Can you believe it is already June? I am having a hard time believing that it is basically summer. In DC you get some days that are breathtaking, the sun is crisp and the there is a nice breeze (today was one of those days) that makes you love summer and want it to go on and on. Those days are fleeting, and at some point the weather turns and it turns into a hot sticky mess! I wish I were kidding but if you ask anyone who lives in DC, visits DC in the summer, or has lived anywhere that is known as marsh land, they will tell you that the summer is no fun. Thank goodness we live less than 100 ft from a pool.
The good news with the approach of summer is the wonderful goodies coming from our CSA. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the hubby and I get a basket every week from From the Farmer. So far the baskets have not disappointed. We have been getting lots of Kale, which in my experience is one of those items they tend to give you lots of throughout the course of the season, what is it about kale? I actually don’t mind because I love most green things. Honestly, I could eat most vegetables without complaint and you don’t even have to smother them in cheese. I make a mean kale with some bacon and onion, it is so good even the hubby eats it and he usually looks at green leafy things with suspect. I’ll have to feature Kale soon since we got another bundle today (why did I ever give away that rabbit???).
We got strawberries in the basket this week and last week which was awesome! They come in these cute little crates (see above) and they are like the cutest little berries. I think I am more in awe of their cuteness than anything else. I was glad we got them back to back because it gave me time to think of something good to use them for, I mean I was just eating them as is but for the purposes of blogging I feel you don’t want to see pictures of me stuffing strawberries and kale in my mouth…or do you?
Actually, when we were kids we had this epic backyard garden. I am sure you recall me mentioning this at some point. Well the one thing about this garden that I am not sure we ever figured out was the bed of strawberries. Without fail, there would be a strawberry patch in one of the beds. I don’t think anyone even planted them, certainly no one in my family. It was like some strange gift that would appear every spring and summer, wild strawberries growing like crazy in our urban little garden. We also had mint that appeared every spring and grew like crazy. Honestly, I think growing up with these gifts made me assume that gardening was easy…I am finding that is not always the case. What do you mean seed + dirt + water + sun does not always equal bounty??? I am really trying to figure out why my green bean plant is growing like bananas but my basil is just putzing around, like are they not sharing the sun equally or something?
Stay tuned for my garden exploits, I am certain they will only get more frustrating and perplexing. Gah why nature?!?!?!
Anyhow, I came up with this summer treat to showcase my love for strawberries and drinks that are fizzy. I like fizz but I don’t actually drink a lot of pop (or soda depending on your location). If I do partake in a pop I will typically grab a ginger ale. It just so happens that I am convinced ginger ale is a health food, don’t burst my bubble! I know it’s not actually healthy but that doesn’t make me love it less. In this summer treat the ginger ale adds the fizz but doesn’t take away the strawberryness or lemonyness of the drink. Basically the ginger ale is like the water in a lemonade but with fizz.
I should note that we bought these cans and they are super cute and little. I think I bought them first because it is ginger ale but second because they are tiny and that makes everything way more cute. It should be no surprise that we went through these pretty quickly so we will have to probably not purchase the tiny cans of ginger ale in the future.
Strawberry Lemon Fizz
Serves 3-4
Ingredients:
1 Cup Diced Strawberries (the riper the better)
1/4 Cup Lemon Juice
1 Cup Simple Syrup (see recipe below)
Ginger Ale
Strawberries to Garnish
Instructions:
Place your diced strawberries in a bowl. Cover them with the warm simple syrup. Try to mash up the strawberries using a masher (I used my immersion blender). Cover the bowl and allow the syrup mixture to sit for 30 minutes or more. Strain the syrup to remove the big chunks of strawberry. In a glass with ice add your strawberry syrup about 1/4 cup. On top of the syrup add about 2 Tbsp. of your fresh squeezed lemon juice. Finish it off with your ginger ale. Garnish your glass with a small strawberry or paper umbrella (teehee).
Simple Syrup
1 Cup Cane Sugar
1 Cup Water
Add sugar and water to a small sauce pan. Heat until the sugar has completely dissolved. Proceed with the rest of the instructions above. Please note that not all sugars are the same. Each sugar has a different taste and sweetness so make sure that if you do decide to use another sugar you like how it blends with the other ingredients. I think cane sugar works great for this drink but feel free to experiment.
