Kumquat Drink Recipe (Orangina)

Our kumquat trees have been so prolific this season that I thought it was time for me to experiment and re-create my favorite soda, Orangina, from scratch. In France, Orangina is a very popular sparkling beverage made from tangerine and oranges. I've tried making this with oranges in the past, but the citrus flavors weren't strong enough to resemble the famous drink. Since kumquats have a unique, strong, lemony flavor, I gave the fruit a try.

I've made homemade soda drink in the past, using dry active yeast (I'll post the recipe this summer) but unfortunately because of the cold weather (I assume), after 3-4 days, the fizz didn't happen. So I re-made it using carbonated water. Because the process is immediate, you'll be able to enjoy a delicious soft drink right away. The soda is very flavorful and has a striking orange color -not the radioactive hue of artificial orange drinks-. If you can find kumquats at your local market, give this a try. Your taste buds will thank you!

Falafel Salad with Lemon Tahini Vinaigrette

During our last trip to Philadelphia, Lulu and I realized how narrow the vegetarian options were in restaurants. Lulu had falafel during the entire time of our stay there.

He hasn't touched it since we got back and I thought it was time to re-introduce him to falafel. I served them in a Mediterranean-style salad along with lemon tahini vinaigrette, candied walnuts and thinly sliced kumquat preserves from last winter's harvest.