I walked to the farmer’s market this spring with my daughter Vivian and whispered, “We made it.” Seeing asparagus that was unearthed that day and hot pink rhubarb stalks made me want to scream, “We made it through the winter!” In lower Michigan—not even the Upper Peninsula or Canada or Greenland—winter is a long and dark season and worth celebrating when spring arrives.
Rhubarb Mojito Mocktail
Serves 20 (in a 10-ounce rocks glass filled halfway with ice)
5 ½ cups rhubarb syrup (recipe below)
1 cup loosely packed mint leaves, plus more for garnish
8 cups club soda
1 ½ cups lime juice
16 lime wedges for garnish
Make the rhubarb syrup:
(Makes approximately 3 cups of syrup)
9 cups chopped rhubarb (about 9 large stalks)
The zest and juice of 3 limes (juice reserved for later)
3 cups sugar
4 cups water
Combine rhubarb, sugar, and water in a saucepan.
Zest the limes over this mixture in the saucepan so that you don’t leave out any of the lime oil while zesting.
Bring this mixture to a big boil, then turn heat down to a simmer, stirring occasionally for 20 minutes until the syrup is a bit thick.
Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a large glass measuring container. (This straining will take a bit! Ladle a cup or two of pulp into a sieve and, with a wooden spoon, press on pulp until all liquid is gone. Start the process again, emptying pulp into another container so liquid can get through the mesh. Breathe deeply and take these minutes to CHILL.)
There will be approximately 5 cups of rhubarb syrup and 2 ½ cups of rhubarb pulp.
Make the mocktail:
Combine the rhubarb syrup, lime juice, and mint in a gallon container and stir well.
Right before serving, add the club soda and lime wedges. Pour over ice and sip some of what’s left of SUMMER.
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