Come August most people (although I’m not one of them) are ready for fall to arrive and bring cooler weather. To help cope with the late summer sun Blogger Clue is on a mission to bring you recipes to “Beat the Heat!”

This month I was assigned the blog Taking on Magazines written by Christiane aka “The Mom Chef.” I absolutely love the concept behind her blog! Like most of us, we make a recipe and mentally (or if we’re on top of it, physically) make a note as to what we liked and didn’t like in case we made the recipe again. (I have post-it notes in my cookbooks with our reviews and comments.) Christiane took this idea and created a beautiful blog from it. She cooks recipes from magazines, displays the recipe as is, gives a detail on the process, then gives her opinions on what she’d do differently the next time, and finally indicates “the verdict.” Brilliant! Definitely one of those “why didn’t I think of that?!” moments.

Given our task to “beat the heat” I limited myself to searching through beverages and salads, although she does have a wonderful selection for ice creams too! (There are a fair amount of sweets being handled in my kitchen right now so I stayed away.) The Grapefruit-Mint Salad sounded like a contender as did the Citrus Dressing and while the Arnold Palmer Slushie was definitely tempting, I couldn’t get my mind off of her Homemade Gingerale!

I noticed as I unloaded my groceries that I accidentally bought orange flavored seltzer water. I decided to run with it and use a little fresh squeezed orange juice in the syrup! Honestly, I couldn’t tell; the gingerale syrup is spot on.

Christiane noted that the original ratio of syrup to setzer was too syrupy for her taste and I thought I’d agree. I found the perfect formula (at least for me) to be 3 tbsp of syrup to 1 1/2 C of seltzer.

Also, I probably broke about fifty parenting rules (please read this as if I were Hermione about to make Polyjuice Potion) and let my 1 year old try a sip. To say he liked it was an understatement!

Homemade Gingerale

Ingredients:

• 1 4-5″ piece fresh ginger root, peeled and chopped
• 2 C sugar
• juice 1 lime
• juice 1 orange
• seltzer water

Steps:

1. Place ginger and sugar in a food processor and pulse until the ginger is finely ground.
2. Place ginger sugar in a saucepan with 2 C water. Bring to a boil, stirring often. Reduce the heat and simmer 30-40 minutes until syrupy. Remove from heat, cover, and let cool 20 minutes. Strain and place in a jar. Syrup can be kept in the fridge for 2 weeks.
3. To serve: Put 3 tbsp of syrup in a large glass with ice and 1 1/2 C seltzer.

*This recipe is adapted from Christiane at http://www.takingonmagazines.com/homemade-ginger-ale-from-all-you-magazine/*

Here’s a list of the other players of Blogger CLUE this month:

• Asian Watermelon Salad by Lora from Cake Duchess
• Beat the Heat Negronis by Christy from Confessions of a Culinary Diva
• Blueberry Icebox Pie by Kate from Kate’s Kitchen
• Curried Chicken Salad with Cucumbers by Rebekah from Making Miracles
• Frozen Cherry Lemonade by Anna from annaDishes
• Icy Rum Punch from the Islands by Debra from Eliot’s Eats
• Mango Jicama Salsa by Lisa from Authentic Suburban Gourmet
• No Bake Berry Cheesecake by Christiane from Taking on Magazines
• Oreo Cookies n Cream Ice Cream by Heather from girlichef
• Peach Ice Cream by Liz from That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Pecan Brittle by Kelli from Kelli’s Kitchen
• Prosciutto Parmesan Arugula Sandwich by Lea Ann from Cooking on the Ranch
• Roasted Tomato Soup by Sue from A Palatable Pastime
• Strawberry Rhubarb Sorbet by Kathy from A Spoonful of Thyme
• Southwest Skillet Dip by Alice from A Mama, Baby and Shar-pei in the Kitchen
• Summertime Fresh Corn Salad by Stacy from Food Lust People Love
• Tipsy Palmers by Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm