Virgin Pina Colada

Its been super hectic the past few days, with the days just zooming past. Kid sis and family have come down for a few days, the entire extended family got together, we celebrated my father's birthday, shopped till the sis dropped. Saw all the stores in Bangalore I haven't been to earlier. I am not much of a shopper and normally all the marathon shopping expeditions are only sis-in-law comes down from the US. Very important part of the itinerary, the typical and much needed eat outs for the visitors, who are starved of the restaurant food in India, the true value of which only the desi living abroad knows. So lots more eating out, more shopping lined up before sis boards her flight. And again, as its a busy time at work too, blogging has taken a temporary back seat.  There are so many things we want to do in a day, spend time with kids and family, entertain (and be entertained;-) work, meet up friends, cook, bake , blog... sigh! But then, I would hate to neglect the blog baby for long (u can identify with this feeling I know!) and I have to say a quick hello and then rush back to my mile long to-do list.

The rising mercury levels has had all of us guzzling down gallons of water and nothing is more welcome than a refreshing cool drink. Here comes one of my favorites, a Virgin Pina Colada.  Pina Colada is a sweet drink with pineapple juice, rum and cream of coconut as its basic ingredients. A search for virgin pina colada gave me pineapple juice, coconut cream or coconut milk, whipped cream or ice cream as the ingredients. The result, a very pleasing drink with a hint of coconut and vanilla... a must try this summer.

 Well, the day I had planned to make this, my friend Vani happened to have a day off at work. Too good a chance for us not to meet up. Hey, come to think of it, Pina Colada and Vani share a special bond I guess:-) I had made Pina Colada Trifle for her the first time we met. The photo shoot at Vani's was an appealing idea. The latent blogger in her suggested I get along a few cherries and gerberas. I landed at her place with the drink in a bottle, the flowers and cherries. The rest was Vani's show, the styling and the rest...Thanks so much gurl! Had so much fun! And at the cost of sounding repetitive and boring, Vani - would love you to write a blog!

Ingredients: 
Fresh pineapple juice, semi frozen : 1 Cup, refer note
Thick Coconut milk/ extract - 1/2 cup, refer note
Vanilla Ice cream - 1 cup
Vanilla essence - 1/4 teaspoon
(no ice as I feel it dilutes the taste of the drink)
Sugar - to taste and varying according to the sweetness of the pineapple.
Procedure: Blend everything in a blender and pour into glasses and serve immediately.
Please note: 

•  I have blended 1 1/4 cup of chopped pineapple to get a cup of fresh pineapple juice. The pineapple was not very sweet, so I had to add extra sugar.
• I have soaked about 3/4 cup of fresh grated coconut in a cup of hot water for 15-20 minutes, blended and strained to get about 3/4 cup of thick coconut milk. I have tried this with the tetra pack coconut milk, but it left a bitter and funny after taste. So I would definitely recommend home-made coconut extract.
• You could use fresh whipped cream in place of the ice cream. 
• I normally chill the liquid which goes into the drink in the freezer, so that I don't need to add any ice to chill the drink.
  

What's your way of making Virgin Pina Colada? Would love to know..