A Time to Celebrate!

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May is such a great month, it always feels like a new beginning each year with flowers blooming and longer sunnier days. But this May is more special than ever. We bought a house here in Portland and we’ll be moving very soon! I’ve lived in apartments all my life so this is brand new territory for me, and I just love every moment of it. I’ve been busy painting tile and walls and learning what it means to have a yard - lawnmower? what’s that? Best thing is that we’ll have a garden! You might remember last year when I tried to grow strawberries on our San Francisco patio, and grew, um, one berry, so I was pleased to see a small strawberry patch in the back yard! I’ll post photos in the coming weeks as the garden progresses. And the kitchen, although old, is bright with windows and plenty of daylight, I’m so happy about this, I’ve been wanting to do more in-kitchen photography and it’s looking more likely.

And now onto cocktails. I picked up this rhubarb a couple weeks ago at the farmer’s market with the intention of making… something, and a cocktail to celebrate seemed about right. I love the rhubarb-basil combination, this would work great if you have a basil infused vodka on hand.

I wished the rhubarb syrup had a bit stronger flavor of rhubarb, so you may want to bump up the amount of rhubarb, I measured out 8 ounces but seems it could have used a bit more.

I’m looking forward to getting settled and maybe growing some rhubarb!

Rhubarb Basil Cocktail

  • 1 1/2 ounce Vodka
  • 3 ounces Rhubarb Syrup (below)
  • Sparkling water
  • Fresh Basil leaves
  • Rhubarb for garnish

Roughly chop a few basil leaves, add basil leaves and vodka to bottom of glass then muddle with a wooden spoon. Fill the glass with ice and add Rhubarb Syrup and top with sparkling water. Garnish with fresh basil and thin ribbons of rhubarb peel. (Makes one drink)

Rhubarb Syrup

  • 8 oz chopped rhubarb (1 large stalk)
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 vanilla bean

Combine all the ingredients in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer. Simmer uncovered for 10-12 minutes. Allow to cool then strain into storage bottle or jar. Keep refrigerated.