when it's too hot to cook, one of my favorite ways to enjoy the season's bounty is homemade soda. i think i got the idea a few years ago when i first heard of rhubarb soda. since then, i've tried my hand at mint, raspberry, ginger, and sour cherry sodas. they have all been delicious and i highly recommend making yourself some soda to enjoy on a hot summer afternoon. last summer at our local farmer's market, one of my favorite food vendors was serving a basil lime soda. after getting over the initial weirdness of drinking basil, i tried it and was hooked for the rest of the summer.
like amy, my basil is growing wild these days and i thought i'd try to make my own basil lime soda. this spring i planted seeds from the "dolce vita blend" by botanical interests, so i currently have a variety of lime, lemon, cinnamon, purple petra, genovese, and mammoth basils. i used a combination in this syrup recipe (though, i think the lime flavor is so overpowering that it's hard to tell which basils i used). once you've made the syrup, add as much as you like (approximately one tablespoon) to a glass and fill with soda water. in the fridge, the syrup should keep for at least a few weeks.
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on an unrelated note, i found this on my balcony monday morning:
it seems to the work of a certain four-legged bushy-tailed critter. last summer i lost almost all of the few tomatoes i had to squirrels and i was hoping to avoid that fate again this year. any tips? i've tried sprinkling cayenne pepper to deter rabbits, does it work for squirrels too? help!
