Lavender Lemonade Cooler

My Lavender Lemonade Cooler was a runaway hit at my recent demonstration/talk/book signing for the Plain, WA garden club.  My good friend Lois invited me to speak with this dynamic group of garden enthusiasts and seeing the chance for one of my beloved road trips I jumped at the chance!  For a slide show of my quick 3 day adventure go here (I LOVE my new camera!!!)

I was speaking on the topic of Canning & Preserving Your Own Harvest, my new book just out from Sasquatch Books.  Imagine my fizz of excitement – and nerves – when I met Jean, an octogenarian homesteader who’d come to hear ME(?) talk about preserving!  Here was a true expert who had lived the life and practiced these almost lost kitchen arts for years and years.  It was such a privilege and honor to talk with her… and discover that her recipe for home-fermented sauerkraut (which she knew from memory) and mine (which I had to look up on page 100 in my book) were nearly identical.

Jean is from that generation that Carla Emery gleaned so much as she was compiling her Encyclopedia of Country Living.  A living recipe as it were; I can only imagine what else I could learn from Jean.

For my very informal program we gathered in Lois’ kitchen and I presented a selection of quick preserves which can be put together in 1 hour or less and we sampled:

• Plum Jelly on sharp cheese and crackers
• iced Fresh mint tea with orange and clove
• Vanilla pear infused wine vinegar
• Lavender Lemonade Cooler

What fun!  All the recipes are from the book, but as I said, the Lavender Lemonade was the hit.

Lavender Lemonade Cooler

You can substitute thyme, mint, pineapple sage, or rosemary syrup for the lavender syrup.  Mix things up at your next summer cocktail party by offering a variety of herbal syrups together with the rest of the makings for this refreshing cooler.

Season: Mid- to late summer

Yield: variable

Store: Serve immediately

• Lavender syrup (see below)
• Freshly squeezed lemon juice
• Vodka
• Sparkling wine, chilled
• Fresh blueberries & raspberries
• Sliced lemons
• 1 stem fresh lavender

Combine the lavender syrup with the lemon juice for a sweet/tart base.  Fill tall glasses with ice; add 1 shot vodka to each glass.  Add the lavender-lemon syrup to three-quarters full.  Garnish with berries, a lemon slice, and a lavender spring and top up with sparkling wine.

Variation: For an alcohol-free version, combine herbal syrup, lemon juice, and sparkling water to taste; add garnish.

BTW: we employed the alcohol-free variation for my demonstration as it was 10 in the morning!

Herb Syrup

Preserve the fresh flavor of herbs in sweet sugar syrup that you can use to sweeten iced or hot tea, mix with sparkling water for an all natural herbal soda, or add to lemonade or other juices to create refreshing summer coolers and cocktails.

Season: Summer through fall

Yield: About 1 1/2 cups

Store: Refrigerator (3 months)

• 3 cups water
• 1 cup fresh herbs
• 2 cups sugar

Bring the water to a boil in a saucepan over medium heat.  Remove from heat and add the herbs; cover and steep for several hours to make a strong infusion.  Strain the liquid into a nonreactive pan, add the sugar, and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar completely.  Boil without stirring to thicken, about 10-12 minutes.  Remove from heat, cool, and bottle.  The syrup keeps well in the refrigerator.

from: Canning & Preserving Your Own Harvest by Carla Emery & Lorene Edwards Forkner, Sasquatch Books

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