Grapefruit & Rosemary Syrup

The weather tricked me. "Come outside", it said. " Look how sunny it is..." Then BAM! Fooled you. It's still cold. You do still need your gloves. And an extra jumper. And don't even think about putting those gloves away just yet.

It may be cold but there has been sunshine, and if that doesn't inspire your inner sun child then nothing will. I'm ready to welcome summer with vases of scented stocks, clean windows and a Pinterest board groaning with light summer fabrics, sorbets, salads and gin cocktails. Add this simple syrup to your cocktail repertoire.

Ingredients

2 large red grapefruit
Water
200gr caster sugar
2 small sprigs fresh rosemary

Method
1, Zest and juice the grapefruits. Put the juice into a measuring jug and top up to 500ml with water.
2, Add the juice, zest, sugar, caster sugar, and rosemary into a medium sized saucepan.
3, Bring up to a boil and boil for five minutes.
4, Remove from the heat and leave to cool completely.
5, Strain through a fine mesh sieve to get rid of the rosemary and zest.
6, Decant into sterilised bottles or jars.

Grapefruit, Rosemary and Gin Cocktail
Fill a short tumbler to the brim with ice. Spoon on three tablespoons of syrup and 25ml of good gin and stir.
Top with soda slowly. Garnish with rosemary.

Mint Lemonade

I had been preparing for the beginning of autumn. Stockpiling slow cooker recipes, making notes on how to perfect my mulled wine recipe in time for winter (testing it frequently isn't such a chore), looking for a new scarf, hat and gloves. And possibly a snood. I was genuinely excited about starting to be able to wear thick woollen tights. And boots.

But instead, I'm typing this in the garden, wearing shorts and a bikini top. It's easily hitting 30 degrees in Kent. The garden is confused. The cats are melting. The smell of other people's barbeques is wafting over the fence. I was going to bake but it's too hot for that. I toyed with the idea of making sorbet but mint lemonade came up trumps. Quick and easy gratification on a hot, October, day.

Ingredients:-
2tbsp of packed mint leaves, no stalks
Juice and zest of a lemon
4tbsp level caster sugar
120ml water
Ice, soda water and lemon slices to serve

Method
1, Pummel the mint leaves in a pestle and mortar until they have formed a thick paste.
2, Add this to a cocktail shaker filled with ice along with the lemon juice, zest, sugar and water.
3, Shake until the shaker is frosty and cold.
4, Fill short tumblers with ice and lemon slices and half fill with the lemonade. Lengthen with soda water.

Serves 2