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Let's hear it for the ice cream sandwich - the ultimate treat to beat the heat. Summertime living calls for chilled drinks and frozen desserts, and these recipes are perfect to kick off happy hour, enjoy during brunch or add a cool finish to any meal. The Bushwacker This frozen cocktail is easily adapted with ingredients you have on hand. Have ice cream in your freezer? Use that in place of milk and cut back on the ice. Want more rum? Add it. However you blend it, to be called a Bushwacker, the drink must be creamy with notes of rum, chocolate and coffee. Coconut Pete This tropical drink features cachaca, a distilled spirit made from sugarcane juice. Blueberry Doughnut Ice Cream Sandwiches Time to bake the doughnuts, and turn them into a new twist on a classic summertime treat. Use your favorite ice cream for customized snacks. Datil Ginger Peach Ice Cream Sandwiches Use seasonal peaches to mix up a frozen treat that's a little spicy, a little sweet and always satisfying. Milk and Honey Semifreddo No ice cream maker? No problem! You only need a loaf pan for this frozen Italian dessert. Halo-Halo The name of this Filipino dish means mix-mix in Tagalog. Ingredients vary according to preferences; these are some of the basics to include in this dessert. Plan on 1/4 cup of each ingredient per serving. Rome, Georgia Shake up this refreshing, fruity cocktail for happy hour on a warm day. River Pilot This is Mayport Garden Club’s take on a classic rum punch. This cocktail lounge sources house spirits from across the Caribbean, South America and the US. After blending and proofing them down, spirits are bottled in-house to be used in their cocktail program. Picnic at Project Swing This spicy, smoky-sweet recipe was created for a pairing between the Lightner Museum and St. Augustine Distillery.

This spicy, smoky-sweet recipe was created for a pairing between the Lightner Museum and St. Augustine Distillery. Photo by Amanda Olivero. Makes 1 cocktail Ingredients For datil pepper simple syrup 1 cup water 1 cup sugar 1 chopped datil pepper For cocktail 3 lemon wedges 4 (1-inch) watermelon chunks 4-6 mint leaves ¾ ounce datil pepper simple syrup 2 ounces St. Augustine Florida Straight Bourbon Cultivate Tea & Spice Co. Datil BBQ Rub Ice Instructions To make datil pepper simple syrup : Simmer water, sugar and datil pepper for 10 minutes, then cool and strain. Store unused syrup in a glass jar in refrigerator. To make cocktail : Muddle lemon, watermelon and mint in a cocktail shaker. Add simple syrup and bourbon and shake. Rim a glass with rub and fill with pebble ice. Strain drink into glass and garnish with mint.

This is Mayport Garden Club’s take on a classic rum punch. This cocktail lounge sources house spirits from across the Caribbean, South America and the US. After blending and proofing them down, spirits are bottled in-house to be used in their cocktail program. This drink features their house spirits, but you can substitute your favorite brands. Photo by Sindy Gonzalez. Serves 1 Ingredients 1-½ ounces white rum ½ ounce pot still rum ½ ounce simple syrup ½ ounce fresh lime juice 1-½ ounces pineapple juice 1 ounce orange juice ½ ounce apricot nectar 1 bar spoon or ¼ ounce grenadine ½ ounce overproof rum Ice Instructions Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker except overproof rum and whip shake with pebble ice. Strain and pour over pebble ice into your favorite tiki mug. Float overproof rum on top. Garnish with a large bouquet of mint, an orange slice and a cocktail umbrella.

The jazz of craft cocktails gets its name from a bartender's best friend. Rob Crabtree makes a Bushwacker, one of the signature cocktails at Boat Drinks in St. Augustine. Photo by Nate Watson. The Bushwacker is one of the few cocktails that Florida can claim as its own … with a little island inspiration and imitation. The original Bushwacker was invented by bartender Angie Conigliaro and bar manager Tom Brokamp in 1975 at the Ship’s Store Pub on St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands as a tropical take on the White Russian. It was named after a very large dog called Bushwack, who spent a couple of days in the bar while its owners drank the cocktail. That same year, after drinking multiple Bushwackers in St. Thomas, Linda Murphy, the owner of the Sandshaker bar in Pensacola Beach, decided to develop her own version to serve at her bar back in Florida. Murphy’s version of the Bushwacker was an immediate hit at the Sandshaker, so much so that the bartenders couldn’t keep up with the demand using blenders. In 1980, the Sandshaker traded in their blenders for a frozen drink machine. Others in the Panhandle noticed the success of the cocktail and the Bushwacker started appearing on menus at other bars and restaurants throughout the area. Even the owner of the infamous Flora-Bama in Pensacola admits to spending many late nights at the Sandshaker trying to decipher the secret recipe while the owner was preparing the next day’s batches.The Bushwacker recipe spread throughout the state and beyond to cities like Nashville, where it has been prevalent throughout the city's bars for the past decade. What’s in a Bushwacker? Therein lies the confusion, because this is the jazz of cocktails where everyone’s version is different, yet each is considered a Bushwacker. The original drink from St.Thomas contained vodka, Kahlua, crème de cacao, whole milk or half & half, Coco Lopez and a splash of triple sec. But this isn’t the Bushwacker we know in Florida. The Sandshaker version swapped the vodka for dark rum, dropped the triple sec and likely started adding amaretto liqueur. This is the archetype of the Florida-style Bushwacker – dark rum, coffee liqueur, crème de cacao liqueur, amaretto liqueur, coconut cream and milk. As the temperatures spike in the Sunshine State, you can hear the buzz of blenders spinning endless iterations of the Bushwacker. This is Florida’s gift to the cocktail world.

This tropical drink features cachaca, a distilled spirit made from sugarcane juice. Photo by Sean Kelly Conway. Makes 1 cocktail Ingredients 3/4 ounce Avua Amburana Cachaca 3/4 ounce lime juice 3/4 ounce Barbancourt 8 Year Old Haitian rum 3/4 ounce Coco Real Cream of Coconut Instructions Shake all ingredients together and pour into cocktail glass with shaved ice. Garnish with a banana leaf.

No ice cream maker? No problem! You only need a loaf pan for this frozen Italian dessert. Photo by Sterling Tucker. Makes 1 loaf Ingredients 1-1/4 cups heavy whipping cream 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1/4 cup honey 1/4 cup sugar 2 eggs 1 cup toasted sliced almonds 1/4 cup honey (drizzled) 1/2 teaspoon flaky salt for topping Instructions Line a 9- by 5- by 3-inch loaf pan with parchment paper and coat with nonstick cooking spray. In a medium bowl, whip cream with salt and vanilla extract, and reserve. In a small pot, combine sugar and honey and stir to combine. Use a spatula dipped into water to wipe down any sugar crystals that form on the sides of the pot. Secure a candy thermometer to the pot. Add eggs to a thoroughly clean bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Whip on medium speed. Heat honey mixture over medium heat until it reaches 340°. Immediately pour into whipping egg mixture and whip on high speed until light and fluffy and bowl is no longer hot to the touch. This will take about 6 minutes. Fold reserved whipped cream mixture into egg mixture in 2 additions, just to combine. Pour into loaf pan and freeze for about 8 hours to set. Once frozen, unmold by running a knife around the edges of the pan and inverting onto a plate. Sprinkle with toasted almonds, drizzle with honey and add dash a salt.

The Bushwacker is easily adapted with ingredients you have on hand. Have ice cream in your freezer? Use that in place of milk and cut back on the ice. Want more rum? Add it. However you blend it, to be called a Bushwacker, the drink must be creamy with notes of rum, chocolate and coffee. Photo by Nate Watson. Makes 1 cocktail Ingredients 4 ounces dark rum 1 ounce coffee liqueur 1/2 ounce crème de cacao liqueur 1/2 ounce amaretto liqueur 6 ounces coconut milk 2 ounces Coco Lopez cream of coconut 2 cups ice Instructions Blend all ingredients together until mixture is slushy. For a thicker consistency, add more ice.

This savory-sweet vodka drink gets a kick from toasted coriander seeds and rhubarb bitters. Photo by Sara Schober. Makes 1 cocktail Ingredients 1 strawberry 2 slices kiwi Ice 1-1/2 ounces toasted coriander infused vodka 1/4 ounce lemon juice 1/4 ounce plain simple syrup 2 dashes rhubarb bitters Strawberry for garnish For toasted coriander infused spirits ½ cup coriander seeds 1 (750 ml) bottle spirits such as vodka, tequila or gin (or nonalcoholic spirits) Instructions In a shaker, add strawberry and kiwi along with a couple of small ice cubes. Muddle fruit and ice together. Add a scoop of ice and remainder of ingredients. Shake and strain into a rocks glass. Garnish with strawberry. To make toasted coriander infused vodka: Toast seeds in a small saucepan over medium-high heat for 3 to 5 minutes until they become aromatic. Stir occasionally to prevent burning. Place seeds in the bottle of spirits and infuse for 24 hours.

The ultimate treat to beat the heat? An ice cream sandwich! It’s easy to make at home using your favorite flavors of ice cream and cookies. Ingredients For datil ginger peach ice cream 2 medium fresh peaches, pits removed, skin on 2 datil peppers, seeds removed 4 cups half and half 2 cups heavy cream 1-½ teaspoons vanilla extract 2 cups sugar ½ teaspoon sea salt 1 cup peach preserves 14 pieces crystallized (candied) ginger, finely chopped For chocolate cayenne cookies 2-½ cups butter 1-¼ cups white sugar 1-2/3 cups brown sugar 4 eggs 2-1/3 cups flour 1 cup cocoa powder 2 teaspoons cinnamon 1 teaspoon cayenne 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 1-¼ cups chocolate chips Instructions To make ice cream : In a blender, combine one of the peaches, datil peppers and 2 cups of half andhalf. Blend on high until completely pureed. In a saucepan, combine the puree with remaining half and half, heavy cream, vanilla, sugar and sea salt. Simmer on medium-low heat, whisking frequently until mixture reaches 175°. (Don’t go above 185°.) Remove from heat and whisk in peach preserves. Chill mixture. Cut remaining peach in half and slice into very thin slivers. Once the mixture is chilled, whisk in chopped ginger and fresh peach pieces. Churn until smooth according to ice cream freezer instructions. To make cookies : Preheat oven to 325°. In large bowl, combine butter and sugars. Cream until smooth. Beat in one egg at a time, scraping down the sides periodically. Continue creaming until light and fluffy. In a separate bowl, combine all dry ingredients and whisk until everything is incorporated. Add the dry ingredients to butter mixture and blend together. Before dough comes together, add chocolate chips and mix until blended. Scoop dough to desired size and roll in cinnamon sugar. Bake for 8 minutes, rotate cookie sheets and bake for 8 more minutes. Cool on a wire rack. To assemble : Soften ice cream slightly. Spoon a generous amount of ice cream on flat side of one cookie. Top with flat side of another cookie and gently press down. Freeze 15 minutes before eating.

Prepare the toasted coriander simple syrup first, and have on hand for other uses. To make a nonalcoholic version of this cocktail, replace tequila with extra club soda or grapefruit seltzer for added sweetness. Photo by Sara Schober. Makes 1 cocktail Ingredients 1-1/2 ounces silver tequila 1 ounce grapefruit juice 1 ounce toasted coriander simple syrup 1/4 ounce lime juice Ice Club soda Toasted coriander seeds for garnish For Toasted Coriander Simple Syrup 1/2 cup toasted coriander seeds 2 cups water 2 cups sugar Instructions Shake all ingredients together except for club soda. Strain and pour into a Collins glass filled with ice. Top with club soda and coriander seeds. To make toasted coriander simple syrup : Place seeds in a pot with water and sugar. Simmer over medium-heat until sugar melts. When cool, strain coriander seeds from syrup.

No room for a garden? No problem. Grow everything you need for a salad in one container. Photo by Wesley Parsons. Lacking the space and/or energy for a traditional vegetable garden? Reconnect with that inner green thumb and consider container gardening, a concept readily adaptable to specific personal requirements, homescape conditions and, most importantly, one’s individual taste. One of the easiest ways to kick-start a foray into container cropping is with the creation of a fresh salad planter, filled to the brim with a personally chosen combination of select salad greens, herbs and edible flowers. Garden centers are well-stocked with seasonal plant starts and seed varieties, as well as interesting pottery and containers in all shapes, sizes and colors. GETTING STARTED Salad vegetables and annual flowers especially lend themselves to mixed container plantings, as their shallow fibrous roots allow for the possibility of fitting a fair number of plants into a relatively small space. The main consideration is that proper levels of water, sunlight and fertilization are consistently maintained. Make sure the potting soil you choose is a blended mix (organic, if possible) suitable for containers AND that the pot selected provides adequate drainage. If, after your plants are in place, space allows for the addition of some vegetable seeds, consider a light shaking of companion, baby-sized varieties for added texture and interest. WHAT TO GROW The combinations are endless and limited only by the size of your container and the desires of your appetite. With consistent watering and applications of organic fertilizer (think Espoma brand Tomato-Tone) you should have a continuous and bountiful harvest throughout the season. Overwhelmed by the abundance of artisanal vegetable and herb varieties on the nursery market shelves? It might help to treat your shopping trip as a walk through a basic pizza menu, with the selected size container as your “pizza” base (small/medium/large/extra large) with desired “toppings” chosen from the following columns.* *The plants listed are suggestions, so let your own imagination and taste buds be your guide. Bon appetit!

Eight things you can do to help build a healthy bee population in our region. Bo Sterk tends to his bees in St. Augustine, Florida. Photo by Kristen Penoyer. If managing honey bee hives isn't your thing, there are still plenty of ways you can encourage the health and well-being of the bee populations in our region. Here are eight simple tips: 1. Plant native plants! Try herbs, trees, shrubs, and flowers. Basil, lemon balm, mint, rosemary, gallberry, silverthorn, cosmos, salvia and blue daze are all great choices. 2. Provide a fresh water source for bees. 3. Buy local honey. 4. Support a local food system; buy from small-scale farms that are not as likely to engage in monoculture. 5. Cut down or eliminate pesticide use. 6. If you must use pesticides, try not to use powders, as they can stick to bees’ legs. Apply later in the evening when bees are less active. 7. If you see a swarm, call a beekeeper for advice and/or assistance. 8. Learn more by contacting a local beekeeper association. To learn more about honey bees and beekeeping in our region, visit the UF Honey Bee Research website .