Recalibrating

You know how I said in my last post that I'd been working a lot lately? Yeah, phew! Finally caught up with all the freelancing and have a little time to rest and recenter.

Tonight we have friends coming over to eat dinner and play board games - a little low-key fun. We're keeping things simple, with some marinated shrimp tacos and an orange-and-avocado salad. To add a little special touch, I decided to make a rhubarb elixir for cocktails and/or mocktails (or just to drink warm, as tea).

I've posted this rhubarb tea before; today I'm riffing on it with blood orange zest instead of lemon (because, to be honest, I started the pot then noticed that we were out of lemons), and with the addition of some dried rosehips, dried hibiscus, and lavender. For those who have missed the previous post, this is just 10-12 stalks of rhubarb, washed and sliced up, thrown in a pot with fresh rosemary and the aforementioned ingredients. I'll simmer until the rhubarb is absolutely falling apart (about 30-60 minutes), then will strain out all the solids, and sweeten the resulting elixir with good honey (the best you've got - I'm using some Scottish heather honey to layer in extra floral notes). If the flavor is weak, you can return it to the pan and slowly simmer it to reduce and concentrate it. The resulting brew is wonderful as a flavorful herbal tea, or added to sparkling water or sparkling wine for a fun drink (we'll pair it with a brut champagne-method rose tonight). And as the spruce and doug firs come into leaf, substitute young evergreen tips for the rosemary!

Try it sometime - it's a beautiful little bit of kitchen magic!