Make It Yourself Monday: Grenadine

Do you remember when you were little and went out to a special dinner with your family? The only thing that made it barely bearable was getting to drink a Shirley Temple filled with extra cherries by a server who was trying to keep you from throwing crushed cracker crumbs all over the floor.[1]

Shirley Temples are still the cocktail of choice for the toddler set, and The Frugal Hostess will admit to craving them every now and then. (Like, every time she is sick, or sad, or bored, or eating fried seafood – who knew?)

As we all know, The Frugal Hostess is also a fan of fully-leaded cocktails, especially old-fashioned ones that require muddling and steeping and other such nonsense. In her old age, TFH admits to a relatively new fondness for the much-maligned Girlie Drink — that sweet, easy-to-drink concoction that will kick your ass if you aren’t careful. [This is in contrast to her former self, when TFH used to be a self-proclaimed drinking snob: gin and tonic in the summer, bourbon or rye and ginger ale in the winter, the end.]

And, while The Frugal Husband prefers a straight-up gin martini with olives to just about anything (including TFH), he is ever so sweet and always on the look out for a new potion to mix up for his ungrateful wife.

It was during one such excursion into the lore of the Girlie Drink Slash Old Style Cocktail that The Frugal Husband discovered that grenadine is a frequent ingredient in his beloved’s favorite style of libation. He dutifully proceeded to the liquor store to pick some up, and he found that every brand on the shelf listed as a main ingredient high fructose corn syrup.

Now, there are ton of commercials the say HFCS is the same as sugar, blah blah blah, and, while that may be true (it’s not) the dastardly sweetener is not welcome at The Frugal Homestead. So, Gentle Readers, The Frugal Husband did what any normal guy would do. He made some. From scratch. Which is unbelievably delicious. And also easy. Do it.

Ingredients
2 parts pomegranate juice
1 part sugar

Directions
1. Bring to a boil.
2. Reduce. Simmer until thickened to your taste.
3. Let cool. Refrigerate for quite some time.

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[1] EDITOR’S NOTE: I prefer the Marilyn Monroe. It’s the same as a Shirley Temple but without the cherry.

Want more like this? For more recipes like this, that you can hold right in your hands, and write on, take notes, tear pages out if you want (Gosh, you're tough on books, aren't you?) you might be interested in How To Cook Like Your Grandmother, 2nd edition, Illustrated. Or to learn your way around the kitchen, check out Starting From Scratch: The Owner's Manual for Your Kitchen.