There sure are a whole lot of rhubarb recipes out there lately. I have to admit, I’ve never worked with rhubarb before. I guess I’ve never had the desire to make a whole pan of rhubarb crisp or crumble, simply because my little 5′, 96-lb frame cannot finish a 8×8″ pan of rhubarb crumble myself.

…So this is what I made with rhubarb for the first time ever:

I first encounter with rhubarb was the rhubarb strawberry crisp I had from Good Earth a few years back. That was the day when I decided that I liked rhubarb desserts. The sweetness of the strawberries balanced out the tartness of the rhubarb. The warm crumbles on top contrasted with the cold vanilla ice cream on the side – it was heavenly.

My coworker Shannon has a rhubarb plant in her backyard, and every year during rhubarb season, she would bring a bagful of rhubarb stalks to work for those that are interested to take home. She would set them on the tables in our break room, and within hours, they were all claimed and gone. It’s almost like she’s our department’s sole provider of rhubarb in the summer. Thanks Shannon! :)

Since this summer is all about trying new things, I decided to ask Shannon to bring some extra rhubarb stalks in for me. I got the inspiration for this recipe from Carpe Season’s sparkling rhubarb lemonade – incorporating rhubarb into a summery drink sounded like such a good idea! That way I won’t have to worry about finishing off a whole dessert myself within a few days (not that I haven’t done that before….).

Instead of mixing the rhubarb syrup with the Sprite and adding in the ice cubes, I decided to freeze the rhubarb syrup into ice cubes! If you freeze the syrup into ice cubes and add them to your Sprite, it not only still retains the lemony-rhubarb-fizzy goodness, it also prevents your beverage from being watered down. And any beverage that doesn’t get watered down over time is a win in my book.

This drink sure hits the spot on a hot summer day! I had to quick shoot these photos before a showing on our house, placed them in the fridge and took Bentley to the dog park. After we came back from the hot summer sun, I downed both glasses within an hour… oops.

Too bad Bentley couldn’t have any – he looked like he could’ve used something nice and cold and refreshing after playing in the sun for an hour…

Enjoy!

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When you read this title, I bet you went, “that doesn’t sound like it’ll be good”.. but trust me, it is. I thought the exact same thing when I first saw this recipe, but since my vacation is almost over and I set out on a mission in the beginning of the summer to make as many summery drinks as possible, I decided to give it a whirl.

I’ve been looking for the perfect slushie that involves honeydew for a while. Don’t ask me why, honeydew to me just sounds like it’ll be great in a slushie. Let me just say that it sure didn’t disappoint, because this recipe produced a pretty tasty, refreshing drink!

You know those slushies at gas stations? They’re good, aren’t they? Well, this almost has the same consistency as those, just with a lot less sugar, no artificial flavors, no high fructose corn syrup, it has fruit in it, and everything that goes in it is simple and with an easy-to-pronounce name. The fact that there’s fruit in it automatically makes it healthy! (at least that’s what I’m telling myself)

Another reason why I’ll be making this again next summer is because you can make the syrup/tea/ginger ice cubes ahead of time and put them in the freezer.

Have some extra cubed honeydew? Freeze those too! Next time you want a slushie, throw those in a blender with some gingerale, a splash of lemon juice, and a few chopped mint leaves and… wa-la!

Instant slushie. It’s that simple.

This recipe makes about 4 servings, so I divided the honeydew into four separate little baggies and used 1/4 of the tea/syrup ice cubes. That way I still have 3 servings left of this delicious drink for another day. Maybe I’ll have another one later….

Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Food Network Magazine

FIrst of all, can I just say I can’t believe it’s July already?! That means half the year is over. It also means that summer is halfway over. It also means by the time we know it, winter is going to be here (boo!), there’s going to be snow on the ground (lame), and it’s going to be cold for another 7 months (ugh). BUT, it also means that the Minnesota State Fair is next month!

Okay, now back to my post….

You know how McDonald’s has their sweet tea for $1? The ones that come in the gigantic styrofoam cup that are loaded with probably a pound of sugar that’s super tasty?

Well, I loooove sweet tea. I love iced tea in general, but there’s something about sweet tea that has a special place in my heart. Back in our college days, my best friend Nicky and I used to stop by McDonald’s just to get their sweet tea. And when we used to work together, she’d always stop by Micky D’s to surprise me with their sweet tea before coming into work – talk about a thoughtful friend! :)

For the past several summers, I’ve been making my homemade sweet tea infused with a little hint of cinnamon that Nicky absolutely loves. This time, I decided it’s time to change it up a bit and went with a refreshing mint (with a subtle hint of blackberries) instead.

If you’re not a fan of the caffeine that comes with tea, feel free to use decaffeinated tea bags instead. That was originally my plan until I realized I still had a bunch of regular black tea bags leftover from last summer.

I like using the cold brew method for my iced tea. If you want, you can brew the tea the traditional hot brew method – just bring the 8 cups of water to a boil, add the tea bags, and let steep for about 5 minutes. Remove the tea bags, let cool, and then transfer to a large pitcher.

The blackberry flavor in this is very subtle and it actually pairs quite well with the minty taste if leaves in your mouth afterwards.

I didn’t add as much sugar to this recipe as I normally would either – it’s still sweet, but not sweet to the point to where you feel like you’re just drinking sugar water.

I’m calling it the “skinnier” version, just to make myself feel better about it. It has less sugar, it has healthy antioxidants from the tea, and it has fruit – that makes it a healthy summer drink, right?

Enjoy!