A dash of sugar...

The internet in my house is still non-functional since the floor needs to dry. So I'm writing this at a greasy spoon (?) near my place. I haven't been here for too long, but I like this place so far. 

On to the recipe. I need something sweet and I crave for something sweet. This is quite unusual, because I don't really like sweets. There are times, though when I want sweets because I needed it. It's probably my grandmother's thing I'm channeling. 

My grandmother had sweet teeth. She added a dash of sugar here an there. But miraculously, her "dash" of sugar made everything super tasty. Somehow it balanced things out. One of the sweet things I remembered my grandma making was tomato juice. I know it's too simple of a recipe, but hear me out on this. She made the greatest tomato juice ever. Below is her recipe, but I tweaked it to include honey rather than sugar.

Also, when I was in Bandung, West Java, I tried this strawberry milk. No, it's not the chemically flavored one. Turns out that strawberries is better served fresh, with a dash of milk. So my mom made this recipe to approximate what we tasted there (her version is less sweet). 

In Indonesia we also make avocado "milk". Well, there are two versions of it: avocado milk (smoothie consistency) and avocado "ice" (rough consistency, you still have chewable avocado bits). Both are delicious, irrespective of what you may think. So keep a bit of an open mind and try it. I say that because the last time I made this, someone told me, "EW!" just because the only avocado containing dish he knew was... well... guacamole.

Lastly, it's my recipe for orange cream smoothie. I craved it when I was taking my qualifying examination last year. 

Tomato juice

Ingredients:

6 - 8 large tomatoes, cleaned, cut to eighths

About 1/4 cup honey

5 - 8 cups water

Directions:

1. Place tomatoes in the blender add 1 cup water and about half the honey.

2. Puree for about 5 minutes.

3. Adjust taste by adding honey, and adjust consistency by adding water.

Strawberry milk

Ingredients:

4 - 5 large strawberries

1 cup milk

1 - 2 tsp sugar

"Diet version"

Substitute the milk with 1 cup water and 1 tbs sweetened condensed milk. Or you can use 1 - 2 tbs powdered creamer and 1 cup water.

Directions:

1. Simple, just blend them all with a blender. 

Avocado milk

Ingredients:

2 - 3 avocadoes, peeled and pitted

2 cups milk

2 - 3 tbs coffee (this is a good chance to reuse whatever's left in your coffee maker) or 1 - 2 tsp coffee

1 - 2 tbs sugar

Directions:

1. As strawberry milk.

Avocado "ice"

Ingredients:

1 avocado, peeled and pitted

2 - 3 tbs milk

1 - 3 tsp sugar

Directions:

1. In a cup, mash avocado with spoon.

2. Add milk, mash until mixed. It doesn't have to be smooth.

3. Adjust flavor with sugar.

Orange cream

Ingredients:

2 cups orange juice

1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt

About 1/4 cup honey

A pinch of salt

Directions:

1. Blend orange juice and yogurt thoroughly, taste it.

2. Adjust flavor with honey. 

3. Before consuming, always stir the juice.