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This is the happiest, most delicious serendipity!
I was making the kids some summertime snow cones the other day, and I just couldn’t bring myself to pour that fakey, chemically, neon syrup on them. Kids love that stuff, but it’s just awful, really, in so many ways.
So how hard could it be to make some actually tasty syrup with ingredients you can recognize?
Not hard at all, and with some sugar, water, and a couple of items plucked from the backyard, we had a surprisingly sophisticated, elegant Rosemary-Lemon Simple Syrup that totally ROCKED the snow cone! This was one wowser of an impromptu frozen treat!
Believe it or not, my kids preferred this to the wacky grape/cherry/blue raspberry type snow cone syrups we had in the pantry. (Which now reside in the trash.)
This is an adult taste, but it appeals to contemporary kid palates, too. It would be a lovely finish to a patio dinner, or just a quick refresher during a hot afternoon.
You can also use any leftover syrup to flavor a cocktail. Just sayin’
To zest a lemon, peel just the yellow zest in one long strip
It looks a little bit sad after you are done zesting
Add sugar to small saucepan
Add water to the sugar in the pan and stir
Bring water and sugar to a boil
Add rosemary fingers (branches)
Add long lemon zest strip
Rosemary-Lemon Simple Syrup will be a beautiful light green
Rosemary-Lemon Shaved Ice
Zest of 1 lemon (see direction below)
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup water
4 finger-size branches fresh rosemary (each 4-5 inches long)
Using a vegetable peeler, peel zest from lemon in one long strip. Set zest aside and use lemon for another purpose if you wish.
In a small saucepan, stir together sugar and water. Bring to a boil. Turn heat off and submerge rosemary branches and lemon zest in sugar syrup. Allow to steep, uncovered, until cool, about 30-45 minutes.
Remove and discard rosemary branches and lemon zest. Pour syrup into a lidded container and store in the refrigerator (it has no preservatives so will grow things if you leave it in the pantry).
Makes about 7/8 cup syrup.
To make shaved ice dessert: Fill a small bowl with crushed or shaved ice, and spoon a couple of tablespoons of Rosemary-Lemon Simple Syrup over.
Basil Simple Syrup Shaved Ice
Use Basil Simple Syrup to make another variation on a shaved ice frozen treat.
This machine uses ice cubes to make shaved ice easily
Welcome to my kitchen, where the oven is always on, and the fridge is packed with delectables! 
MMm . . .this looks good. Cannot wait to try.
Here’s another you might like:
Chop up a stick of rhubarb, put in bowl. Add juice & zest of 1 lemon, and handful of rosemary blossoms.
Cover with sugar, let sit overnight or until the juices come out. Remove pieces of rhubarb for another use, and strain out any solids (zest, wilted flowers).
Adjust sweetness by adding more lemon juice or more sugar, if needed.
Pour over shaved ice. For decoration, a fresh rosemary blossom is pretty.
I’m definitely going to try this one. Did you get your shaved ice machine online and does it make the super fine like snow?
Ellen, yes I think I bought this gadget from Amazon, and it makes it superfine!
Wonderful idea Dorothy. This would go great with your Brown Sugar Shortbread Cookies. Got those awhile back on TOH from you.
Thanks!