Keep Hydrated this Summer

For the past couple of weeks, A Reader's Respite has been slacking with our Weekend Cooking with Beth Fish Reads.

Owing largely to an unfortunate incident involving a Q-Tip, a punctured eardrum and an subsequent swollen jaw, we were punished by our doctor with orders for a strict liquid diet and more pills than you can count.  So you'll forgive us our lack of participation in any event that involves glorious, mouth-watering, SOLID food.

We have, however, spent the past two weeks in the pursuit of anything liquid that tastes good.  We've decided to share our favorite with you here today.

We start with a glass of cooled coffee.  A Reader's Respite likes to save what is leftover from our morning pot and stick it in the fridge till it's cooled off enough to work with.

Next, grab yourself some chocolate syrup.  Hershey's will do, but if you want to be Mr./Ms. Fancy Pants, you can get yourself the good stuff.  Drizzle some in the glass and mix well.  How much?  Depends on how mocha you like your mocha.  A Reader's Respite tends to get a tad carried away with this step.

Add ice till the glass is about two-thirds full.  Grab some half-and-half (and we mean real half-and-half...don't you dare ruin this drink with your skim milk) and add a few tablespoons.

It's usually at this point in the process that A Reader's Respite stops for a while to admire the swirls that the half-and-half makes and sing all three verses of Carly Simon's You're So Vain ("clouds in my coffee, clouds in my coffee") and daydream a bit about a young Warren Beatty.  But as we mentioned, we're on a LOT of pills here.  That may have something to do with it.




  But on with the drink....no mocha would be complete without a topper.
 

 And if you'd like to know exactly how A Reader's Respite managed to become the only person in recorded medical history confined to a liquid diet who actually gained weight, the answer would be GARNISH.
 
 
 Chase it with pain meds - better living through pharmaceuticals, we always say - and you have a recipe for a divine summer beverage. 
 
 Now where did we put our book?