Urban(ish) Foraging: Sumac Lemonade

One of life’s supreme joys is pretending you’re capable of living off the land. As a city dweller, we have to take our opportunities to experience that joy (delusional though it may be) as it comes. I’d been meaning to make Sumac Lemonade, or Sumac tea for years, but I’ve done a terribly poor job of scheduling visits to my parents when the sumac drupes were ready for harvesting. Imagine my surprise when I was hanging out with friends in Jersey City last weekend and we happened upon a huge sumac grove while we were walking the dogs. Of course I started snapping the huge red flowery cones right off the trees and stuffing them in leftover plastic sacks. Plans for Sumac Lemonade, I had. You see, I read an article a few years ago that dubbed the Sumac the Lemonade Tree because the tea is a tart, fruity, citrusy tasting drink that goes down like lemonade, but without all the sugar. And that was enough to make me obsessed with checking it out. I mean, a lemonade tree that doesn’t require living in California anymore? Sign me up. And the Sumac Lemonade delivered on the promises. It was really … Continue reading