raspberry shrub

It’s rainy and chilly outside, but still mild. And for all my grousing about not being ready for our Indian summer to end, I am sinking into this fall weather just fine. Welcoming it, in fact. Fires in the fireplace and pitter-patter outside the window.

But before leaving the clutch of warm weather and berries entirely, there are two more things to tell you about that I neglected to these past couple months.

One is this raspberry vinegar syrup, still in the fridge as a summer memento. I made it this summer on the East Coast tour, with raspberries picked from my sister’s garden.

In the first publication of this recipe, the New York Times called “raspberry shrub” -- ever so adorably. It is a full and authentic raspberry flavor, distilled down into a syrup that you can pour into fizzy water, processco, on top of ice cream, in cocktails. You get the drift. Upon tasting it, a friend decided it was the exact taste of a jelly doughnut. But I disagree. Because when I taste it, I have vivid memories of picking small, sweet berries from Brooke’s raspberry bushes, in the morning with a cup of coffee in hand, as I could already sense the heat and humidity that the day was going to carry in.

So mark this one for next summer. You can make a big vat and keep it in your fridge for a hit of summer, even as the rain and chill falls outside the window.

Comments

[pint sized]

I need to remember the back of my fridge--I have some neglected shrub. Come back so we can have our coffee in front of the woodstove and dream up apple recipes.