I Want to Make, Eat, and Drink Them All!

Homemade Soda: 200 Recipes for Making & Using Fruit Sodas & Fizzy Juices, Sparkling Waters, Root Beers & Cola Brews, Herbal & Healing Waters, Sparkling Teas & Coffees, Shrubs & Switchels, Cream Sodas & Floats, & Other Carbonated Concoctions is a new recipe book by Storey. While the title suggests that most of the recipes are sodas, many are not. The majority of the non-soda recipes be can mixed with seltzers to make them fizzy, but you have the option not to do so. With the seltzer excluded these decadent concoctions are closer to cold (no baking required) desserts made with fresh ingredients. They are the perfect summer refreshments for entertaining kids and adults alike!

Root Beer Praline Sundaes, a refreshing,
no-bake dessert from Homemade Soda

This weekend I have a double family birthday party to attend. One birthday is my mother's, and the other is my cousin's. I plan to bring my blender and mix up a recipe or two from Homemade Soda. Here is the recipe for one of my selections:

Sparkling Orange Creamsicle
The Creamsicle has been an inspiration for countless beverages, alcoholic and otherwise, so I guess I might as well get in line. My version is a little bit nutritious (half the dairy is yogurt), a little bit rich (the other half is ice cream), very flavorful (equal parts orange and vanilla), and ultimately refreshing (carbonation titillates every time). This is one of the most filling sodas in the book, and it’s best served as a snack or a dessert.

Vanilla Orange Purée
1 cup cold orange juice
1 cup cold vanilla yogurt
1 cup vanilla ice cream
Serves 4

Combine the orange juice, yogurt, and ice cream in a blender or

food processor, and purée.

This purée will keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, but it is best if
used immediately. 

To mix with seltzer

¾ cup vanilla-orange purée
¾ cup chilled seltzer
Serves 1

Pour the purée into a tall glass. Add the seltzer, stir just until blended,

and serve.

Although I have not yet decided on the other recipe from the book that I will
make, here are some of the top contenders:
Chocolate Raspberry Cream Pop
Ginger Pineapple Coconut-Cream Float
Watermelon Mint Cordial made with Simple Syrup
Sangria Shrub

There are so many recipes in this book — I want to make them all! There are even recipes for marinating/cooking/grilling meats. These recipes will make any gathering a spectacular event that friends and family will talk about for years!

These particular recipes caught my eye:
Pork Chops with Chipotle Cherry Cola Gravy
Sweet Heat Mahogany Chicken Wings
Lemonade Shrimp Cocktail
Ginger Beer Chicken Curry
Ginger Citrus Baked Ribs made with Szechuan Ginger Beer

I’ve provided the Orange Creamsicle Recipe above, but to get a few more free recipes from Homemade Soda, go to Storey's new downloads page. Here you can find recipes, labels, fun worksheets, and many more free samplings from Storey that you might enjoy.

Let me know if you get a chance to try these recipes — the ones on the download page or, if you have purchased the book, your favorite recipe from within the pages.

Cheers to a refreshing summer!

— Kristy L. Rustay, Marketing Manager