Once I was in middle school, my parents thought I was old and mature enough to babysit.  My mom signed me up for a Red Cross course and I was so excited.

I am the oldest, so I have always been a bit of a “mom” myself.  I have also always been a little motivated by a paycheck (… no shame in my early #girlboss game) and, thanks to The Babysitter’s Club book series, I knew this had potential.

I passed the course with flying colors and started drumming up business with the moms of my younger brother’s friends.  However, if I found myself without business, my mom and dad happily found an excuse to go out.  

I know that they didn’t mind.  And, honestly, I didn’t either.

Despite our seven year age spread, I got along really well with my siblings (still do!), so it didn’t seem like “work.”

We built up a bit of a tradition on those nights when I was in charge: dinner was always frozen DiGiorno pizza, a luxury as a kid in a home where healthy (See also: weird) food was served on the regular, and some kind of float for dessert.

My parents entertained often, so soda was always in the house. But, my mom was also a bargain hunter and you just never knew what kind of soda you would find.  

We didn’t care and would venture far from traditional root beer with our creations.

Some nights it was vanilla ice cream in Orange Crush. Or, Mountain Dew.  Chocolate ice cream in Diet Coke was surprisingly good… and produced lots of foam. (Fun when entertaining your six year old brother.)  Sherbet in seltzer became my favorite and I have been know to recreate this as an adult.

We were weird.

But, we had fun.

And, to this day, I cannot see a root beer float on a menu and not think of my many nights in with Kerry and Danny.

The other weekend, Kerry and I had a night out in Chicago.  We met for drinks at 25 Degrees, a burger bar with a little glitz to it.

On the menu were boozy shakes and soda floats. 

We both laughed trying to imagine ordering one, but opted for rose instead.

While looking at the blush color of my glass, I remembered the rhubarb we still have growing at our old home. Before we built our current home, Adam and I lived in the pre-Civil War farmhouse that he grew up in. Adam had planted the rhubarb bushes years ago when his parents still lived in the house.

Rhubarb is an annual and you can have over twenty years of production when it’s well maintained and not completely harvested.

Rhubarb is similar to asparagus as it grows from crowns that can be planted in early spring or late fall. It also needs about three years to truly get established. Then, the harvest period can last from eight to ten weeks throughout the spring and early summer.

Early spring rhubarb is tender and is great to add in pies and crisps, one of Adam’s favorite desserts.

But, I decided to have a little fun with it, think out of the box and make one of my favorite desserts.

These rhubarb floats sound just as weird as the floats my siblings and I concocted the nights I babysat, but- surprisingly- they are amazing. There is a freshness in the soda thanks to the tart rhubarb balanced with the sweet sugar and bright orange.

When simmering these flavors together my kitchen filled with it’s warm scent that was reminincent to Christmas.

The simple syrup would also make a good cocktail, mixed with white rum or vodka.

But, with a couple big scoops of vanilla ice cream, it’s the perfect sweet and flirty-pink treat for a spring day… or night in.

Rhubarb Soda Floats

2015-05-19 15:41:15

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Ingredients

1. 1 cup sugar
2. 1 cup water
3. 1 pound rhubarb, thinly sliced
4. 1 orange peeled in strips
5. Seltzer
6. Vanilla Ice Cream

Instructions

1. Combine sugar, water, rhubarb and orange peel in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium heat until boiling. Then reduce to a simmer for 15 minutes.
2. Place a fine mesh sieve over a bowl and drain the syrup into the bowl. Press to get as much liquid as possible.
3. Pour syrup in a glass jar and place in the refrigerator to chill until ready for use.
4. To make float, use a tall glass and pour in 1 1/2 cups of seltzer and 6 tablespoons of syrup. Add two scoops of vanilla ice cream and pour a little more syrup over top.
5. Enjoy right away!

Adapted from The Beekman 1802 Heirloom Vegetable Cookbook

Adapted from The Beekman 1802 Heirloom Vegetable Cookbook

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