Girls Just Want To Have Fun
Makes 1 drink
Every Monday evening, my dad left the house and walked to his barbershop chorus rehearsal a few blocks away (more on THAT another time). I recently learned to drive and was eager to get some solo miles under my belt. Only one small detail stood in my way – dad was against “cruising around.” I had to come up with a devious, foolproof plan. I first moved the car to a different parking spot. Then I put a couple of trash cans in the original space to save my place. And off I went, cruising the sleepy back roads of central PA, blaring Prince, Bowie, or Culture Club, and smoking one Marlborough Light after another. After an hour, I safely returned the car to its proper spot; no one was the wiser. That is, until a few days later when dad got into the car and found a startling lack of gas. Unbeknownst to me, the fuel gauge was broken. Dad determined when to fill up the tank by how many miles he drove. My little jaunt not only screwed up that calculation but exposed my once-brilliant scheme and got me grounded for two weeks. I stopped “borrowing” the car, but I’ve never stopped scheming.
- Fennel pollen sugar (just mix ‘em together)
- 1 teaspoon strawberry preserves
- 2 ounces gin
- 1 ½ ounces rhubarb syrup (see below)
- ½ ounce rhubarb liqueur
- ¼ ounce fresh lemon juice
- 2 dashes rhubarb bitters
- Ice
- 2 ounces dry sparkling rosé
Rim a rocks glass with fennel pollen sugar.
Add the jam, gin, rhubarb syrup, rhubarb liqueur, lemon juice, and bitters to a shaker. Add ice and shake to chill. Double strain into the rimmed rocks glass and fill with ice. Top with the sparkling wine.
Rhubarb Syrup: Simmer 2 cups chopped rhubarb with ¼ cup sugar and ¼ cup water in a small saucepan over medium heat until very soft, about 8 minutes. Let cool, and then strain. Makes about 1 ½ cups.
