Mmm, A Great Summer Drink

Looking for something to quench your thirst? How about some lavender lemon aid? Mmm, doesn't it sound yummy?!?

Fresh lavender imparts a subtle flavor to the lemonade. If you are using dried culinary lavender, cut the amount in half since its stronger taste can quickly become overpowering. At Sunshine Lavender Farm, Annie Baggett makes lemonade by putting dried lavender in a tea ball and letting it steep in hot water until the desired flavor is reached.

Lavender Lemonade

Makes a generous quart

Ingredients:

3-1/2 cups water
1 cup sugar
5 fresh lavender flower heads, or 1-1/2 teaspoons dried culinary lavender (see note)
2/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice, strained
4 springs fresh lavender, for garnish

1. Combine 1 cup of water with the sugar in a medium saucepan over a hot flame and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Add the remaining 2-1/2 cups water and the fresh or dried lavender and bring the mixture to a gentle simmer. (If using dried lavender, put it in a tea ball.) Remove from the heat and let the mixture steep for 20 minutes, or until it has a light lavender taste.

2. Strain the mixture into a pitcher or jar, and stir in the lemon juice. Refrigerate until it is cold.

3. To serve, pour the lemonade over a glass of ice and garnish with a sprig of fresh lavender.

Beer Pong

Lord, they really have thought of everything these days. Haven't you always wanted to play beer pong while you were in the pool? Well, start blowing up your floaty mat because you can now play beer pong in the pool. Drinking and water......that sounds safe.

Infused Vodka: The Final Chapter

Not too long ago, I wrote a post about infusing vodka. Well, here's an update on how my experiment turned out. If you remember from last time, the flavors I made (also, above from left to right) were: rose, mint, pineapple, ginger and ginger pineapple (and not on the shelf, orange blossom). After letting all of the jars infuse for 13 days, drum roll please, the hits were: rose, pineapple, ginger and ginger pineapple. The misses were: mint and orange blossom.

If you recall my last post, there wasn't much science to my infusing. I just gathered my ingredients by what sounded good to me, rinsed everything off, threw them into the jars and covered them with vodka. I shook each jar for a few seconds each day, during the 13 days.

Today, I poured the liquids through doubled up coffee filters....your lucky I had those or I would have been filtering with cat fur. I need a kitchen before I purchase "necessary" kitchen tools, like strainers. And gave each of em a small taste. Phew! That first taste reminded me why I drink beer.....and how glad I am that college is over. Flashbacks. Haha. Me gagging = not a pretty picture. I will continue to stay away from taking shots....

I think the "hits" worked well because they have strong flavors and there are no "undernotes" of plant/earth (chlorophyll). The ones I like, all have sweet taste to them. But much to my disappointment, they don't taste sweet like the drink I had at Thanh Long....I can only imagine how much simple syrup they add to cover up the vodka taste. I think the ginger, pineapple and ginger pineapple will be great mixed with some juice and sparking water. The biggest surprise, is the rose flavored one. It is surprisingly sweet and has a beautiful red color.

All in all, I think it was worth it, but I am going to be sticking to my day job......guess my million dollar idea will have to be something else :)

A weekend in SF (4/10/10)

Well, here goes nothing. Here's my first vodka infusion experiment. From left to right, we have: rose, mint, pineapple, ginger, orange blossom and pineapple ginger. Now the tough part, waiting. I'm already curious!! Keep your fingers crossed.

To be continued.....

Infused Vodka

After a delicious dinner at Thanh Long, in San Francisco, I have decided to try my hand at infusing vodka. Luckily, this is an easy task....something even I might be able to see through to completion. Here are some tips to make infused vodka. I'll let you know how mine turns out (I've already got a long list of flavors to try). Mmm! Wish me luck!

Base Vodka: Choosing a suitable vodka base is key to effective flavor infusion. The more times vodka is distilled, the cleaner and purer it becomes. So try choosing vodkas that are distilled more than three times.

Ingredients:

• If infusing fruit, use 1-3 depending on their size. Aim for about two large apples' worth; one is usually enough for larger fruits (i.e. grapefruit), but you'll need 3-4 for smaller fruits (apricots, plums, etc.)
• If infusing fresh herbs, use 1-2 fists filled with the herb, depending on its potency. Use about half as much of dried herbs or spices.
• If infusing berries, use 2-4 fists filled with the berries.
• If infusing peppers, use as many as you want. The more you use and the longer you infuse, the spicier the end product will be.
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Preparing your ingredients: Berry-like fruit, such as blueberries, raspberries and blackberries, should be left whole. Fibrous fruits like pineapple or mango should be chopped into small chunks and strawberries or citrus fruit, cut into thin slices. Thin-skinned juice oranges or Meyer lemons work best, as excess pitch quickly creates a bitter taste. Vanilla beans should be cut length-ways and herbs left on their stems. Chili peppers can be left whole, or cut i half if you want to increase the rate of infusion.

Directions: Place all of your ingredients together in a clean, airtight container (glass works best). Fill the container with vodka, seal it, and put it some place safe and away from direct sunlight.

Infusion time: It can take under a week for citrus fruits or strongly flavored ingredients to infuse. Softly flavored or fibrous ingredients such as strawberries, pineapple or fresh ginger, can take between one and two weeks.

Approx. 3 - 4 days: Vanilla beans, lemons, oranges, grapefruit, limes, mint, garlic, tarragon, basil, oregano, dill & thyme

Approx. 1 week: Cantaloupes, strawberries, peaches, mangoes, pitted cherries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries

Up to 2 weeks: Whole chili peppers, pineapple, fresh ginger and lemon-grass

If you want to speed up the flavor infusion process, or deepen the flavor, sprinkle a layer of sugar over the top of fruit. Occasionally stir the mixture to dissolve any settled granules.