Rose and Raspberry Lemonade

It's time for pretty drinks over ice in mason jars, sunglasses and sunscreen, and sitting outside.

This is how excited we feel about summer.

This drink is summer in a glass. It's pretty. It's pink. It's delicious. It's easy to make. It's refreshing. If you don't have rose water, don't sweat it, just make the raspberry lemonade. Want to add something different? Add lemon zest. Or mint. Or basil. 

I made this with a mix of fresh lemons and Santa Cruz Organics Lemon Juice. I know, I know, making lemonade with concentrate just doesn't taste right. But when you ain't got enough time, this is the way to go, and it honestly doesn't taste like regular lemon concentrates do -- I can't taste the difference between regular lemons and the SC organics. 

Raspberry Rose Lemonade

5-7 lemons (alternatively, Santa Cruz Organic

 Lemon Juice about half a cup)

Simple Syrup to taste

1 cup frozen raspberries

1-2 tbsp Rose Water

Blend the lemon juice and raspberries together, and then strain them to get out the seeds. Put the mixture into a large mason jar, or pitcher. Add water to taste, basically making it as sour as you want, and mix. Then add simple syrup and rose water to taste. Mix well, and store in the fridge for up to 1 week. 

Friday Night Drinks: Cucumber Gin with Salt and Pepper

Friday nights should be about clearing off tables, putting away study material, closing Qbank (a test question bank thing second year medical students use for our impending board exams), and enjoying a drink. Having a drink is what I do Mon-Thursday...I like it, it tastes good, it makes the last few lectures I'm watching on double speed from the comfort of my home go down smoothly...it's nice.

But enjoying a drink, that's what I do on Fridays. The drink-making process is more than just the finished product: it's discovering something exciting, getting the ingredients, prepping it, finally adding the last accoutrements to make it pretty...and taking that first sip--it hales the end of another week and the beginning of the weekend. Forget the fact that I will study on Saturday and Sunday, forget the fact that I could be doing work now. Nope, with that drink in my hand and the dinner that'll follow, I'm taking care of myself...the typical, "me time" situation. That's right, I said it, me-time. Time for me, my drink, and the beautiful silence of my brain.

Anyways, try this drink, it'll make you look forward to spring days. The idea of cucumber juice might seem a little daunting, but trust me, it's not difficult or really time consuming.

Gin Cucumber Salt and Pepper Cocktails
Makes 4 drinks, from www.joythebaker.com

8 1oz shots of gin (1 cup)
6-8 1oz. shots of cucumber juice (0.75 - 1 cup)
4 1 oz. shots of lime juice (0.5 cups)
0.33 cups of simple syrup (equal parts sugar and water boiled together)
Sparkling water (to top off the drinks)
Sea Salt
Crushed black pepper

Cucumber juice -- I don't have a juicer, but if you have one, use it! I used my hand blender. Blend up one english cucumber, and then put the pulp into a strainer over a bowl, and let it drain out of about 10 minutes.

Then mix the juice in with the simple syrup, gin, and lime juice into a mason jar or shaker with a few cubes of ice, and shake it up to mix well. Pour it into glasses filled with ice, top with sparkling water, a cucumber slice, and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Enjoy!

Burnt Orange Rose Cocktails

Germany, 2013. On our way to Berlin

It's been a while. It's not that I haven't been inspired by food, it's that I haven't been inspired to write about food. But now...I am. In less than 6 months I'll be "on the wards." What that means is that instead of lecture, study, exam, repeat, I'll be see how what I learned translates into actual patient cases...and then lecture, study, exam, repeat. It's amazing the things I've managed to shove, and I mean shove, into my brain over the past 1.5 years. I remember sitting on the floor nearly in tears over my Netter anatomy book because I was so overwhelmed by all the muscles in the body, 2nd year seemed like a million years away, and the Board exam were the farthest thing on my mind. Now, I've passed Anatomy, over half way done with second year, and I'll be taking the Step 1 Board exam in May...so  I'm definitely thinking about that. 

Gluehwein at a Christmas Market in Berlin 

Famous Hamburg Gardens

It's amazing how life can just happen sometimes. I was talking to my friend Lauri yesterday after our latest exam--we were sitting in a coffee shop tying up the last few strings from our latest module before celebrating another exam being done--and I said my biggest worry was that I would lose myself in work. I love learning about medicine, but I definitely scared that I won't DO the things outside of school that make me happy. I'm scared that I'll get so myopic in my view that all I'll be able to see is the next step, and everything else will get only marginal amounts of my focus. 

Burnt Orage Rose Cocktail

But I think that the fear is good. I think having that fear will motivate me to do things...like go to Germany over winter break when I'm living on loans and when it would be easier to give into inertia and study over break. It'll motivate me to keep doing things I love: walking my dog along the river so that I can see the world outside, finding creativity in food, etc. It'll motivate me to remember that life is happening. 

So on that note, I made this interesting drink last night with oranges, limes, and rose water. Caramelizing the oranges brings out a very interesting flavor that is highlighted by the rose water. Try it, it'll be amazing. 

Burnt Oranges

Mason Jar Shaker

Rose Water

Salt rimmed and beautiful

Dinner and Drinks

Burnt Orange Rose Cocktails
Makes one drink

2 oz. tequila
1.3 oz. Triple Sec or Grand Mariner
0.33 fresh lime juice
2 Oranges, sliced in half
0.67 oz rose water 
Crushed Ice

Salt for the glass rim

Take the orange halves and put them in the broiler for about 7 minutes or until the tops are brown-black, but not burnt. Pull them out of the oven to cool. Mix the tequila, triple sec, rose water, and lime juice in a container. Shake them up well to mix. When the oranges have cooled, juice them into the container, and shake it up again. Pour them over ice in salt-rimmed glasses and enjoy.