Grapefruit Simple Syrup

When we moved to California two years ago, we were lucky enough to rent a home with an incredible garden already established: four planting boxes, one grapefruit tree, and one young peach tree. Our first year here, we did nothing with the grapefruit except eat a few and give the rest away. This year, I wanted to try and get the most out of the harvest.

I think I picked about 60 grapefruits. I'm still giving some away.  ^^ that's a lot of grapefruit.

I stumbled on the idea of making a simple syrup and loved the idea for cocktails or lemonade. Here's the recipe I used (modified from Real Simple - they add ginger peel):

1 cup grapefruit juice (turned out to be the juice of 2 grapefruits)

3 cups sugar

2 cups water

6-12 sprigs of Rosemary (depending on your taste)

Zest of grapefruit

1. Heat the water, sugar, and grapefruit juice on medium until the sugar is completely dissolved and the mixture is somewhat clear.

2. Rub the Rosemary with a spoon to release flavor. Add it and the zest to syrup. Leave and stir on medium for a few more minutes - 5 is good.

3. Remove from heat and let cool. Store in a glass container/s overnight. It will be ready to use the next day.

I left the Rosemary sprigs in the jars:

My friend, Michelle, gave me some mint from her garden that I used in a grapefruit mint margarita a few days after this.

YUM!

XO,

Erin