Roasted Strawberry Lemonade on In Honor of Design

Apologies for being MIA last week. I'm not promising it won't happen again this week. The last two weeks have been filled with travel, a bad experience with a tree service company, a dog with a cast and a cone, AND a toddler with a double ear infection. I'm extremely grateful for all of it and grateful to all of you for sticking around. I might be back with a brand new redesign to boot! 

I did share the awesome Roasted Strawberry Lemonade on In Honor of Design last week. I'm kind of obsessed with it and have made several pitchers since I first perfected it. Get the recipe here. 

Chocolate Stout Blondies for Shop Sweet Lulu

I'm over on the Shop Sweet Lulu blog sharing these Chocolate Stout Baked Donuts with Chocolate glaze. Perfect for your Saint Patty's day or the day after or even any day. 

Rhubarb Strawberry Margarita

How come there aren't more jam cocktails? Mixing jam and booze is possibly the best more underrated idea ever. May I present you the easiest spring margarita of all time - the Rhubarb Strawberry Margarita.  

The cool thing about this recipe is you could switch out almost any jam for the Quick Rhubarb Strawberry Jam and have a killer cocktail. Just strawberry jam? Strawberry Margarita! Peach jelly? Peach Margarita!

Rhubarb Strawberry Margarita 

yield 4 cocktails 

salt

crushed ice

1 cup Quick Rhubarb Strawberry Jam 

1/2 cup fresh lime juice

1/3 cup cointreau

1 cup tequila

Rim 4 rocks glasses with either an extra strawberry or lime wedge and dip in a bit of salt. Fill the glasses with crushed ice and set aside. 

Stir together the jam, lime juice, cointreau, and tequila in a large pitcher breaking up the jam as much as possible. Add the ice, stir and pour into prepared glasses. 

Quick Rhubarb Strawberry Jam

I'm not very patient. And I tend to be wildly impulsive. Both of these traits come into full swing when I hit the grocery store. I didn't have a plan for rhubarb when I saw it in the produce section, but I grabbed some without thinking. 

And that rhubarb just kind of poked around in the fridge for a while. I mean literally poked, because the stalks were too long for the crisper drawer so they lived on a shelf - poking us every time we went for the half and half. 

The only memory I have of eating rhubarb before my culinary life was on my uncle's maple farm in Vermont. When we'd visit we'd eat raspberries straight from the bush or we'd get a stalk of rhubarb and a little cup of sugar for dipping it into. I'd sit with my cousin's and gnaw on that tart, astringent stalk of rhubarb on a summer evening. 

This jam came out of an over flow of both strawberries and lemon from another recipe I'm testing right now. And its literally one of those thrown together posts - I didn't even let the jam set properly before photographing it. 

Come back on Wednesday and I'll show you how to turn this into a tart sweet cocktail that you'll want to drink all spring long. Because that's what I do. 

Quick Rhubarb Strawberry Jam
yield 1 pint jam 

1 1/2 cups fresh rhubarb cut into ½-inch pieces (2 long stalks) 
1 cup fresh strawberries, hulled and chopped
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Combine the rhubarb, strawberries,sugar, and water in a medium-sized pot set over medium heat. Cook, stirring often, until reduced by approximately half (check this by dipping a wooden spoon into the mixture and using the jam's 'stain' as a guide). Stir in lemon juice. Bring to a simmer and cook until a the mixture has thicken and a small dab sets immediately in the freezer (put a few plates in there before you start). Store in an air tight container in the fridge or freezer. 

Thirsty Thursday | Bourbon Manhattan

I'm having one of those weeks incredibly 'off' weeks. 

It all started this past Saturday when while waiting for a friend at lunch - Ella spilled an entire cup of coffee on my pants and the floor. I was soaked through - front to back - in a teal pair of pants. It wasn't cute. After lunch we went to the park where Ella proceeded to give herself a bloody fat lip in a classic 'I saw that coming' fall. Sunday I went to the grocery store and ended up with a buggy full of groceries and not the one thing I went in for. I backed over Ella's tricycle on Monday morning. Tuesday started off with a leaky cup of milk that resulted in a change of sheets, a spot cleaning of the couch cushion and a collective second shower/bath for Ella and I. I'm sort of afraid of the rest of this week. 

Long story short - I need a cocktail. 

I had my first sip of a classic Manhattan last Friday night (before this week turned on me); and in an attempt to turn this week around I'm working on my own Freaky Friday switch back by learning to make this drink at home.  A classic Manhattan is made with whiskey or rye whiskey but I prefer bourbon (plus we always have a bottle of bourbon in our bar). Traditionally this classic cocktail is served 'neat' but feel free to serve it on the rocks if you prefer.

Bourbon Manhattan 

makes 1 cocktail

ice 

2 ounces Bourbon 

1 ounce sweet vermouth 

1-2 drops orange bitters 

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add the whiskey, vermouth and bitters and stir to combine. Strain the drink into a chilled glass. Add one or two maraschino cherries and enjoy!

So clearly Thirsty Thursday needs a new title as I'm now posting Monday, Wednesday, & Friday instead of Tuesday & Thursday - look for this column to change names (but remain awesome) later this month!