dinner in TGI Fridays

Long working week. Celebrated the end of the week with a hard earned rest for NKG in the kitchen by going to TGI Fridays. I really do not like going out to eat at weekends - too busy everywhere and a mad mad rush that seems to escalate when one goes out.

The food in TGI Fridays was unremarkable - ribs and burgers the flavour of the evening. I was not allowed to take photographs of the food by the girls once again but did get a click of the cocktail drink that elder daughter BG is now allowed to have a sip of. At least this is one of the very few restaurants where I can get a non-alcoholic cocktail.

It is rare that at home we mix different fruit juices to make our own 'mocktail' but a trip to TGI Fridays does fire up the brain cells and I usually try to make one of my own sometimes. I have tried asking for a mocktail when going out to other restaurants - even those with a bar - and also in pubs but I end up getting strange looks. Daughters have told me not to ask for the impossible. What exactly is so special about mixing up a few fruit juices and serving the drink in a tall glass with a straw and a few pieces of fruit on a stick?

Found in the fridge - a bottle of grenadine from our visit to France, some oranges, full fat natural yoghurt and of course some sparkling mineral water. So my own version of cocktails are born - no names for them as yet!

For the first one, I poured a dash of grenadine into a tall glass followed by some sparkling mineral water and then some freshly squeezed orange juice. The layers do not remain stratified even when poured gently. A garnish of a twisted slice of orange on a straw in the glass and my first tipple was ready.

For the second mocktail, a twist on lassi, an Indian yoghurt based drink, came to mind. I used the yoghurt with some plain tap water and some of the freshly squeezed orange juice - a dash of salt made it a foul tasting concoction. No margarita for me!