Strawberry Milk Shake.

"Strawberry Milk Shake" ... Strawberries are the only beautiful deep red colored fruits to have seeds on their skin, isn’t that interesting … these fruits are delicious, sweet and tangy in taste that you can't skip making strawberry milk shake a few times when they are in season ... nothing is more appealing than sipping on the sweet tangy taste of thick creamy milk shakes bursting with strawberry flavor, a treat in itself ... it's exotic and tastes simply wonderful … Yummilicious ....

** Everybody loves strawberry milk shake even children despite the slight tangy taste. There is something very appealing in its taste that cannot be described in words and one must taste it, well actually best enjoyed sipped slowly and in leisure. Strawberry milkshake is a delicious drink made with strawberries, milk, ice cream and flavoring ingredients like vanilla extract or strawberry. This one is definitely a must at least a few times in my home when in season and here I must mention that you can use vegan milk like almond or cashew too if desired, though this time here I have used cow's milk. You can use any milk that is suitable to you. 

** Again, I must mention that though it tastes best with addition of a scoop or two of ice cream, both when preparing the shake as well as a little bit topped on when serving, at times I skip the addition of ice cream which is loaded with fat and add in just a tablespoon of cow's skimmed milk cream/ malai and for me it tastes equally good. The texture may vary a bit depending upon milk texture and if added on ice cream etc. frankly, it is individual choice to either prepare it into a thick rich texture shake or thinner textured ones. Again, you can always prepare it thick textured and later on add some chilled skim milk to thin it, too if desired. 

** Here is my easy recipe of making "Strawberry Milk Shake" ... my style ...

** Wash about a dozen of fresh strawberries and pat them dry. Remove stems and discard it cut the fleshy edible portion into four pieces. As I mentioned above Strawberries are the only beautiful deep red colored fruits to have seeds on their skin, there is no need to scrap them just add on as it is.

** Note : Always wash and pat dry the strawberries just before using, do not wash and store them in fridge they tend to absorb the water and spoil. If you need to store them in fridge do so as it is in air tight container and wash when needed to be used.

** Add them into a blender along with 3-4 tblsp of sugar (+/- depending upon the sweetness of strawberries) and half cup of full fat or skimmed milk and run to a very smooth mixer until the fruit and sugar has mixed well uniformly into a thick puree. 

** Now at this step you can either add on another cup of full fat milk or skimmed milk along with 1-2 scoop of either vanilla ice cream or strawberry ice cream, a few ice cubes and run it for few seconds twice or thrice on pulse mode only. 

** In case you do not want to add ice cream for any reason, you can skip it off or you can add 1-2 tblsp of beaten milk cream and 1/2 tsp of strawberry essence (or vanilla essence if desired) and pulse the same too, try it in best way that suits you. 

** Note : In case you are using milk cream do not add it directly to the milk shake for blending. First beat it carefully to a smooth fluffy texture for not more than few seconds and then add in the same or else it may turn to butter texture. 

** "Strawberry Milk Shake" is done and ready to be served. Serve it immediately poured in tall glasses topped with vanilla/ strawberry ice cream (optional) along with some freshly cut strawberry pieces if desired. In my home we sip it on as plain as it is without addition of ice cream though it does taste awesome. 

** Children are always reluctant to eat fruits and are so addicted to aerated drinks available in stores that it is very difficult to make them understand the necessity of fresh seasonal fruits. We always have to think of ways to lure them into eating good home cooked food and drinks and this one fits the bill, sure to be loved by all. 

** These days many are reluctant to add sugar and prefer other means of sweeteners. In my opinion chemical based sweeteners are twice bad than sugar, and though one can add honey the taste differs, so go easy if you must on addition of sugar or if you can just skip it but do not go in for artificial sweeteners which are not good for health.