Going out to eat is always an adventure for us. Whenever we enjoy a particularly good drink or dish, we try to figure out all of the ingredients (if the chef won’t give me the recipe) so that we can go home and recreate it.

A while back, we ate at a Peruvian restaurant, and I had a delicious drink, made in -house called Herbal Lemonade. I was able to pick out most of the ingredients used, but as I left, I had to know what else I was missing; I needed to recreate that recipe at home for my friends! Happily, the chef listed the ingredients for me. Not the quantities – I was on my own with that one, but I went home and made it and was happy with the results.

It is refreshing, different and delightful to drink on a hot, summer afternoon. If you try it, let me know. I’d love to know what you think!

Herbal Lemonade:

1 Whole Lemon
1 Whole Lime
½ cup fresh Basil
½ cup fresh Mint
½ cup fresh Rosemary
3 cups water.
1 cup Sugar
1 Gallon Water

Quarter the lemon and lime and put in a blender. Add basil, mint and rosemary leaves and 3 cups of water. Blend all until thoroughly macerated. This is your concentrate. Mixture will be thick and you may have to add a bit more water to make it pourable. Pour concentrate through a very fine sieve or cheesecloth and discard pulp.

To the liquid, add 1 cup of sugar and 1 gallon of water, stir well and refrigerate.

Serve chilled.

That’s the news from the homestead, see you next week!