Fizzy Blueberry Meyer Lemonade

I’m a berry boy. I love my berries. Unfortunately, Southern California doesn’t so much, or at least so I thought.

Strawberries being the huge exception (they are amazing down here), I always thought that growing berries in our garden would be  a futile task. I’m talking blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, currants, gooseberries. They were so easy for us to grow on the ranch in Oregon. It seemed like all we had to do was plant them and forget about it until we were ready for a mid-day treat.

Oh how the horses would stretch and strain to try and reach the raspberry vines. Lips stretching like little kids fingers reaching into the cookie jar high on the counter. The fence between the raspberries and horse had to be double high and narrow enough between rails that they couldn’t slide the heads through to reach our precious red fruit.

8 years ago when we were initially planning our garden here in Southern California we made a list of plants we loved. Next we grudgingly  crossed out the ones which wouldn’t grow well in our zone, then started designing the garden based on the remaining plants. All but the strawberries were crossed off the berry list. Silly us.

Little did we know that many of them can grow quite well down here. Our ignorance was partly due to some varieties which have been developed or shown to do well in our milder climate, and part because we didn’t do enough research.

But a garden in never finished. It is always evolving and changing and a berry boy is now quite happy with his Southern California garden.

We’ve been able to add 4 blueberry bushes (3 diff. varieties to see which does best), a couple raspberry vines and a blackberry vine to add to our strawberries as our berry plant inventory.

The blueberries went in first. After a year of planting, adjusting and growing, we’ve started to see a nice production off of them. Well, almost. We see a lot of growth and green berries, but our mockingbirds have discovered their berry goodness. At this point our teenager plants can’t produce more than the #%^%@-ing mockingbirds can eat, so we’ve only been able to eat a handful. Sigh.

The raspberries and blackberries have replaced a set of vines we took out this spring after its trellis broke. The jasmine was nice, but the berries are bad-ass. There is nothing like a home grown raspberry and they have been “goin’ gorilla” as the two baby vines are giving us almost a cup worth every other day. The blackberries are growing and fruiting well, but our blackies have yet to hit their season.

To celebrate our berry delight, and a friend’s cookbook, here is an adapted recipe from Sara Kate’s new cookbook, Good Food to Share.

Sara Kate’s gorgeous cookbook is filled with beautiful recipes full of fresh, seasonal produce and ingredients. It’s hard not to be inspired to cook, share and feed your family and friends when flipping through each thoughtful page and photograph. Each dish is sure to feed and please a crowd for any occasion and gathering.

So because of her book and love of giving, we’re more thoughtful about sharing our blueberries with the birds. At least on the days they beat us to the berries. A boy still has to have berries of his own.

-Todd & Diane

Yield: 1 Drink

Total Time: 5 Minutes

3 T fresh Meyer Lemon Juice (about 1 lemon)1-2 T Simple Syrup - 1:1 ratio (to taste - 1 part sugar : 1 part water)1/4 c Blueberriesfew dashes Bitters of choice (usually we'll use orange bitters)Soda WaterIceMint for garnishCombine lemon juice, simple syrup, and blueberries in a blender. Blend until smooth.Fill a glass with ice. Add blueberry lemonade. Top with soda water.Garnish and serve.

View the original article here

Sparkling Watermelon Lemonade

Happy 4th of July weekend! I just wanted to put up a short post before the long weekend, to have something nice and refreshing for you to look at when you stop by. Plus, it seems as though we’re all looking around food blogs for ideas for picnic- or barbecue-appropriate foods and drinks (I certainly am), so here is my contribution.

Somewhere in my parents’ house is a photo of me, at age 2 in southern China, gnawing on a slice of watermelon bigger than my head. That I’m able to hold up this huge watermelon slice is pretty amazing. There is syrupy juice dripping down the side of my arms and, if you look closely, on the edge of my mouth too. Sitting next to me is my 3-year-old cousin, concentrating on his own watermelon slice, but seemingly edging away, as though I would steal his at any moment.

To say that we, as toddlers, had watermelon for dessert everyday in the summer is not an exaggeration. To escape the stuffiness of houses in the summer in Guangzhou, my cousin and I would bring our slices outside to courtyard and see how far we could spit our seeds. This, of course, attracted armies of ants, which our parents were not too happy about. We tried to remedy this problem by showering them with a watering can, but in hindsight, not spitting seeds on the ground at all would have been a better idea.

My summer watermelon consumption has declined as an adult, but it’s still not summer to me until the grocery stores start carrying whole melons. The day summer begins is not summer solstice, but rather the day you haul a watermelon home, set it on the counter, and whack it open while trying not to lose too much juice to the floor.

And instead of simply eating big slices, why not also make watermelon drinks? Here’s an easy sparkling watermelon lemonade I adapted from High Flavor, Low Labor: Reinventing Weeknight Cooking, by Associated Press food editor J.M. Hirsch. You can make a pitcher to serve at a summer barbecue, or, just for sipping at home. You can also add a splash of vodka, depending on the time of day.

What drinks do you make for the 4th, or any summer cookout?

_____________________________

Sparking Watermelon Lemonade
adapted from High Flavor, Low Labor by J.M. Hirsch

Makes 4 to 5 drinks

5 cups cut-up watermelon flesh (about 1/4 of a large watermelon)1 cup lemon juice (about 5 lemons)3 tablespoons sugar, plus more if needed1 liter club sodaIceVodka (optional)In a blender, combine the watermelon, lemon juice, and sugar. Puree until smooth. Add more the sugar if the mixture seems too tart.Pour the mixture into a pitcher with ice or chill in the fridge. When you’re ready to serve, pour about halfway up a glass filled with ice and top off with club soda.

__________________________

Other refreshing drinks to try:

Black Cherry Iced Tea

Ginger-Mint Lemonade

Plum and Ginger Soda

Thai Lemongrass and Ginger Iced Tea

Frozen Lemonade from Apartment Therapy’s The Kitchn

Meyer Lemonade with Rosemary from White on Rice Couple

Tagged as: Drinks, Recipes

View the original article here

Meyer Lemonade w/Rosemary + Thank You Sunset Magazine

It’s been almost 15 years ago since we had our first conversation about growing a garden together. It’s been that long? We still can’t believe it.

Back then, our garden inventory was a mere small handful of terra cotta pots filled with herbs on a tiny balcony of a second story apartment. We were only able to occupy half of that balcony because we shared the apartment with two other roommates. So, our personal space back then was one bedroom, a shared bathroom, kitchen and half a balcony.

Compared to what we have growing now, we had very little back then. But we always dreamed big because of what our monthly issue of Sunset Magazine inspired us to what we “can do” with our small space and if we had just a bit more yardage, of  what we “could do”.

Well, we found our space, filled it with 38 fruit trees and continually played in the dirt. But never ever in our wildest dreams would we ever believe that we would find ourselves and reading about ourselves in Sunset Magazine, the exact publication that continually encouraged and inspired us to grow more and live green.

It’s surreal and strange to see our faces in the very magazine that inspired our garden to grow and flourish to become what it is today.

So it’s here, the February 2011 issue of Sunset Magazine and we’re on pages 50 and 87. There isn’t just one, but two stories about our garden citrus in this issue and it’s too overwhelming for us to even comprehend how this all happened. We’re still in shock and often shy about it all. In fact, they even used our photographs of the detailed fruit that we shot in the story. Double shock treat omg wow!

All we can say right now (or shout) is a huge THANK YOU to all the editors at Sunset Magazine,  Senior Garden writer Sharon Cohoon and photographer Andrea Gomez for championing our humble citrus garden in this month’s issue.  And to all of you readers and friends who have supported us on this blog, we thank you profusely.

We’re thrilled, excited, in shock and even more humbled by this whole experience. You all made our wildest garden dreams come true!

To celebrate and keep in theme with the citrus sunset stories, we made some refreshing meyer lemonade. The floral qualities of meyer lemons brighten up the classic lemonade with a floral twist. With an added sprig of fresh rosemary, this wonderful meyer lemonade becomes extra special, delicate and fragrant for such a joyous occasion. Make sure you slice up the meyer lemon rinds and infuse in the lemonade. The flavor will pop, and make this a drinkable meyer lemon candy.

Thank you to every single one of you!

Much love and gratitude,

-Todd and Diane

You can read one of the stories here, at Sunset.com. For the 2nd story, you’ll just have to buy the February 2011 issue. But also included are our some of our favorite citrus recipes!

our meyer lemons are finally ripe!

a touch of rosemary, one sprig is plenty, makes this lemonade outstanding

Enjoy More Meyer Lemon Recipes:

 Print This Recipe

Meyer Lemonade with Rosemary Recipe
Don’t go overboard with the rosemary, because it can quickly overpower the lemonade.  It should give just the subtlest hint of rosemary to compliment the Meyer lemons. Throw in a few of the squeezed Meyer lemon rinds into lemonade to give it an extra brightness of flavor. Citrus have incredible flavor in the oils of their rinds and after squeezing, those oils have been pushed to the surface, just waiting to be used. We make our lemonades with simple syrup, a great staple to always have in the fridge, but you can always just use sugar or agave nectar to taste. Makes  5 1/2 c.

1/2 c (120ml) fresh Meyer Lemon Juice
1 c (240ml) Simple Syrup *recipe follows
4 c (960ml) Water
a couple sprigs of fresh Rosemary

1. Combine all ingredients in a pitcher, adding in a few freshly squeezed rinds of the Meyer lemons.  Stir to combine and serve over ice.

Simple Syrup Recipe
This is our basic simple syrup recipe. We’ll often make variations by substituting palm sugar or agave nectar for some of the light corn syrup or by infusing ginger or mint into the syrup when boiling. They are great for making your own sodas with a soda water. Simple syrup keeps very well, usually for months if your storage jar is sterile before filling. Makes about 3 cups.

2 c (480ml) Water
@ 1 1/2 c (285g) Sugar
1/2 c (170g) light Corn Syrup

1.  Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan.  Stir and bring to a simmer.  Simmer for 15-20 seconds then take off the heat.  Allow to cool then store in a sterile jar in the refrigerator.

View the original article here