So, yesterday was my 32nd birthday! I woke up to breakfast in bed (blueberry pancakes) and some snuggle time with the whole family in the bed (well, except the dog 🙂 Today, Toby is throwing me a birthday bash complete with a karaoke machine!! I will be sure to get lots of pictures and maybe some video. Until then, I’ll leave you with the recipe for “root soda” that I made for tonight:

• 2 oz Sassafras Root
• 1 oz Sarsaparilla Root
• 1/2 oz each of Burdock Root, Dandelion Root, Fresh Ginger Root, and Licorice Root

If you don’t have some of these, substitute with other nice roots, like astragalus, but the sassafras and sarsaparilla are key ingredients for the flavor.

Put the roots in ~1 gallon of water and bring to a boil. Then simmer for 30 minutes. Take off the heat and let cool. Strain out herbs and add sweetener to taste (I ended up adding ~1 cup of brown sugar). Then add enough carbonated water to make it fizz. It should remind you of a gentle root beer.

This makes a bunch, so scale it back if you don’t want a ton in your fridge.