|
|
Summer is here and I am looking forward to hot summer days and planning refreshments for the kids. In my family, pop was a rare treat. Sometimes a trip to Holiday meant we could stock up on their trademark "Holiday Pop," ten cans for a dollar. These had to be opened with a key can opener and all had names with the word soda in them, like lemon-lime soda (I think that would be Sprite today), black cherry soda, root beer soda and cream soda. I swear we’d take ten minutes to mix and match all the flavors only to get them home and argue about who chose what. Friday nights watching Gilligan’s Island we would sometimes have homemade popcorn and a can of "soda." Thiswas the best night to watch TV because the lineup was great and it ended with Love American Style. If the neighbors and parents were playing cards they didn’t notice if we were still up at that time so we were really getting away with something. I’ll bet if I tried I could still sing the theme some from the show or at least hum a few bars.
Because we were "pop deprived" we moved on to the next best thing. Kool-Aid! It too was about ten packs for a dollar but one pack would make a whole pitcher. My Grandma Isabelle had these really bright aluminum cups that just made the kool-aid taste better. (And you could get the kool aid really high on your lips and make the best kool aid mustaches!)
When filled with ice, the cups would sweat and you could write your name in the droplets on the side of the glass. My mom would have us make a pitcher of kool-aid every night before dinner. In her Tupperware turn-about canister she kept a one-cup measuring scoop. (I swear if you walked into her house this afternoon you would still see this set of orange canisters on her counter). Every time we made kool-aid she would say, "You don’t need a whole cup of sugar, only use three fourths of a cup."
But we’d keep dumping, stirring and tasting until it was super sweet. Then at dinner she’d make a face and give us "the look."
My brother and I liked to reenact the kool-aid commercials by yelling "Hey Kool-Aid" and taking turns breaking through boxes and stuff. For those of you too young to remember this commercial – check it out on Utube. (For those of you too old to know about Utube, never mind, you’ve seen the commercial!)
As an adult, I still enjoy a glass of kool-aid on a hot day (Orange is my favorite) but I have found other uses for this beverage drink mix, such as for fiber dye and play dough.
Just for fun, check out the kool-aid flavors in the ethnic food isle. Recently I found both mango and pineapple. I didn’t try drinking them but they make the best play dough scents and keep the kids guessing.
Why the sudden kool-aid column? Yes, there are recipes to follow, but I guarantee the first one is not for the weak at heart. Koolickles! I must be honest and tell you I have not tasted this recipe but I do have a batch brewing in the fridge as I write. If you see me with a red pucker in two weeks you’ll know what I’ve been up to: eating kool-aid flavored pickles of course! Enjoy summer!
Love, American Style, Truer than the Red, White and Blue, (ooh ooh), Love, American Style, That’s me and you. And on a star spangled night my love, (My love come to me). You can rest your head o n my shoulder, Out by the dawn’s early light, my love I will defend your right to try. Love, American Style, That’s me and you. Koolickles Ingredients: • Large gallon jar of whole dill pickles • One pound of sugar (two cups) • Two packets of cherry flavored kool-aid
Direct ions:
Empty pickle juice into large bowl. Remove two cups of juice and discard. Add two cups of sugar and two packets of cherry kool aid to pickle juice. Pour "new juice" back over the pickles, cover and refrigerate for two weeks. Enjoy?
Orange Kool-Aid Cake Ingredients: Cake • 1 box white or yellow cake mix • 2 tsp. orange Kool-Aid • 2 tbsp. vegetable oil Frosting • 1 lb. or less of powdered sugar • 1 tsp. orange Kool-Aid • 1/4 c. vegetable oil • 1/3 c. milk (may need more)
Direct ions:
Follow directions on cake box. Plus add two teaspoons orange Kool-Aid and two tablespoons vegetable oil. Beat according to directions on box. Bake at 350 degrees.
Beat frosting ingredients two minutes. Spread on cooled cake.
Kool-Aid Sherbet Printed from Cooks.com
Ingredients: • 1 cup sugar • 1 package Kool-Aid • 3 cups milk
Direct ions:
Dissolve sugar and Kool-Aid in the milk. Pour into refrigerator freezing tray. Freeze until partially firm. Spoon into cold bowl and beat with an eggbeater until smooth but not melted. Return to tray. Freeze until firm, about two hours. Makes 3/4 quart.
Tastes Like Home columnist, Sandy (Anderson) Holthaus, lives on an alpaca farm in South Haven, MN with her husband, Michael, and their children Zoe, Jack and Ben. Her heart remains on the North Shore where she grew up with her parents, Art and LaVonne Anderson of Schroeder. She enjoys writing about her childhood and mixes memories with delicious helpings of home-style recipes.
Leave a Reply