Limeade

When I cook dinner, I'm not afraid of larger quantities of fats or proteins than most people are accustomed to. However, that means that Pineapple and I often want something acidic to help cut through the fat and protein.

I typically get my acid via the vinegar I drizzle on my salads and by eating citrus such as Red Grapefruit. However, Pineapple asked if I could make a limeade so I figured I'd give it a shot.

The limeade we get at the store is typically pretty sweet. The manufacturer--like most drink manufacturers--is trying to hit the sweetness bliss point; That's basically the amount of sweetness which maximizes pleasure when drinking. Most sodas use high fructose corn syrup because it's inexpensive, gives a strong sugar high, has a lower glycemic index, and in the right quantity it will hit the bliss point.

However, I don't like to eat sugary foods anymore (I often can only taste the sugar and all the other flavors disappear), I don't like the 2-by-4-to-the-head smack of the bliss point (it temporarily makes the drink the center of the meal drowning out the food or company), and high concentrations of fructose cause me digestive trouble (I have fructose malabsorption). Because Pineapple and I make our own limeades now, we can control the sugar content and we like it much more.

Here's our recipe, and it typically takes about 5 minutes start-to-finish.

Ingredients

• 1 - 2 limes, depending on tartness (we prefer 1)
• 2.5 or more tablespoons of cane sugar, depending on desired sweetness (I stay low)
• A hand-full of ice to keep the drink cool
• Water

Directions

1. Slice the lime(s) into chunks you can squeeze
2. Squeeze the lime(s) into the blender
3. Add the sugar
4. Add the ice (too much ice will give you more of a slush which doesn't pour evenly)
5. Add water up to the 1 liter mark
6. Blend (I hold down "pulse" for 10-15 seconds)
7. Serve and enjoy!

Limes

When cutting the lime(s) (or lemons in recipes which require them), I do the following:

1. slice the lime off-center from top to bottom
   
2. set aside the smaller portion
3. slice the remaining portion off-center from the top to the bottom
   
4. set aside the smaller portion
5. slice the final chunk off-center
   

At this point I have 4 chunks, one looks like half a lime, one looks like half a sliver taken from the center of the lime, and the last two pieces mirror each other and came from either side of the half-sliver.

When juicing, I hand-squeeze a chunk of lime over the blender, and then--using my thumbnail--scrape the pulp out of the lime skin into the blender.