Summer is here!

THIS POST WAS MEANT FOR THE MONTH OF MAY! 

From my kitchen window.

Down the road.

Summer in Chennai!

I have been away for so long. It feels like I had given up on my blog! I had family visiting and we had a wonderful time. 

Now if you are wondering who would be crazy enough to visit Chennai in May, well, you can put the blame on MANGOES!

My son and family who normally visit in winter miss out on Indian mangoes each time. So this time around they decided to take the plunge in MAY! We just had to work our way around this to stay comfortable. We remained indoors most of the time. I stocked up on all the different varieties of mangoes available. All other seasonal fruit like chikus, guavas, jamuns, melons of varying shapes and sizes, leechees and noongoos (from the palmira palm) formed part of the repertoire. All I can say is that we had a ball!!

The most enjoyable part was introducing these new fruits to my little two and a half year old grandson, Neal. For him it was Mangoes All The Way! 

Neal sharing a moment with his 100 year old great grand mother.

I wrote this post in May with all good intentions of publishing it but of course I fell prey to the Mango Monsters!!

We are bang in the middle of summer here in India and the heat is unbearable. Chennai goes through this extremely warm (read scorcher) phase of about a month when nothing seems to be effective in alleviating ones discomfort.

AC s have to work full time provided the power supply is regular! The transformers are so overloaded that they often trip, adding to ones misery.

One has to drink gallons and gallons of liquid to keep cool.

Watermelons make their appearance at around this time of the year, albeit for a short time only. One just has to make the most of it.
We had to stay hydrated all day and what better way than consuming jugfuls of chilled watermelon juice with a hint of mint!

Watermelon cooler

This year I didn't need to sweeten the juice at all. I made sure I bought really heavy fruit to ensure a good amount of juice. I then cut it up into chunks and put it into my blender with a juicer attachment. The seeds get separated and there you are. All I did was throw in some finely chopped fresh mint. let it sit for a bit in the fridge to let the flavours develop. A squeeze of lime if you wish. I prefer mine without. 
About the most amazing thirst quencher ever!! 
The best part is that watermelon has negative calories. One expends more energy in trying to digest it therefore using up calories!! Truly a slimmers dream come true.