I mean shoes off, feet up, summer breeze blowing in your hair. Are you with me? This light and fruity sipper is gentle enough for brunch. It’s perfect to share with friends. Pretty enough for the front porch yet begs for the backyard!

Use your favorite fruits of the season with a bottle of nice crispy white wine. Adding a few other flavor enhancers like vodka, simple syrup, and a sprig or two of lemony thyme (or your favorite fresh herb) add complexity.

Fresh strawberries, peaches, cherries, pineapple, and lemon get a little tipsy in a nice soak of chilled vodka, white wine and a splash of simple syrup.

If you can give the fruit at least two hours your Summer Thyme Sangria will will take on the beautiful fruit flavors. You can use any combination of berries and stone fruit that you love.

Step 1

Our summer sangria begins with a simple syrup. You combine equal parts water and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a boil, then whisk to dissolve sugar. Allow to cool before using.

Simple syrups are another wonderful way to infuse layers of flavor. Just add herbs, aromatics, fruit or even spices to the sugar water while boiling. I’ve made vanilla, cranberry, ginger, and brown sugar.

Step 2

Once your fruit has had time to hang out and chill with the white wine and vodka, it’s ready to serve. This white sangria is so smooth and delicious! It’s the perfect pool-side sipper, backyard bbq batch-cocktail, and weekend brunch beverage.

Step 3

Don’t forget to put out a few finger foods. Our Roasted Golden Beet Hummus with Flatbread Crackers were the perfect pre-dinner nibbles.

How do you ease into the weekend? Favorite summer cocktails and mocktails? I’d love for you to comment below. Don’t forget to follow us @LemonyThyme on Instagram and Facebook!

All my best,
xo Libby

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Summer Thyme Sangria

Summer Thyme Sangria is so smooth and delicious! It's the perfect pool-side sipper, backyard bbq batch-cocktail, and weekend brunch beverage.

Course Cocktail

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Refrigeration Time 2 hours hours

Servings 4

Ingredients

• 1 lemon thinly sliced
• 1 peach sliced
• 1 cup fresh strawberries sliced
• 1 cup fresh cherries pitted and sliced
• 1/4 cup simple syrup more or less to taste
• 1/4 cup vodka
• 1 750 ml bottle white wine
• fresh lemony thyme sprigs optional garnish

Instructions

• Prepare simple syrup by combining equal parts water and sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, whisk to dissolve sugar. Cool before using.
• Combine all recipe ingredients in a pitcher and refrigerate at least 2 hours. Serve chilled with lemony thyme sprigs (optional).

The post Summer Thyme Sangria Will Ease You Right Into the Weekend! appeared first on Lemony Thyme.

I promise. Oh my gosh the savory flavors…..shrimp bathing in lemon, saffron, garlic, fresh herbs, olive oil, bursting tomatoes and feta.

You will want to soak up all that goodness with a hunk (or two) of crusty bread!

The saffron, lemon zest, salt and sugar are ground together using a mortar & pestle. If you don’t have one you can use a cutting board and the back of a chef’s knife to grind the ingredients. Then add the lemon juice and let sit for 5 minutes so the saffron can release it’s wonderful flavor.

Add the garlic, fresh herbs and two tablespoons of olive oil to the saffron mixture and grind until well combined. Pour mixture over shrimp and let marinate for 15 minutes.

Nestle the shrimp, feta and cherry tomatoes into a casserole dish that’s just large enough to hold them. Then pour remaining olive oil over top. Bake at 275 degrees for 30 minutes until the shrimp turn pink and are cooked through.

The aromas alone had me sold, but when you taste the olive oil broth that forms you will immediately reach for a piece of crusty bread (or a spoon) and dig right in. Baked Shrimp with Feta & Herbs is amazing!

Don’t forget to follow us @LemonyThyme on Instagram and Facebook! And check out our latest TikTok videos and Pinterest boards too!

All my best,
xo Libby

The post Baked Shrimp {with Feta & Herbs} appeared first on Lemony Thyme.

Blueberry Basil Lemonade.

One summer when we were small we begged and begged our mom to let us have a lemonade stand.  Please mom.  We promise we’ll do all the work.  As I recall I was about 5 and my sister Sarah 8.  We had big plans but were lacking in ‘how to start a business’ experience and the start up capital required, not to mention knowing how to make lemonade.  Mom somehow was able to distract us time after time, until we eventually stopped asking.

Then one morning a big bowl of lemons appeared on the kitchen table.  There was no mention of their purpose, nor for the piece of cardboard and magic marker that laid beside them.  Mom was busy at the typewriter, writing her next article for the paper and Sarah was playing in her room.  “Mom, what are you going to do with all those lemons on the table?”  “No plan, I just thought they’d brighten up the room.”  “Mom, do you think we could make lemonade?”  And so on this summer day we made a big batch of lemonade.  With so much leftover, a lemonade stand was about to be born.

She encouraged us to think of everything we would need for our stand.  As we made our list we were pleasantly surprised to find our plan falling into place.  It just so happened there were extra trays of ice cubes in the freezer and a brand new package of plastic cups on the counter.  Mom noticed the piece of cardboard and a magic marker on the table, and suggested we might want to make a sign out of that.  Coincidentally the card table she had borrowed from a neighbor was still in the back of her car, maybe we’d like to use it for our stand.  And if needed we could count out some change from the jar that sat on her dresser, in case we had to break a dollar bill for someone.

I can still remember that day.  By late afternoon the traffic in front of our house picked up as families returned home from the lake.  First one car stopped, then another.  Our sign read 10 cents, they’d give us 25.  Business was booming and we were so proud of ourselves.  When eventually our stomachs longing for supper became too much to ignore, we packed up our lemonade stand.  We couldn’t wait to share our stories with mom as we sat at the table counting our loot.  Those were the days.  Barefoot and carefree the entire summer.

Pictured above is a favorite book from my childhood, published in 1963.  It’s titled Sarah’s Room.  The story of a younger sister who longed to be invited into her sister Sarah’s room.  “On Sarah’s wall, green trees grow tall and morning glories bloom.  Of all the rooms in all the world, the best is Sarah’s room.”  Her younger sister, who had once written on her walls was not allowed in.  The story could have been written about us and probably many of you.  Fond memories.

Tidbit:  Georgia is officially known as the Peach State, however recently blueberries took over as the most lucrative fruit crop.  The recipe below from Cooking Light is a nice variation on traditional lemonade and a great way to use fresh blueberries that are abundant right now.

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Blueberry Basil Lemonade

Prep Time 35 minutes minutes

Total Time 35 minutes minutes

Servings 6

Calories 72kcal

Author Cookiing Light

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice about 3 lemons
• 2 cups fresh blueberries
• 1/4 cup fresh torn basil leaves I used our lemon basil
• 6 Tbl. granulated sugar
• 4 cups water

Instructions

• Pour lemon juice into a pitcher. Add blueberries, basil, and sugar to the pitcher and muddle. Add water and allow to stand for 30 minutes. Pour through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl; discard the solids. Return mixture to the pitcher. Serve chilled over ice.

The post Blueberry Basil Lemonade {and the Lemonade Stand} appeared first on Lemony Thyme.

Finally a cake.

I decided our first cake recipe should become our signature cake.  Since Lemony Thyme was, and continues to be, the inspiration for this humble blog she shall have her very own cake.  Lemony Thyme Pound Cake {with Lemon Glaze}.

I have always loved pound cake. 

It’s so versatile. 

If I’m making Strawberry Shortcake, pound cake makes a lovely base.  If I’m making a Dessert Trifle, inevitably I find a way to soak it in something delicious (like Chambord or Kahlua) and layer it in kind. 

I like it as well as any coffee cake and say let ’em eat cake for breakfast.

Our Lemony Thyme Pound Cake is moist and dense, as pound cake likes to be, yet delicate if that makes sense.  The glaze is sweet (and tart) and grabs your attention.  The addition of fresh lemony thyme leaves may be more of a nostalgic move than anything, but I choose to think it makes this cake unique and beautiful.

All my best,
xo Libby

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Lemony Thyme Pound Cake {with Lemon Glaze}

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour

Total Time 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Servings 12 -18

Author Libby with Lemony Thyme

Ingredients

For pound cake…

• 1 cup 2 sticks butter, softened, plus more for pan
• 3 cups all-purpose flour spooned and leveled, plus more for pan
• 3/4 cup low-fat buttermilk shaken well
• zest of 2 lemons
• 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice about 2 lemons
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 4-5 sprigs fresh lemony thyme leaves only minced
• 2 cups sugar
• 5 large eggs at room temperature

For lemon glaze…

• 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 3-4 Tbl. fresh lemon juice
• Lemony thyme leaves for garnish

Instructions

For the pound cake…

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour two 4 1/2″ x 8″ loaf pans, or one 12-cup Bundt pan, or one 6-well mini fluted pan (4 1/2″ diameter – 1 1/4 cup volume)
• In a small bowl combine buttermilk with lemon zest and juice. In a medium bowl whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and lemony thyme leaves.
• In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
• With mixer on low, add 1/3 flour mixture; beat until just combined. Add 1/2 of buttermilk mixture; beat until just combined. Continue with 1/3 additional flour, then buttermilk, ending with flour; beating until just combined after each addition. Do not overwork batter.
• Divide batter evenly between pans; smooth tops. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Approximately 50 – 60 minutes for loaf pans or Bundt pan. Reduce to 35 – 40 minutes for mini-fluted pans. Cool 15 minutes in pans. Turn out cakes onto cooling racks and allow to completely cool before glazing.

For the lemon glaze…

• Whisk together confectioners’ sugar and 3 Tbl. fresh lemon juice. Glaze should be thick. Add additional lemon juice to achieve desired consistency.
• Set rack with cakes over a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Pour glaze over cakes, letting it run down sides; let dry, about 30 minutes. Garnish with fresh lemony thyme leaves.

Notes

Total time required including cooling the cakes before and after glazing is 2 hours.

Since I began all this food love stuff, I’ve had people ask me how many sets of china I own or how big my dish cupboard is.  Well…I have two ‘sets’ of china, both of which were in my possession before Lemony Thyme.  However, I also have a lot of single dishes, most purchased from thrift stores, such as Goodwill.  I’m quite excited to be able to use one of my Goodwill ‘scores’ to make these Lemony Thyme Pound Cakes.  A Pampered Chef mini fluted stoneware pan….$3.86.

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