Kitchen Bloopers

I am starting a new label today! I am thinking that sharing my kitchen bloopers will help all of us keep perspective. It will help us see that pursuing health is an adventure that has to be enjoyed if we are going to persevere. Would it help you to hear about the disasters we experience here in our kitchen? Would it give you a refreshing take on "being healthy?"

Well, our most recent fiasco took place yesterday afternoon. But let me back up first. Two weeks ago I took my children to play at a friend's house. She served me homemade honey lemonade and it put a stop to my queasiness for the entire afternoon. I had heard that sour things can soothe morning sickness, but this was my first experience with it. Since that beautiful day, I have been craving limeade.

Actually, I have been craving Cherry Limeade. You know, like the kind from Sonic. That was not an option, so I decided the kids and I would make our own. I bought a bag of limes and we got started. We did everything right... starting with rolling the limes on the counter to release all the juices.

I even boiled a cup of water to melt my honey so that it would be fully incorporated into the limeade.

As this was cooling, I squeezed. And I squeezed. And I squeezed. Getting all the juice out was a long process considering the simple tool I was using.

We mixed the lime, honey syrup mixture and fresh cold water. Then, for the final touch, I added 3/4 tsp. of natural cherry flavoring. I had this on hand from some cakes and muffins I made in the past. Sounds delicious, huh?

WELL, I did not consider that the natural cherry flavor was in an oil solution. This is fine for baking, but it DID NOT mix with the limeade. Not at all. Instead we had an oily film over the top of the limeade. And when we drank some of our fantastically refreshing treat, we got an oily upper lip. Like I said, Fiasco. Can you see the oily layer? Can you see it on the side of the glass behind the lime?

We couldn't waste all those wonderful limes or all that pricey raw honey. And I certainly didn't want to waste the time it took to squeeze all those limes!!! So, we got inventive. We let all the oil drift back up to the surface and we soaked it off the top with paper towels. The towels took with them all but the faintest hint of cherry. But at least we saved the limeade!

If you want to try this treat at home, here's what I used sans cherry flavoring:

• 1 cup of boiling water
• 1/2-3/4 cup of raw honey, depending on how tart you like it
• juice from 10-12 limes
• fresh, cold water to fill your pitcher up to 2 quarts

Hope yours works out better than mine!