Shrubs!

In honor of Thanksgiving, a couple of fabulous shrub recipes from this new book on the subject. We’ll be serving them with soda at our bookstore over the holidays, but shrubs are, of course, also a fantastic cocktail ingredient. This time of year, I’d be splashing them into bourbon and applejack drinks.

You really can’t mess up a shrub.  Just combine one part sugar with two parts vinegar (apple, coconut, and rice vinegars are favorites, although red and white wine vinegars, as well as balsamic, all have their place in the world of shrubs) and mix with fruit, vegetables, herbs, spices…then let it soak for a couple of days, and strain & bottle it.  They’ll keep for about a year.

Here’s a peek into my shrub-making process–both apple-cinnamon and spiced cranberry.  And I’ve got a lot more ideas for shrubs here.