Rhubarb Lemonade Sweet Tart Cocktail

Hi there, Hope the weather is treating you well in your areas. It's Spring-y Summer-ish is here in Wisconsin! I say this because we had snow in May and now it's 85 F. As we say here, "Wait 10 minutes, it'll change". Alas, the sun is shining, it's warm, and I want a drink!

Rhubarb Lemonade

I had an excellent crop of rhubarb last year and I decided to make it into a syrup. This year it looks as though I might have a nice crop again. I also have Lemon balm that has exponentially bloomed since last year prompting new ideas, but let's carry on.

Lemon Balm Plant

Today I pulled out my jar I canned from last year and had a little fun. I posted that recipe Rhubarb Syrup in an earlier blog. This cocktail can be boozy or kid-friendly it's up to you. I am currently having the non-alcoholic version, wouldn't want to be stumbling around my kitchen with implements of torture so easily obtained. Seriously, kitchens are a dangerous place with gadgets, knives, guillotines, and sausage stuffers--Shhh--Don't get any ideas.

Ingredients

Here we go!

Remember, you can alter measurements to suit your tastes.

30 ml of simple syrup

40 ml rhubarb syrup

20 ml lemon juice

30 ml vodka

Soda water or a club soda to top it off

Pint-sized glass filled with ice

Lemon balm garnish

Get a tall glass and fill it with ice. Measure out the ingredients and add to glass. Adding alcohol for the boozy part, or club soda for the kiddie cocktail version. When finished adorn with a few leaves of lemon balm or mint. That's it! It's a fun and refreshing way to welcome in a new season of growing. And it looks pretty fancy too. 

Happy Spring

Drying Leeks

Hi there fellow readers. Today I had to pick up some foods I don't normally cook with for Korean Bibimbop. Bibimbop is Korean for "rice and mixed vegetables". It's a hodgepodge of rice, spinach, carrots, bean sprouts, cucumber, mushrooms, kimchi, lots of sesame oil and topped with an egg.

This is not what I am posting about today, though. Along with all these wonderful vegetables, I picked up some leeks. Leeks are part of the garlic and onion family, but they are much milder in taste. I have usually had them in potato soups or other potato dishes.

My dilemma came when I picked one out in the produce section. As I chose the one that I liked, two more came down attached. I looked at the price and they were set as "each" not "per pound". My recipe only calls for a half of a leek--what was I going to do with 3!

Thinking back to when I ate potato soup with leeks I recall the package to be dehydrated and you were supposed to add liquid and boil before eating. Aha! Dried leeks! Instead of letting these veggies go to waste I brought down my trusty dehydrator and got to work.

Wash and cut the root ends of the leek. Next, chop them into 1/4" slices and arrange on dehydrator trays. Try to spread them out so they aren't piling up on each other separating them up it helps to dry them more evenly and to let the hot air flow through and do its job.

I put the dehydrator on 135 degrees F for about 4 hours. They are done when they are crunchy and no longer rubbery or moist. Afterwards, I let them dry in open air to ensure there were no more pockets of moisture hiding out. Lastly, I tossed them in a clean, dry jar with a lid to store. Now I have dried leeks to add to sauces, soups, and a multitude of other dishes.