Ok – I know.. I guess I’ve been slacking on recipes. I’m coming back with this simple “Quarantini.” Our Meyer lemon tree, as per usual, produced hundreds and hundreds of lemons and we were a little late to getting them all picked this year! But luckily – only sacrificed a few to our lateness.
So.. I’m pulling weeds in the backyard for what feels like the 100th time this month or week at that. And the lovely honey bees are swarming all around the lemon and lime trees as the blooms smell like what I imagine heaven must smell like and they are going back and forth between the trees and the garden where the herbs and the beautiful lavender are growing!
This is just one of the several lavender plants growing in our garden currently! Isn’t it beautiful?
So – I had already picked all of our lemons and peeled and juiced ALMOST all of them. I had a giant pitcher of juice in the fridge waiting to be frozen (like the last 2 gallons) or trying to figure out what else to make!
Save the peels – I will share my “secret” BBQ rub (or all purpose) soon!
So for this Quarantini you will need approx 6-8 stems of lavender and about 2 cups of squeezed lemon juice, preferably Meyer lemon (it’s milder/sweeter). This recipe will make approx 4-5 martinis. You can cut in 1/2 if you don’t want that many!
Begin by making your simple syrup. Equal parts sugar to water. I used one cup of sugar and one cup of water. Bring it to a boil and stir until dissolved. Once the sugar is dissolved, remove from heat and stir in your lavender stems. Let cool.
Fill a cocktail shaker with ice (it is best super cold), strain your simple syrup into the shaker. Add a cup of fresh squeezed lemon juice and shake well. Dip martini glasses in lemon juice (or use a quarter lemon to coat the rim) and then coat in sugar. Pour in 2 oz of chilled vodka and then fill to the top with your lemonade mixture – stir gently. Top with a lavender stem and/or a thin slice of lemon for garnish. Enjoy!
Note: If you are like me and like them a little more tart – feel free to top with some extra lemon juice. And don’t worry – the meyer lemon isn’t too tart! 😉
Lavender Lemon Quarantini
Ingredients
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup water
- 6-8 stems lavender
- 1 cup meyer lemon juice (or more) fresh squeezed is best
- 1/8 cup sugar for garnish
- 4 oz chilled vodka
Instructions
- Make your simple syrup. Add one cup of sugar and one cup of water to a pot and bring to a boil. Stir until dissolved. Once sugar is dissolved, remove from heat and add lavender stems. Let cool.
- Add ice to shaker. Pour in one cup of meyer lemon juice and strain the symple syrup into the shaker. Shake until super cold.
- Rim martini glasses with sugar – use lemon juice and then dip in sugar around rim. Fill glasses with 2oz of chilled vodka. Pour lemonade mixture on top until glass is full. Stir gently.
- Add a lavender stem and/or thin lemon slice for garnish. If it too sweet for you – top with a little extra lemon juice. Enjoy!
Super Simple Pesto
I love Basil. I love pesto. I like it on so many things! And lucky for me, basil grows here in the desert like crazy! It survived our crazy hot summer and is thriving with just slightly lower temps! Not only is it surviving, but I have found at least 6 volunteer plants popping up. Volunteer – meaning – I didn’t plant them there and I don’t care! 🙂 As far as I’m concerned it can grow wherever it wants.
When you have an abundance of something like basil – you can use it in caprese, any kind of pasta, dry it and keep in jars or… make pesto!
It’s so easy to make. Let me warn you though.. if you don’t have a food processor – get one! You can do this in a blender if you chose, but you might not enjoy this process as much.
First things first – gather your basil and remove the stems and any flowers. Wash it and pat dry with paper towels. Drier the better!
In the large bowl, with your basic, large blade on your food processor – add 1 cup parmesan cheese (I used already shredded), about 1.5 cups of pine nuts, 3 garlic cloves and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice. I keep lemon juice in baggies in the freezer – we have a lemon tree so every year I juice a bunch, pour into ice cube trays and save some of the wonderful juice for later! You can just squeeze in a lemon though. 🙂 Pulse together on high until everything is mixed together well and chopped finely.
Add your basil to the top of this mixture. Place the lid back on. Turn the processor on high and drizzle olive oil through the small food chute until it reaches the desired consistency. You may have to stop and stir a couple of times. I think it used about a cup, maybe a little less of olive oil. I like mine a little creamy so sometimes at this point, I also add about 1/4 cup of plain, non-fat yogurt. You can always mix some together separately to try first. It should look something like this when finished.
Lastly, I like to throw in a few seasonings – a dash of cayenne pepper and depending on how salty your cheese was, I have some chardonnay smoked sea salt that is pretty good in this. That’s it! Enjoy on flatbread, use as a pasta sauce, bake chicken with pesto on top or.. add to your BLT! Here’s an added tip for a fantastic BLT – use thick cut bacon and cook it on the grill 😉
This is also a great gift – I’ve found so many people love pesto and it’s easy to put in mason jars and give away.
Super Simple Pesto
Ingredients
- 3-4 cups fresh basil
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 cup parmesan cheese
- 1.5 cups pine nuts
- 1/4-1/2 cup non-fat, plain yogurt
- 1 cup olive oil
- dash cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Collect your basil and remove from stems and remove any flowers, clean and dry thoroughly.
- In food processor (with large bowl and large blade) add your parmesan cheese, lemon juice, garlic and pine nuts until you have a fine consistency.
- Add Basil to mixture. With processor on high, slowly mix in olive oil until you reach desired consistency.
- If you like, add in yogurt and cayenne pepper. Enjoy!