Iced Tea & Lemon Granita

How to stay cool in a heatwave

This is one of those emails that usually go out only to subscribers to my Premium Newsletter. But today, since it’s hot all over, and everyone could use a cool drink, I’m sending it out to the entire mailing list. I hope it convinces you that maybe you should upgrade to Premium. In addition to videos like this (with recipes) you’ll also get menu plans, city guides and first access to new tours. (FYI: next week we are announcing our new tour to Palermo & Western Sicily.)

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Now on to the main event:

It’s crazy hot in Italy right now. As it is pretty much all over the world. Somehow though the heat wave in Italy is making headlines across the world. I guess that’s because people just didn’t plan on having 105F degree weather interfere with their visit to the Colosseum. For the record? I’ve NEVER advised ANYONE to visit Rome in the summer. Or anywhere in Italy for that matter. If you want to rent a villa in the countryside or by the sea, ok. But as for site seeing? Come back in January.

Thankfully I’m at our home in the countryside where I alternate dips in the pool with naps in front of the fan. But last week I was in Rome and since I had to run around town doing errands I made sure I stayed hydrated and cool with this amazing drink: Iced Tea with Granita di Limone. It’s sweet enough, sour enough but more importantly cold enough to keep you going in a heat wave. The caffeine and sugar do their part too.

Here are a couple of videos of me staying hydrated. And a recipe for Lemon Granita so you can stay at home and enjoy it instead of making your way to Rome in July.

Stay cool!

Lemon Granita

• 1 cup freshly squezzed lemon juice (probably 4-6 lemons)

• 1 cup sugar

• 2 cups water

Bring the water to a simmer and add the sugar. Turn off heat and stir to dissolve. Let cool completely.

When cool add the lemon juice and stir.

Pour the mixture into a shallow container that fits in your freezer.

Place it carefull in your freezer. After a half hour take it out to break up the crystals that are forming on the sides. Do this every half hour until you’ve got a kind of slushy consistancy. The more you break it up, the better the consistency.

You can eat it as is, or else add it to your favorite iced tea.