Fruit Stock

So just the other day I was cutting up fruit for a fruit platter, and had quite a few extra fruit peels. I was about to toss them out, when I thought that was kind of a waste. After all, we save all the vegetable scrap odds and ends to make stocks, all the meat bones and fat and trimmings, why not fruit???

So I threw my cantaloupe peel, honeydew peel, lemon rind, extra orange slices I found in the fridge, and random grapes in a pot with water, along with some fresh mint, cinnamon sticks, star anise, and cloves for a little extra flavor. It didn't take very long to simmer to extract the flavor, not even two hours.

 I then strained the stock and tasted it. It was quite citrusy, like a light orange juice, with a hint of spice. I added a simple syrup with some maple, poured it over ice, and made a quick fruit punch. The flkavor will differ depending on what sort of fruit scraps you have - but don't throw them out! Fruit stock does work.