Rosemary Lemonade

We've all heard of raspberry lemonade, maybe strawberry lemonade, but Rosemary lemonade?  Yep, that's right!  Rosemary and lemon work great together to flavor poultry and pork dishes.  With that thought in mind, the idea doesn't seem so far fetched.  Rosemary is one of the first plants that I suggest to have in your garden.  It's an evergreen that provides fresh herbs year round.  Once established, you'll be cutting pounds of fresh rosemary every year.

Don't be scared by my track record with this plant! I tried growing it in the mountains. I later figured out, after a couple of failed attempts, that the winter is just too cold for it.  The bush that I have in the backyard has been great.  A few years ago, somebody gave me a Christmas tree shaped rosemary bush.  After Christmas and New Years had passed, I dug a hole outside my sister's condo and set the little guy out into the January cold.  I wasn't so sure that it would survive.  After all, i was planting it in January! When spring rolled around, the little rosemary Christmas tree wasn't only surviving, but thriving. When my wife and I moved into our house, one of the first orders of business for the backyard was to transplant the young rosemary.  It became the inaugural member and anchor of my little herb garden.  I've cut it year round since then, for roasted potatoes, lamb dishes, chicken pot pie and now lemonade!

This is a recipe that you can put as much or little effort into and it will still turn out delicious.  I kept it very simple the other day by buying Simply Lemonade.  I only had to  add the rosemary to it.  You may have a homemade lemonade recipe that will work great as well.

2 quarts lemonade

4 sprigs of rosemary

1. Bruise the rosemary sprigs. This allows them to infuse the lemonade much better. I like to use a mortar from our mortar and pestle set. 
2. After bruising the rosemary sprigs, place them into the lemonade. 
3. Allow to infuse for at least 4 hours in the refrigerator.  
4. Serve over ice.  Use a rosemary sprig and lemon wedge as a garnish if you would like.