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Switchel - Refreshing Summertime Drink

Welcome to The Seasoned Franciscan. Sisters and their partners in mission—including affiliates, prayer partners and staff—share these recipes hoping to provide you with new ways of looking at the food around you. Being mindful of the food we eat is integral to making lasting change throughout the world. We focus these recipes on five themes: eating seasonally, exploring our heritages, pursuing meatless meals, foraging or using food scraps and embracing indigenous and ethnic foods.

New recipes are shared on a regular basis and can be submitted to the FSPA Eco Pact Team at ecopact@fspa.org.

Switchel - Refreshing Summertime Drink

Switchel - Refreshing Summertime Drink

Ingredients:
1/3 C sugar
2/3 C water
1/4 C mint
1/4 C lemon balm (or substitute with more mint!)
1/2 C fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/4 C orange juice
2 quarts ginger ale

Directions:

  1. Bring water and sugar to a boil and set aside. Squeeze citrus juices and finely chop mint and lemon balm.
  2. Add orange and lemon juices to the hot sugar syrup. Remove from the heat, add chopped herbs and cover. Let steep for at least 1 hour.
  3. Strain mixture through a cheesecloth or fine mesh strainer or sieve. Add ginger ale and serve chilled.
  4. Note: All mint may be used instead of lemon balm.

Story:
Meg Paulino got this recipe from an herb farm in Seattle many years ago and it is her favorite summertime drink!

This drink was often served to farmers at hay harvest time to quench the thirst of parched field workers and is sometimes called “haymaker’s punch”. Lemons are rich in electrolytes and Switchel sounds more refreshing than Gatorade on a harvest time day.

Switchel dates back to colonial times when products like maple syrup would have been used for sweetener. Vinegar and ginger juice were common ingredients in the absence of acidic lemon and modern ginger ale.  Stories are told of gatherings of the Constitutional Congress where a punch bowl of Switchel was served sweetened with cane sugar or molasses and spiked with rum all from the West Indies.

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Vicki Lopez-Kaley – I am an affiliate with FSPA and a member of the Eco Pact Team. For me the kitchen and garden are about slowing down and being creative. Sharing stories and connecting with others and the earth through food can bring great meaning and pleasure.

Isabel “Iggy” Bauer – I served as an AmeriCorps Service Member with FSPA. Sustainable food is one of my passions and I have a vision of bringing local food, gardens and green spaces to urban areas in support of human health and happiness.

The FSPA Eco Pact Team – We are a cooperative group of sisters, affiliates and partners in mission focused on making an impact on integral ecology through the lens of Laudato Si’. Since beginning our mission in the summer of 2021, Eco Pact has brought forward many changes, including initiating effective recycling practices at St. Rose Convent. Connect with us at ecopact@fspa.org.

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