It finally snowed, so it's really starting to feel like Christmas here in good old Salt Lake City. What better way to celebrate the snow than with some icy slush in a festive green color. This is my grandma Martha's recipe, and she's been making this for as long as I can remember. It has been at family parties and summer barbecue's, and everything in-between. It's one of those recipes that takes you back in time to a party in the 1950s, straight from The Better Home and Gardens Cookbook. I love pouring over old recipes - nothing like vintage gelatin molds, aspic loafs, and a good old red velvet cake. Food has grown and changed a lot since those days, but this slush deserves not to be forgotten! Minty fresh, and easy to make, this is great for a party anytime of the year. My grandma tends to make it in the summer, especially before she moved from her old house when all she had to do was grab fresh mint from the garden and she was ready to go. I decided this was a great festive drink for the holidays because of it's Christmassy color and and minty taste. This is good for a crowd because one batch makes a ton and a little goes a long way. Its ready to sip on as a treat before dinner...my grandma always serves it with the hors d'oeuvres.
This is a super easy recipe, but keep in mind you'll need extra time for freezing. You can either freeze overnight and let it sit out for a couple hours until you can flake it apart with a fork, or you can freeze the slush for a few hours, stirring every so often, until its slushy.
MINT SLUSH
-serves 16-20 four ounce servings-
4 cups water
4 cups sugar
handful of mint leaves
12 oz can lemonade concentrate
3 12oz cans water
4 tablespoons lemon juice
2-3 drops green food coloring
2L bottle Sprite or Ginger Ale
To start, put your sugar and 4 cups water in a sauce pan and heat on medium high heat until sugar is dissolved. Add mint and bring to a boil. Tturn heat off and let mint steep in sugar water for 1 hour. In a large bowl mix your cooled mint syrup with the lemonade concentrate and 3 cans water, lemon juice and green food coloring. This mixture is ready for the freezer - that's all the hard work done! I usually freeze it overnight and then just let it sit out an hour or two until I want to serve and soften it up with a fork. When its the day of your party, pull out the frozen mixture and let sit until you can begin to chunk it up, it should look something like this...
The final step is to add your fizz! You can use sprite, or ginger ale. I like using Sprite Zero to cut down on the sugar content. Pour your fizzy drink into the bowl with slush mixture until you reach desired consistency. Just before serving, begin to add the Sprite until desired slushy consistency - usually half the bottle is about right, give or take. That's it then - you're ready to serve! It goes without saying, serve immediately unless you want melted slush!
