournament when he doesn’t even come close to qualifying (fine, neither do most of us, but we didn’t play there, did we?) is, well, NOT the way to do sports with the pros.
Yes, it is true that Ackman was strafed in the sports press for his inauspicious outing on the grass at Newport. His response was not to apologize for playing in a venue where he was completely out of his depth, but rather to argue that he was in a tournament (not a professional one) recently, and “I played great”.
He also added that the sun was in his eyes. I kid you not.
I was also serving into the 1:30pm sun with a shot clock (a new experience for me) (from X)
Well, that’s very nice. But it doesn’t disabuse anyone of the idea that maybe Ackman bought his way into the Hall of Fame tournament match, and is now buying his way out of it.
Except he can’t just leave it. He finished his X post by saying this:
my partner Richey Reneberg and I hereby challenge @Served_Podcast Andy Roddick and the amateur of his choice to doubles on my court. And feel free to bring the cameras as I am now battle ready.
Oh, no.
Here is who Andy Roddick is— he played Roger Federer in the Wimbledon Finals three times and once in the US Open.
Yes, he lost.
To Roger Federer. Who won 20 Grand Slam titles and 11 runners-up.
Oh, Bill. This is NOT the way to do sportsing with the pros. But if you persist and play Andy Roddick plus his choice of amateur, I am here for it.
Hey readers– have you had some fun or interesting or humbling or inspiring interactions with pros or veterans of your sport? Tell us some of your stories in the comments.
Unfortunately, I don’t have a lot of opportunities (or time-flexibility!) to walk to my activities on a week to week basis.*
Either my commitments are too close to get much extra exercise in or they are too far to reasonably walk without adding a lot of extra travel time. (If only regular time worked like conference time, hey?)
And yes, I suppose I could just choose to take longer walks some of the time but I can almost guarantee I will talk myself out of that process on a regular basis.
Ideally, I would have a meeting or a class a couple of times a week that was within 45 mins walking distance and I could build my schedule around it, including the walk time.
However, since the ideal situation is not naturally occurring, I have decided to create it myself…
At least once a week, I am going to go on a creativity walk!
I’m going to pick somewhere to walk to where I can read, draw, or write and I am going to shape my schedule so I have plenty of time to get there. And, since I know what my brain gets like, I am also going to create a definite plan for what to do while I’m at my destination and I am going to bring the things I need to be comfortable (a stool or a blanket and some snacks.)
This combination should help my outing feel like a treat rather than an obligation.
I’ll report back once my first creativity walk is complete!
*I don’t count my brief ‘walk to work’ each morning because it’s quite short and that stroll is not really about the exercise, it’s about shaping that part of my day.
Technically this post has nothing to do with snails, except for the fact that I have no plans to go particularly fast on these creativity walks, but I just really like snails. Image description: a yellowish-brown snail shell (with the snail inside) resting on the metal railing of a bridge next to some overhanging leaves.
Occasionally, you come across someone in the blogosphere whose vibe is so close to your own that regular readers wonder if one of the Fit is a Feminist Issue blog team was the author of her posts. In this case, no, we did not. But we’re big fans of the Fat Nutritionist and I love her recent posts on the connection between her fat acceptance journey and becoming a jock.
Of all the things blog-associated that I strongly believe, one that’s near the top of the list were I to make such a list–is that we’d all be better off if we ditched the association between physical activity and weight loss.
Breaking the association between working out and losing weight is better for thin people who might mistakenly think they don’t need to workout because they are already thin. It’s better for fat people who work out and then quit because they don’t lose weight thereby missing out on all the other health benefits of exercise. These days I’ve been thinking that it’s especially better for aging women who are already at risk of muscle and bone loss with age and for whom weight loss without strength training is particularly dangerous.
Okay, back to the Fat Nutritionist and how giving up on weight loss helped her rediscover the joy of movement.
Here’s the Fat Nutritionist in her own words: “‘I did not think all this would happen when I decided to accept myself as a fat person and stop dieting in November 2000. I just wanted to experience peace in my body, stop caring so much about how I looked, stop experiencing the intense shame that I’d been taught to feel about my weight, and the guilt and confusion around food that came with it. I had no idea I was an athlete; I had no desire to become one. But somehow, learning to treat myself and my body with compassion allowed me to learn things about myself that had been hidden for years, decades. As it turns out, I’m a small-time thrill-seeker, a diver, a skater, a cyclist. I’m still fat. Hills are hard, but I descend like a beast.”
Here are her blog posts about walking, skating, and cycling:
Who is the Fat Nutritionist? Her name is Michelle and she describes herself as “a fat lady who is also a registered dietitian.”
Here’s the more formal bit: “I am a registered dietitian with the College of Dietitians of Ontario. I have an accredited degree (BASc) in nutrition from Ryerson University. I work online to help people stop dieting, deal with picky eating, and relearn normal eating.“
Welcome, dear readers, to high summer! It’s July 13, and all the produce is out-producing itself, offering us loads of opportunities for new and perennial favorite taste experiences.
Yes, I know this is not a cooking or gardening or farmers’ market blog. But here’s the deal: I am saddled with a flare-up of sciatica (likely brought on by too much air travel and car travel, but wha’cha gonna do…). This means it’ll be a couple of weeks before I’m okay to resume summer outdoor activity. For now, I’m enrolled in physical therapy, which is good for me if not good for the season. Sigh.
But, in keeping with the brightness and warmth and availability of copious amounts of beautiful fruits, I’m, literally making lemonade out of lemons. And other cold yummy summer beverages. Here following, several recipes and beverage projects I’m engaging in these days.
First, I always make sure to have plenty of freshly-brewed iced tea on hand. This means heating water in a kettle until boiling and pouring it into a container (I use a marge metal bowl), and then dipping tea bags into it to infuse them. I leave them for 5–7 minutes, then remove them. Once the tea has cooled, I transfer it into a pitcher for the fridge. It never lasts more than a day or two, so it always tastes very fresh and looks clear.
I use Earl Grey tea, but you can use anything you like, caffeinated or non, black, green, herbal, whatever.
Just. don’t. use. instant. Ever.
Potential variations: you can add sugar to the bowl before the boiling water, or honey (as I prefer). Amounts vary according to taste. You might also add a handful of fresh mint leaves if you like, taking them out with a strainer within 15–20 minutes. You can also leave the tea unsweetened, and make simple syrup for people to add to their glasses to taste.
Earl grey iced tea in vintage glasses with cute paper straws. I don’t use straws and any glass will do for me.
Basic simple syrup recipe: combine one cup sugar (any kind) with one cup water in a small saucepan. Heat up the pan and stir occasionally until the sugar has dissolved. Take it off the heat before it boils. Then let it sit and cool. Put it in a container with a lid in the fridge. It will last several weeks.
Variations on simple syrup recipe: you can add so many things to simple syrup, like mint leaves, lemons, lime, basil, other herbs, you name it. Make sure to strain them out before storing in the fridge. Feel free to go wild. Here’s a link to some interesting syrups you can try. One I love is this tea-infused one, which I add to beverages other than tea…
Second, it’s great to have fresh-squeezed lemonade around as well, as it can form the base of fun fruity concoctions. There are loads of recipes online, but here’s what I do:
make simple syrup with 1-1 water and sugar
squeeze maybe 6–8 lemons, enough to have at least one cup of fresh lemon juice
mix together one cup of lemon juice, one cup of cold water, and 1/2 cup simple syrup.
Then add water to the mixture until you like the taste
serve in glasses with plenty of ice, mint leaf or raspberry or lemon wheel or something else festive
tip: maybe leave the mixture a little strong, as serving with ice waters it down a bit
Variations on lemonade: you can use mint simple syrup to make minty lemonade, or add pureed strawberries to make strawberry lemonade.
Fresh lemonade in vintage glassFresh limeade in old-fashioned glass.strawberry lemonade in lowball glass.
Or, you can use my list, substituting limes for lemons, for fresh limeade. It’s more work, as it takes more limes, but it tastes dee-licious.
Another pro tip: get ahold of a very good lemon/lime juicer for the job. Flimsy ones will just irritate you and make you give up and blame me. Here are ones I recommend:
This is what I use– buy a sturdy one!Wirecutter likes this one. Meh, but YMMV.For those looking to get an extra workout while juicing.
I don’t have a view on electric juicers. Readers, anyone have expert knowledge on this?
Third, you can combine the beauty of fresh ice tea with the tart sweetness of lemonade to make a drink called The Arnold Palmer. Yes, it’s named after this guy. He was a very great golfer. And, in the 1960s, according to this wikipedia article, he ordered a drink at lunch in Palm Springs made with 3/4 unsweetened ice tea and 1/4 lemonade. As the story goes, a woman copied his ordering the drink one day at lunch saying, “I’ll have that Arnold Palmer drink, too.” And so a drink was born.
These days, the drink is very commonly served in the summer at resorts and warm-weather locales. A variation of it with half iced tea and half lemonade is more popular, but you can be your own judge.
The Arnold Palmer, half and half version, with striped paper straw and lemon slice optional.
Fourth, and general variation on any of these beverages: you can add some razzmatazz by pouring a float of seltzer (or prosecco, or ginger ale, or whatever alcoholic or non-alcoholic bubbly you like). In fact, a version of this drink has its own name: the Raspberry/Lime Rickey. Just make whatever simple syrup you want, add lemon or lime juice or ade, and then froth it up with whatever bubbly you want. I love them- they say old-fashioned New England summer to me.
Fifth and finally, there’s the wonder of the homemade agua fresca, a Mexican beverage that you can make wherever you are. If you haven’t heard of this or tried it, you’ll soon very very glad you read on. Here’s some information from this article in the Mexico News Daily, and some pictures they shared of the wide variety of aguas frescas available:
Refreshing and flavorful, aguas frescas are a treasured part of Mexico’s gastronomic heritage. Sold widely by vendors, shops and restaurants, the non-alcoholic drinks are instantly recognizable.
People have been flavoring water with fruit and flowers in Mexico since ancient times…Many of the popular aguas frescas found in Mexico today — notably, jamaica and horchata — were made possible by the trade network the Spanish established during the colonial era. However, [many] aguas frescas developed regionally [with] grains and legumes like barley and alfalfa to nuts and seeds like almonds and chia and flowers and spices like hibiscus and cinnamon. Fruits were even more frequently used, of course, thanks to a natural bounty that included introduced plants like grapefruit, mango, melon, orange, papaya, passionfruit, peach and local ones including sapote, soursop, guava, tejocote and xoconostle.
from article: you can find aguas frescas in markets and street stands across Mexico. (Margarito Pérez Retana/Cuartoscuro)
My introduction to agua fresca came at La Tacqueria in the Mission District of San Francisco. You must go there if you are ever in San Francisco. The cantaloupe version is still my favorite. But I’ve made several kinds at home since then.
Unlike say, lemonade or limeade. agua frescas are made by pureeing actual fruits or vegetables (or combinations), then adding simple syrup and either lemon or lime juice. You put the whole mixture through a fine sieve (or cheesecloth, depending on your temperament– I go with the sieve), add water to taste, and there you have it– a pure, refreshing elixir of summer produce, made just for you.
A variety of agua frescas– cantaloupe, waterlmon, honeydew, and mango. But you can use all kinds of produce, as well as mix and match.
You’ll need a blender (or vitamix or food processor of something that will seriously puree your ingredients). Here’s a good recipe and guide to aguas frescas. But all comes down to this:
find some fruit or veg you want to make a beverage with (I’m trying cucumber mint next week)
peel, seed and slice it
puree it in your pureeing contraption with some water (1–2 cups?)
add some lime or lemon juice (a few tablespoons?) and puree again
adjust as needed, adding simple syrup if you want more sweetness or a different flavor
pour into container to chill for an hour in fridge
use in two days (but that really won’t be a problem)
Aguas frescas are their own world, and you can read more about them here to start if you’re interested.
Pro tip: if you have leftover sliced fruit that is maybe not as sweet or soft as you would like, puree it with some water and lime or lemon juice, and voila! instant agua fresca. Throw in whatever you want. The difference between smoothie and agua fresca is one of degree, so you are the boss of your ingredients and consistency.
Last comment: I hear from Samantha and Sarah that the muskmelons will be in season when I visit Ontario in August, so we will make muskmelon aguas frescas! Yum. Will report back.
Dear readers, what summer fruit beverages do you love and/or do you make? I’d love to hear any tips or recipes you might have to share.
