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WENDY’S FROSTY

First served at Wendy’s in 1969, the Frosty continues as a favorite in fast food shakes, even if it only comes in chocolate flavor. This clone recipe is an improved version of the recipe that appears in the first book, Top Secret Recipes. I’ve designed this for just a one-person serving and have reduced the chocolate in the shake so that it’s more like the real thing served today. I find the smaller yield also helps to make the thing blend better.

½ cup milk

4 teaspoons Nesquik chocolate

drink mix

2 cups vanilla ice cream

Combine all of the ingredients in a blender. Blend on medium speed, stopping to stir several times with a long spoon, if necessary, to help the ingredients blend well.

• MAKES 1 SERVING.

OTHER SIPS

ARIZONA GREEN TEA WITH GINSENG AND HONEY

Hard to believe it takes only one regular-sized green tea bag to make an entire 2-quart clone of the popular iced tea in the foam green bottles. Ah, but it’s true. Find the liquid ginseng for this recipe in your local health food store, and try to get American ginseng if you can because the Chinese stuff tastes kinda nasty.

2 quarts (8 cups) water

1 Lipton green tea bag

½ cup sugar

2 tablespoons honey

3 tablespoons lemon juice

¼ teaspoon ginseng extract

(American ginseng)

1. Heat water in a large saucepan until it boils. Turn off heat, put the teabag in the water, then cover the pan and let the tea steep for 1 hour.

2. Pour the sugar and honey into a 2-quart pitcher. Pour the tea into the pitcher and stir to dissolve sugar.

3. Add lemon juice and ginseng and stir. Cool and serve.

• MAKES 2 QUARTS.

ARIZONA ICED TEA WITH GINSENG

When John Ferolito and Don Vultaggio pondered a name for a new line of canned iced teas, all they had to do was look at a map of the United States. They wanted to name their iced tea after a hot place where a cold can of iced tea was worshipped. Originally they picked “Santa Fe,” but soon ditched the name of the city and settled on a state: AriZona, complete with an uppercase “Z” in the middle for kicks. The secret to the duo’s early success was largely in their creative packaging decisions. If you think the tea’s great chilled, the company claims you can also sip it hot by simply zapping a cupful in the microwave.

2 quarts (8 cups) water

1 Lipton tea bag (black tea)

cup sugar

2 tablespoons lemon juice

¼ teaspoon ginseng extract

(American ginseng)

1. Heat water in a large saucepan until it boils. Turn off heat, put the teabag in the water, then cover the pan and let the tea steep for 1 hour.

2. Pour the sugar into a 2-quart pitcher. Pour the tea into the pitcher and stir to dissolve sugar.

3. Add lemon juice and ginseng and stir. Cool and serve.

• MAKES 2 QUARTS.

You can find liquid ginseng, usually in dropper bottles, in your local health food store. Be sure to get American ginseng if you have a choice. Some of the Chinese ginseng tastes too bitter for this tea.

CINNABON STRAWBERRY LEMONADE

Cinnabon, the 470-unit chain famous for its gooey cinnamon rolls, gives lemonade a twist by adding strawberry syrup. It’s a simple clone when you snag some Hershey’s strawberry syrup (near the chocolate syrup in your supermarket), and a few juicy lemons. While you’re at it, toss in a straw.

½ cup lemon juice (from 3 or 4

fresh lemons)

¼ cup sugar

2 cups water

2 tablespoons Hershey’s

strawberry syrup

Mix ingredients together in a pitcher. Serve over ice with a straw, if you’ve got one.

• MAKES 2 DRINKS.

GENERAL FOODS INTERNATIONAL COFFEES

With just a few simple ingredients you can re-create the European-style coffees that come in rectangular tins at a fraction of the cost. Since these famous instant coffee blends are created by Maxwell House, it’s best to use Maxwell House instant coffee, although I’ve tried them all with Folgers and Taster’s Choice, and the recipes still work out fine. You’ll also need a coffee bean grinder to grind the instant coffee into powder.