Vodka Lemonade with Basil Syrup

Putting basil in a vodka lemonade made me a little wary, but after reading the recipe, I decided to give it the ‘ole college try! I’m so glad I did! I went light on the basil…and the flavor was plenty strong for me!

Let’s get started with the basil syrup.

You’ll need:

• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2-3 sprigs basil

Pour the sugar and water into a pot.

Throw in a couple of sprigs of basil, turn on the heat and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar.

Simmer for a few minutes to really infuse the basil flavor.

Cool slightly and then stash in the fridge until completely cool.

Meanwhile, start squeezing some lemons! I didn’t have quite enough lemon juice, so I added water to get 1 1/2 cups. To boost the lemon flavor, I zested one of the lemons and added the zest the the juice to sit for awhile.

Now for the good stuff! You’ll need the basil syrup, 2 cups vodka, 1 1/2 cups lemon juice, a couple more sprigs of fresh basil.

Use a strainer when you pour the liquids into the pitcher. I don’t like to have “pulp” in my drinks!

Pour in the basil sugar syrup.

And the lemon juice.

Measure out 2 cups of vodka…

And add vodka to your shopping list!

Ooo, looking tasty!

Add the vodka.

Stir in the sprigs of basil.

And serve over ice, garnished with another small sprig of basil. This may seem like a lot of basil, but it’s really not. It’s a pretty mild flavor.

Make this drink while it’s still warm outside…and before your basil freezes!

Egg Salad with Bacon & Basil

One of our favorite light lunches is egg salad with bacon and basil. Yummy! I saw this recipe last summer in Better Homes & Gardens magazine and decided to try it out.

You’ll need eggs, bacon, basil, bread (any will do, I had Kaiser rolls on hand, but we’ve used regular ole sandwich bread, too), and your favorite fixings for egg salad. I use salt, pepper, dill relish, mayo or miracle whip, and mustard.

You can adjust the amounts of everything to make as much salad as you’d like.

Hard boil the eggs. I’m good at the boiling, the peeling…not so much! Luckily they’re not being deviled!

Fry up some bacon! Fry it however you like, but I cut mine into about 1” pieces. I’m not very good at frying an entire slice of bacon at once, so this works for me. I have perfect bacon nearly every time.

Mmm…smells good!

When the bacon has cooked, take it out and let it drain on a paper towel.

Peel the eggs and chop them up. I like to use a fork for this and it works really well.

Add whatever you like to make your egg salad yummy.

Slice your rolls and toast them. (We tried one roll not toasted, but it “squishes” too much and all of the salad falls out. You really need the bread hold up.

After your rolls have toasted, load them up with egg salad.

And a healthy portion of bacon.

Last, add some fresh basil. I like the basil to completely cover my egg salad and bacon.

Travis likes to go light on the basil.

Serve it up! This is great with some salty chips!

Every time we eat this sandwich, we both say how good it is and that it just “hits the spot”. A nice light lunch for when you don’t want to be too miserable after you eat!