Pomegranate Lemonade

* This recipe includes support for Paprika * 

It's Boxing Day. A day to clean up the messes, enjoy the leftovers, eat lightly, and relax.  And it's also the day I started my blog, four years ago!

Seems a long time ago that my friend Bel gave me my first blogging tips, and I posted my first little blog post... Thanks to all of you who have followed along! I've learnt a lot over the last four years, and it's partly thanks to all of you, from near and far, who have cooked with me and shared your results, thoughts and tips. I hope I've encouraged you in your creative cooking adventures - I know you've encouraged me in mine! So thank you.

I thought I'd better keep up the tradition of posting something on my blog birthday, so here's a celebration drink which is perfect for this time of year - Pomegranate Lemonade.

I love pomegranates, and the other day when I was browsing the shelves of our local health food store I found a bottle of pomegranate juice concentrate. I just had to buy it, as I'd never seen it in the shops here before, and I knew my Grandmother uses it as dressing for fruit salad. Well, the other day I started to make some of my Raspberry Lemonade, but I had a brainwave and made this instead. It's mouth-wateringly refreshing. I hope you enjoy it too!

Have a lovely, relaxing Boxing Day... and if you happen to have a pomegranate, some lemons, and some pomegranate juice on hand, I hope you'll try this!

Pomegranate Lemonade

1. Grind rapadura on speed 9 for 10 seconds.

- 60g Rapadura

2. Add ice and grind on speed 10 for 10 seconds.

- 300g ice

3. Add lemons, water and pomegranate juice and cover hole in lid with a cup that seals the hole. (I don't use the MC for this as the water squirts out the gap as you pulse - you'll need to hold the cup onto the lid firmly so it doesn't make a mess!) Lock lid, and pulse 3 times on Turbo, or until lemon is chopped roughly.

- 2 lemons, washed, ends cut off, and quartered (not peeled)
- 100g pomegranate juice concentrate
- 500g water

4. Remove bowl lid, add soda water to the 1 1/2 litre mark and push rice basket carefully down into bowl. Pour the juice into a large 2 or 2 1/2 litre jug, holding the basket in the bowl with the spatula to strain. Add more soda water to bowl, swish around, and pour. Repeat until jug is full or soda water is all added. I use a full 2 litre bottle of soda water, so it works out to about 2 1/2 litres of juice.

- 2 litre bottle of soda water

5. Add pomegranate arils and lemon slices if desired, and serve with extra ice.

- arils from 1/4 of a pomegranate
- a few slices of lemon