Photo Rose Kennedy

When life gives you rhubarb . . . if you're Aglaia Stalb, you invent a tart, tasty punch to serve at your inn. "I happened to have this huge rhubarb plant and had no idea to do with it, so I started experimenting," says Stalb, who has operated the Northfield Inn, a restored Victorian mansion in the heart of Vermont's Green Mountains, for almost 18 years.

Guests enjoy this punch from wide porches with views of the Sugarbush Mountain Peaks and the village of Northfield.

Yield: 10 cups

Ingredients:
4 cups rhubarb cut into 1-inch crescents, fresh or frozen and thawed
4 cups water
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/3 cup orange juice
1/4 cup lemon juice

Instructions:

1. Cook rhubarb in water until soft, strain out pulp in cheesecloth, reserving liquid and adding back to pan.
2. Add sugar and heat until dissolved. Remove from stove. Add orange juice and lemon juice.
3. To serve, add a 2-liter bottle of ginger ale. The syrup can be frozen to serve later before adding ginger ale.

Next: Blueberry Smash

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