From the Garden: Sparkling Rosemary Lemonade

Hi friends!

Today I’m sharing something a bit different from my usual furniture makeover post. In addition to restyling furniture, I am passionate about my garden. So, from time to time, I will be sharing garden related posts with you. I recently made the most delicious sparkling lemonade with fresh rosemary. It is really simple, refreshing, not too sweet, and the perfect warm weather drink. I just had to share.

My daughter Sadie loves rosemary. When in bloom, it stops her in her tracks wherever we are. She loves to smell, taste, and feel it. And really, there is something so compelling about rubbing it between your fingers and releasing that lovely herbal smell. Last summer I added some rosemary to my garden just for her. I planted it in the planter box that I built for my deck. You can see that post here. It is doing amazingly well and now I have an abundance of fresh rosemary at my back door.

Last weekend while out to dinner at one of our favorite pizza joints, Sadie ordered a rosemary lemonade. Well, that got me thinking of a way to use some of my rosemary. I came up with this simple recipe that everyone in my family, including me, loves. My kids think I’m some sort of genius in the kitchen now! I’m totally not.

Here’s the recipe:

Sparkling Rosemary Lemonade

1 ounce fresh lemon juice (about 1/2 lemon)

1 1/2 to 2 ounces rosemary simple syrup (directions below), depending on desired sweetness

4 ounces sparkling water

Combine ingredients and serve over ice. Garnish with fresh lemon and rosemary, if desired.

Rosemary Simple Syrup

Combine 1 cup sugar and 1 cup water in saucepan. Add 4 sprigs of fresh rosemary. Heat and stir over medium low heat until sugar is dissolved and liquid just begins to boil. Remove from heat. Cover and steep for about 30 minutes. Strain syrup and store in the refrigerator.

By the way, this is the farm table I recently built for my garden. You can read all about that here. I really love how it turned out and think it’s the perfect place to relax and enjoy a drink.

This lemonade would also be great with lavender. Lavender is another of my garden favorites, and makes a delicious simple syrup. I think I’ll be giving that a try later this summer when my lavender blooms. For the adults, a little vodka might be nice, too.