Luise and Elsa are visiting friends and family in Denmark, so I’m all alone this week. Being without my girls of course makes me feel unbelievably lonely, but I’ve decided to use this time to catch up on two of my favorite hobbies:
Nr 1. Spending time in the kitchen.
Nr 2. Sleeping.
All you parents out there know that infants = less sleep and more shortcuts in the kitchen. So this week is all about spending more time cooking for myself and sleeping through a whole night.
I actually like to cook for myself. I seem to expand my boundaries and try new flavors and recipes, probably since I am the only one who has to eat it if it ends up not tasting good.
This Rhubarb & Strawberry Lemonade is one example of me trying something new. It’s actually my first attempt ever on making lemonade (if you don’t count when I assisted my mum in making Elderflower Lemonade, 20 years ago).
I believed that making lemonade was complicated. But it’s really not. You boil fruit and spices with water and some kind of sweetener, strain it through a sieve and serve with lots of ice. The result is a thousand times better than the supermarket version. Plus your kitchen will smell divine from the fruit and spices.
This lemonade is flavored with lime, mint leaves, ginger and vanilla, which gives it a sweet (but not too sweet) and very refreshing taste. All together it was great experience making this lemonade. The only boring part is drinking it alone …
Rhubarb & Strawberry Lemonade
Makes around 8 cups of Lemonade
I have used the natural sweetener Birch Tree Xylitol instead of sugar. It is roughly as sweet as normal sugar but with only two-thirds the food energy. If you can’t find xylitol you can replace it with raw cane sugar or grated palm sugar (or of course normal sugar).
4 cups (1 lb) rhubarbs, chopped into 3/4-inch pieces
2 cups (12 oz) strawberries, divided in half
3 inch ginger, peeled and chopped into 1 inch pieces
1 cup xylitol (add more if you prefer it sweeter)
1 vanilla pod, sliced open
4 cups water
juice from 2 lime (1/3 cup)
20 mint leaves
Decorate with: A handful of chopped fresh rhubarb, strawberries and a couple of slices of lime.
In a medium size saucepan, combine rhubarb, strawberries, ginger, xylitol, vanilla pod and water. Bring it to a boil and then lower the temperature. Add the lime juice and the mint leaves. Simmer for 20-25 minutes while stirring occasionally. Strain the lemonade through a sieve, removing the pulp. Let it cool in the refrigerator. If left in an air-tight container it can stay fresh for about a week. Serve in a large pitcher with lots of ice, fresh rhubarbs, strawberries and slices of lime.
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