It is upon us.
I'm referring to Summer, also known affectionately as "hell" by Houston residents, including myself, who must brace themselves almost daily for triple-digit temperatures and high humidity. You know it's really hot when a part of you wishes there would be a tropical storm to cool things down.
But let's leave mass-spread devastation by Mother Nature for another day, and enjoy a more modest means of refreshment in the form of a wonderful Syrian drink called polo. I first wrote about polo last year in the dead of "winter" in Houston, and it seems fitting now I revisit the recipe not only because it is now Summer With A Capital 'S' but also because my agrarian-inclined husband has built a thriving rooftop garden that is yielding, among other botanicals, scores of fresh mint.
Twilight in the Garden of Good & Fertile.
Ingredients
4 cups of cold water
5 lemons, juiced
6 tablespoons sugar
1.5 cups of fresh mint, rinsed and drained
1 teaspoon orange blossom water.