I’m back in the kitchen! Yay! Today I have a fun seasonal recipe for you – rhubarb simple syrup!

Whether or not you like rhubarb you’ll like this syrup. With all the sugar involved it is anything but tart, and it adds a nice, subtle flavor twist to lemonades, punches, cocktails and more. You could even just drizzle a bit over ice cream or plain yogurt!

I will have a recipe on Babble soon for Raspberry Rhubarb Sangria (including a alcohol-free version) that I will for sure share a link to when it goes live, and next week I just might have a Strawberry Rhubarb Lemonade recipe for you, too. (Okay, I do, but you have to wait!)

Rhubarb Simple Syrup

 

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Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

25 mins

Total time

30 mins

 

Perfect for flavoring drinks of all kinds!

Author: Jane Maynard

Serves: ~9 ounces

Ingredients

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup chopped fresh rhubarb, ½" pieces (about 2 stalks)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (optional)

Instructions

1. Combine sugar, water and rhubarb in a medium pot. Bring to a boil over high heat.
2. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer mixture for 25 minutes.
3. Strain mixture though a fine mesh sieve.
4. Store in the refrigerator. Makes a little more than 1 cup of syrup.

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Okay, I know it’s Spring and everyone is thinking about carrot cake and lemonade. But my friend Nikki CB shared the coolest tip for easy hot chocolate with me and now I need to share it with you, too. RIGHT NOW. So, today we’re having hot chocolate. Hopefully you’re experiencing unseasonably cold weather wherever you are so you can enjoy this recipe pronto!

Get ready for the yummiest easy hot chocolate you’ll ever have. No finely chopping chocolate with a knife necessary!

Nikki was saying how you can visit Lindt chocolate stores or something and they make hot chocolate simply by dropping Lindt truffles right into hot milk. That’s it. As soon as she said it I realized how genius it is. After all, that is some darn good chocolate. Also, think about how those truffles just melt in your mouth. If they melt in your mouth, you better believe they’ll melt in hot milk.

I finally tried the trick and it worked like a charm. The other fun part of Lindt hot chocolate is that you can easily make different flavors of hot chocolate. White hot chocolate, caramel hot chocolate, dark hot chocolate, extra dark hot chocolate, milk hot chocolate. Whatever your favorite truffle flavor is, now it can be your favorite hot chocolate flavor.

Thank you, Nikki. And you’re welcome, everyone else.

(>> Find out more…)

Everyone seems pretty excited about the Cranberry Slush on my menu, so I think I better get the recipe out there!  Plus, it’s one of the items you can make way ahead of time, so it’s perfect for this week’s planning.  In fact, you need to make it at least 1-2 days ahead so it has time to freeze.

It’s my Great-Grandma Blomquist’s recipe.  Everyone in my family, from coast to coast, serves it on Thanksgiving.  Definitely a family tradition and one I’m excited to share!

Cranberry Slush (Original Recipe)

 

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This is a Blomquist family tradition (my mom’s family). Can’t have Thanksgiving without it! Make sure you make the frozen cranberry stuff a day or two ahead and have enough room in your freezer to freeze it. This is the original version, but I always use the Quick recipe (see below).

Author: Jane Maynard

Recipe type: Beverage

Serves: 24 servings

Ingredients

• 1 pound cranberries
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 cups water
• 2 quarts cranberry juice
• 2 quarts ginger ale

Instructions

1. Cook cranberries, sugar and water until thickens. Run through a collander. Add 1 quart cranberry juice. Freeze.
2. When ready to serve, mash up frozen cranberry mixture with 1 quart cranberry juice and 2 quarts ginger ale.

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Cranberry Slush (Quick Recipe)

 

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[i]This is a Blomquist family tradition (my mom’s family). Can’t have Thanksgiving without it! Make sure you make the frozen cranberry stuff a day or two ahead and have enough room in your freezer to freeze it. This is the Quick recipe that I always use.

Author: Jane Maynard

Recipe type: Beverage

Serves: 24 servings

Ingredients

• 4 cans whole cranberry sauce
• 3 quarts cranberry juice
• 2 quarts ginger ale

Instructions

1. Run whole cranberry sauce through a colander (pictured here) or press through a fine sieve with a large spoon (pictured here) over a large bowl. Keep pressing until you just have skins left in the colander/sieve.
2. Add 2 quarts of the cranberry juice, mix well, then freeze until hardened. You need to make this part at least 1 day ahead of time. I freeze the juice in a flat storage containers so it’s easy to break up later.
3. When ready to serve, mash up frozen cranberry mixture with 1 quart cranberry sauce and 2 quarts ginger ale.

Notes

For those of you who like to make it "interesting"...feel free to spike your slush. I have a few friends who evolved dear old grandmother's recipe with a little vodka and were quite pleased with the results. Grandma's rollin' in her grave!

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