Monday, May 20, 2013

Spiked Strawberry Rhubarb Lemonade


Ah, summer picnics. Humidity, sunburn, flies, mosquitos, ants, warm beer, screaming children, and the threat of listeria in every mayonnaise-soaked bite. When it's a million degrees outside, I would really prefer to eat inside. There's only one way to get through these sweaty ordeals of Americana: drink.

And so this is why, when the theme of this month's Creative Cooking Crew challenge - hosted as ever by the lovely Joan of Foodalogue and Lazaro of Lazaro Cooks - turned out to be picnic foods, I knew that my "food" was going to be of the potent liquid variety.

I decided to play with picnic staple lemonade. Recently I was sent a sample of Art in the Age Rhubarb Tea, a craft spirit made with, among other things,  organic rhubarb, beets, coriander, and vanilla; using this, I came up with my  gin-spiked strawberry rhubarb lemonade, sweetened with strawberry simple syrup.

It's a perfectly good lemonade if you leave out the booze by the way - I just don't know why you would!

Here's what you do:

For the simple syrup: Combine 1 cup water, 1 cup sugar, and 1 cup chopped strawberries in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and reduce heat, simmering gently for 5 minutes. Allow to cool and strain.

For the Lemonade: In a pitcher, combine 1 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice, 2 1/2 - 3 cups water, and 3/4 cup strawberry simple syrup (or more, to desired sweetness).

At this point you've got a lovely strawberry lemonade. For the spiked version, fill a high ball glass half way with ice, and add 1/2 ounce rhubarb tea and 1 1/2 ounces gin. Top with the lemonade and 3 shakes of Dale DeGroff's pimento bitters. Stir, sip, and forget your troubles.

If you need me, I'll be drinking mine in a nice air conditioned room.
Make sure to check out the round up on Wednesday over at Foodalogue - you'll find plenty of ideas for your Memorial Day meal!





23 comments:

  1. In addition to the awesome drink, those are some killer glasses!

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    1. Thanks!! I do love my Alice in Wonderland glasses : )

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  2. This sounds lovely - perfect for a summer afternoon, and as we are embarking on our own version of a trip down the rabbit hole, also known as a home remodel, I am thinking the spiked version will be the one for me. Don't you love fruit simple syrups? They give such wonderful flavor. Also, those are surely the coolest glasses I have seen in a long time.

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  3. Seriously love those glasses. ;) Strawberry lemonade is one of my summertime favorites, but I've never made strawberry simple syrup - I need to! This sounds perfect.

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  4. Laughed my way through your first paragraph!

    Your 'lemonade' looks perfect for our picnic. Great idea!

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  5. Ah...there are so many ordeals of Americana that require drinking these days so it is good work you do to keep us fully stocked with choices such as this. Methinks I shall also stock up on pimento bitters. Its going to be a long, hot, sweaty, mosquito-filled summer full of screaming children and I want to be ready. How would this taste with double the gin? ;>

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    1. I can tell you from experience that it tastes great with double the gin!

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  6. This recipe sounds amazing! Rhubarb is just in season now so I might try to make my own potent concoction with rhubarb-strawberries. Yum!

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  7. I have a thing for fun dishes and glasses and you have made a wonderful summer drink. When I'm cooking, I all too often to forget about the drinks.

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  8. You crack me up, Trix. And I love your Alice glasses...adorable. Your lemonade would be perfect for our annual 4th of July picnic...wish we could uninvite the mosquitoes.

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  9. Yes, please. This looks like mandatory picnic food.

    Can we uninvite everyone? Including children, mosquitoes and family...

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  10. Trix definitely a refreshing drink and I too love your glasses...

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  11. rhubarb tea? lovely. and why not bring a cocktail, this would certainly make my picnic :)

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  12. I'm forgetting my troubles already! I would love to try a glass of this. Looks so refreshing, and your glasses are so funky and fun :)

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  13. That is one of my favorite pie combos, love doing the same in a drink. Great cocktail

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  14. Hope your doing well.. loving the glass the the refreshing drink have a great summer ahead!

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  15. i am in love with this cocktail - definitely bookmarking this! and i love those glasses by the way!

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  16. Heck of a drink Trix. You keep the picnic going in the right direction.

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  17. Gurrrrl, we could swap picnic horror stories....like the moonlit picnic I romanticized about in the middle of the Australian outback where we were bombarded by huge flying ants as soon as I put the lantern on. And no one ever mentions the biting sandflies while picnicking on the beach at sunset, do they? *sigh* Thank GOD someone brought the vodka! Lovely idea and glasses, Trix! Thank you!

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  18. So glad you brought the booze to the picnic. Love the color, sounds perfectly refreshing. Adore those glasses...
    LL

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  19. I made a rhubarb lemonade years ago and loved it. The tang was spectacular. Love adding the booze to it... we do think alike, lady! And I must get some of those glasses... magical Alice would make anything taste better!

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  20. Spike me, and then send me those glasses! XOGREG

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  21. Strawberry and rhubarb are a classic spring combination. One of my very favorites, I love making a pie or tart every year when rhubarb comes to the market. This year, I couldn’t resist and for a simple little ladies luncheon, this combination in a small tart worked just perfectly.

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