June 13 "Tall Cool One"

"Tall Cool One"

I remember sitting in a restaurant, as a kid, and looking around at the drinks on other people's tables. I saw glasses of all shapes and sizes with things like lemon slices, cherries or what I thought were the coolest things, miniature umbrellas. How exotic, I told myself at the time, to have a tiny pink paper umbrella resting on the edge of the glass.

Looking through the cooking section of the local library, I ran across several books on creating cool, summer time drinks with fruits, veges, herbs and all sorts of unusual things. Making something to drink has become quite an art and presentation is a big part of it. Why put a plain old ice cube in something when you can add any number of fancy things in with the water so your drink has what looks like glass-covered fruits bobbing in it? Then, fruits and vegetables can be sliced, twisted, and contorted into just about any shape and added on for visual interest and flavor. Pop an umbrella on top and you're really sipping in style.

Dress up a glass of iced tea or water and enjoy a tall cool one.
 

Umbrellas add more fun