We live in the middle of a big city, so I don’t have the space for the lush and abundant garden of my daydreams.  But, I happily make do with my little window herb garden.  All summer we’ve enjoyed basil and rosemary and chives.  Actually, the basil and chives have been put to good use, but because rosemary strikes me as a cold-weather flavor, it hadn’t served much purpose until…

…I found a recipe for homemade herb tea in a recent issue of Food & Wine magazine.  It calls for nothing more than lemon and rosemary –  I finally have a summer recipe to use up all the rosemary that keeps growing!

This iced tea was so refreshing and satisfying – summer in a glass!  Next time I might try mint with orange or basil with lime.  The combinations are endless as long as fresh herbs are in abundance!

Lemon Rosemary Tea

1/4 cup fresh rosemary leaves

a few thin slices of fresh lemon

6 cups cold water

Drop the rosemary leaves into a large pitcher.  Using a wooden spoon, bruise the leaves.  Pour in water and add lemon slices.  Cover.

Let the tea sit in the sun (or just on the countertop) for four hours.  Strain into glasses and serve over ice.