Rosemary Lemonade -- What You Drink When the Corn Comes In

July heat. Eighty-eight in the shade. Worked at the construction company in Lexington this week. The body holds. Most days.

Connie at the vet clinic, four shifts this week. Her back is tired. She does not say so. I see it. Mama is 86. She is the toughest person I have ever known. She still cooks every day in the company house in Evarts.

Corn on the cob from the garden. Butter. Salt. The standard.

Travis called Tuesday. The landscaping company is busy. He sounds tired in a good way. Amber called Sunday. Things are good. James sends his regards.

Earl would have known what to say about that. Earl is not here. I said nothing. I went on.

The creek was running clear Sunday afternoon. I watched a kingfisher work the riffle. Did not move for an hour. Some Sundays the watching is the worship.

Worked on a basement remodel job in Lexington. The work was good. The pay was good. The body is tired.

I sat at the kitchen table Tuesday night working on the recipe project. Mama's soup beans. I cannot get the words right yet.

Connie cut my hair on the porch Tuesday afternoon. She has been cutting my hair for forty years. The barber in Pineville cannot do what Connie does, which is also love.

The neighbor up the road — Old Roy, eighty-seven, lives alone — had a small heart scare. We took him soup beans Tuesday. Cornbread too. He cried a little when he ate. We all cry over soup beans eventually.

Connie made jam Saturday afternoon. Wild blackberries from the patch up the hollow. Twelve jars. The pantry is filling for winter.

Connie read aloud from a novel Tuesday evening while I worked on the bench. Some Appalachian writer she had picked up at the library in Whitesburg. The voice was the voice of where we live. We listened together.

I sat on the porch with bourbon at sundown Friday. The fog rolled into the hollow the way it has every fog of every year. The porch was the porch. The bourbon was the bourbon.

Drove to Pineville for parts Wednesday. The hardware store man knew me. We talked about the weather and the price of feed. Forty minutes for a five-minute errand. That is rural Kentucky.

My back was tight after the wood-splitting Saturday. Took an Aleve. Slept eight hours. Got up.

Amber sent the kids' school photos this week. Nadia is taller every year. Marcus has Amber's serious face. Little Betty has Mama's eyes.

Travis sent a photo of Earl Thomas riding on the mower with him at a job site. The boy is wearing a Hensley Landscaping T-shirt that's too big. Three generations on a mower. I saved the photo.

I split a half-cord of wood Saturday. Slowly. The back does not let me work fast anymore. It got done. The wood was for the smokehouse.

Drove the truck to the dump Saturday afternoon. Saw three deer crossing the road on the way back. The mountains have been giving back this year.

I checked the truck oil Saturday. The mileage on this truck is criminal.

The dog — old Beau, fifteen years old — slept by the wood stove all afternoon Tuesday. He used to be a hunting dog. Now he is a heating pad with opinions.

Read the paper at breakfast Tuesday. The county news is not great. The mines have not come back and they will not come back. The young people leave. The hollows empty. We stay.

Sunday service at Harlan First Baptist when we go. Pastor preached about Ruth and Boaz. The choir sang. Connie wore her gray dress.

Corn on the cob, butter, salt — that was supper, and it asked nothing more of me than I had left to give. What I kept coming back to, sitting there in the July heat with Connie across the table and old Beau sleeping by the stove, was that the simplest things are the ones worth getting right. This rosemary lemonade started the same way Mama’s recipes always did: something from the garden, something tart, something sweet, and the patience to let it come together. It belonged on that table as much as the corn did.

Rosemary Lemonade

Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 5 min | Total Time: 15 min (plus chilling) | Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup water (for the syrup)
• 3 to 4 sprigs fresh rosemary (about 6 inches each), plus more for garnish
• 1 cup fresh lemon juice (from 6 to 8 lemons)
• 4 cups cold water
• Ice, for serving
• Lemon slices, for garnish (optional)

Instructions

1. Make the rosemary simple syrup. Combine the sugar and 1 cup of water in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves, then add the rosemary sprigs. Bring just to a low simmer, then remove from heat. Let steep for 15 to 20 minutes.
2. Strain the syrup. Remove and discard the rosemary sprigs. Pour the syrup through a fine mesh strainer into a heat-safe pitcher or jar. Let it cool to room temperature, or speed it up by setting the container in an ice bath.
3. Juice the lemons. While the syrup cools, squeeze your lemons until you have 1 cup of fresh juice. Pick out any seeds.
4. Combine. Add the lemon juice and 4 cups of cold water to the pitcher with the cooled rosemary syrup. Stir well. Taste and adjust — add a little more lemon juice if you want it sharper, or a splash more water if it’s too sweet.
5. Chill and serve. Refrigerate until cold, at least 30 minutes. Serve over ice with a lemon slice and a small sprig of fresh rosemary in each glass.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 135 | Protein: 0g | Fat: 0g | Carbs: 36g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 5mg