Blueberry Mint Lemonade Slush

It's not big news to say it's been a hot summer here in New England.  It's hot.  Oppressive, even.  I'm not particularly keen on hot days--I'm more of a spring or autumn gal.  But, as much as I'd like to, I can't just huddle inside buildings with air conditioning.  I feel compelled to bring the kids out from time to time.  Which is why you'll find me at zoos or amusement parks or blueberry patches on 95 degree days, when I'd much prefer to be hiding in a cave (note:  I took the kids on a cave tour two weeks ago.  Half of which required walking around outside on a 90+ degree day.  The inside part of the tour, though, was a nice place to recover.  I hated to leave!)

When it gets too hot, I like to make a cold drink.  While blended coffee drinks have long been my go-to favorite, they're not exactly kid-friendly.  So I decided to make a lemonade slush the kids and I could all enjoy.

As I mentioned in my last post, I recently took the kids blueberry picking (yes, when it was over 90 degrees out!), so this recipe continues with my trend of throwing some of the 6 and a half pounds of blueberries we picked into nearly everything I make.  But no worries, blueberries go great with lemonade, so it's a good match.

And let me explain why I'm throwing mint in everything.  I have a lot of mint in my garden.  Well, that was a shorter explanation than I thought I'd need.  Oh yeah, and I really like mint.  That's the other reason.  But if you aren't faced with an overabundance of mint and/or you aren't particularly a mint fan, feel free to leave it out.

I like my slushy drink thick enough to eat with a spoon.  You could make yours more of a drink by adding more water/using less ice.  Or do what I do:  start out with a thick slush and bring it outside.  Before you know it, it'll be largely melted!

Ingredients:

• Lots of ice
• 1/4 cup lemon juice (or more to taste)
• 1/4 cup sugar (or more to taste)
• 1 cup water (or more or less to taste)
• 1 cup frozen blueberries (it's okay to use fresh if that's all you have.  As soon as I pick blueberries, I throw a ton in the freezer as we mostly use them for smoothies so we always have plenty of frozen blueberries)
• Couple of mint leaves (maybe 10 or so)

Directions:

Fill your blender about 3/4 full with ice.  Add all the other ingredients.  Blend until slushy.  You'll probably have to stir it a few times between blending.  If it's too thick and the ingredients just aren't getting pulled into the blade, add some more water, 1/4 cup at a time.

Taste and adjust lemon or sugar quantities to make it more tart or sweet, if necessary.