The Blueberries Are Rollin’ In!
Tomorrow we pick up our long-awaited fresh blueberries. There is nothing like blueberry season, when those deep blue antioxidant laden orbs grace every meal and snack for a few weeks while we can get them. After finding a local place to buy them from last year, we’ve ordered even more this year, and the whole family is looking forward to it. We’re looking forward to making blueberry pie and blueberry muffins, and a super-tall stack of blueberry pancakes — with blueberry syrup of course.
Many of our berries will be stashed in the freezer for future use of course, but there is one particular use that we are dying to give a try — Blueberry Soda. It sounds too good to be true, but when a recipe like this comes along, we simply have to give it a try. Even better, food whiz Alton Brown came up with the recipe. Although it specifically calls for blueberries, I suspect any fresh berry can be substituted for the blue variety.
Blueberry Soda
- 20 ounces fresh blueberries, approximately 4 cups, rinsed and drained
- 2 cups water
- 7 ounces sugar, or approximately 1 cup
- 1 lime, juiced
- Carbonated water
Directions:
Place the blueberries and the water into a medium saucepan, set over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat and pour the mixture into a colander lined with cheesecloth that is set in a large bowl. Allow to cool for 15 minutes. Gather up the edges of the cheesecloth and squeeze out as much of the liquid as possible. Discard the skin and pulp. Return the blueberry juice to the saucepan along with the sugar and lime juice. Place over medium high heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to a boil and cook for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and transfer to a heatproof glass container and place in the refrigerator, uncovered, until completely cooled.
To Serve: Combine 1/4 cup of the liquid with 8-ounces of carbonated water and serve over ice.
