Meyer Lemon Rosemary Spritzer

It is not a big secret over here that I love the meyer lemon. Maybe too much. They were on sale again this week and I had to grab a bag. Having exhausted my previous recipes with lemons (lemons bars, shaker lemon pie, lemon cardamom ice cream, lemon cranberry scones, do you want me to keep going?), I was ready to throw up my arms, declare tragedy, and make a tart. I am just weary of having An Entire Tart in the house when we already have An Entire Cheesecake. Then, paging through the January Martha was my answer: meyer lemon rosemary spritzer.

What probably led me back to the lemon was the fact that I had some big failures this past week in the kitchen. Apparently my mojo is out of whack, or maybe I just don't like oyster sauce. I was super pumped to make some spring rolls (because I have been buying a bag of the Ling Ling ones from the freezer section just about every other night after work and figured if I am eating them this much maybe I can make them even better). I had been thinking about it for a few weeks and had done the obligatory read-every-recipe-on-epicurious-that somewhat-pertains-to-this. You know, after I go through my three shelves of cookbooks.

That is not the point of this tale, but we will get there eventually. I should have left the perfection that is Ling Ling alone. Have you ever tried them? I suggest you don't start. They are FANTASTIC and now I am kicking myself that I don't have any to get that bad oyster taste out of my mouth. Apparently I am not an asian cuisine master, because the stuff I put together- the cabbage, carrots, sprouts, bamboo, ginger-where did I go wrong? It was far from good and I will probably throw it all out after it sits in the back of the fridge for a week. I plan on spending the first week feeling guilty about not eating them and wasting food and the second they get to the "questionable" phase and I can safely, conscience free, toss them.

Back to the Lemon-Rosemary Spritzers. No, this is not lemonade. It is not super sweet, but a little tart, the rosemary balances it and lends itself just enough winter-feel to make this doable this time of year.

Meyer Lemon Rosemary Spritzers straight from Martha Stewart Living January 2010.

4 c water

1/2 c sugar

6 meyer lemons, thinly sliced

2 rosemary sprigs

4 1/2 c sparkling water, chilled (I only had seltzer)

Bring water and sugar to a boil in a large saucepan, stirring until sugar dissolves. Add lemons and rosemary. Reduce heat, and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Let stand for 20 minutes. Strain. Return to pan, and boil until reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Let cool completely. Fill each glass with 3/4 cup sparkling water and 1/4 cup syrup. For a nice little bonus, you could add your own alcohol. For a more summery treat, use basil instead of the rosemary. You can make this ahead of time, adding the fizzy water just before serving. The syrup will keep for about a week in the fridge.