Blackberry Rosemary Lemonade

After the crepe debacle this morning, I thought I needed to post a success story to make me feel better about my day.  I had some blackberries in the fridge that I was trying to decide what to do with, and since I was out of every kind of beverage possible - I haven't grocery shopped yet - I thought I could use them to make a blackberry lemonade.

But I didn't want just any kind of blackberry lemonade, I wanted something a little more creative, and my eyes fell on my new rosemary plant, sitting so innocently on my windowsill.

Much to the little plants surprise, I plucked a few sprigs and thought - blackberries, rosemary, lemons - how bad could it be?  I set about making a simple syrup for the lemonade, and added the rosemary.  Man oh man, this was good.  I had never tasted rosemary used in a sweet way, but it is great. 

My mind was racing with the possibilities of what I could do with just this rosemary syrup.  With the blackberries and lemonade added, the final result was really good, and could even handle a little more rosemary next time.  I only used 2 sprigs, but will use 3 next time.

Blackberry Rosemary Lemonade

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup water

3 sprigs fresh rosemary

1 1/2 cups blackberries

juice of 4 lemons

5 cups water

In a small saucepan, heat one cup of water, the sugar, and rosemary over medium heat and bring to a boil.  Boil for about 8 minutes, then remove from heat, cover and let steep for 1 1/2 hours.  When you are finished it will look like a pale green syrup.  Remove the rosemary sprigs from the syrup.

Now add the blackberries to the syrup.  Using a stick blender, blend until smooth.

Strain the blackberry syrup into a large bowl, using a spoon to push all of the syrup through the strainer.  Discard the leftover seeds.  Pour the lemon juice into a pitcher, and add about 5 cups of water.  You can use more or less depending on how strong you like your lemonade.  Now pour the blackberry rosemary syrup into the lemonade and stir.  Chill before serving.  Serve with fresh rosemary sprigs and a slice of lemon.  Enjoy!

Yum.