When I was a kid, there was very little in the fridge in the way of tasty beverages. None of your lemonade or soda pop. There was a big plastic bottle of Coke at all times, but you did not touch that. For one thing, it was exclusively Dad's. For the other, he liked it completely flat. No fizz. Nyet fizz. He would sit there watching boxing, slowly shaking that big bottle and loosening the cap to let the fizz hiss out. He was expert at it. He never let it explode. By the 5th round that Coke was dead flat and ready to drink as far as dear old Dad was concerned.
But in the heat of the summer, all was not amiss. There was relief in the wings for all us thirsty brats after my grandfather (and namesake, Grandpop Joe on my mother's side) taught us how to make his special chilled thirst-quencher known as Pop-Pop's Cold Blah-Blah.
There are a couple ways to make Pop-Pop's Cold Blah-Blah. For the quicker way, first fill a large container with water - about 2/3rds of the way full. Next, put in a large number of ice cubes, enough to fill the container the remainder of the way. Now, you're going to want to mix this up thoroughly and let it steep for at least 15 minutes or it won't work. After it's ready, pour into a large glass and serve with a straw. I find the straw just accents the "treat" aspect.
The other way, for those of you concerned about calories, is to omit the ice cubes. My grandpop was one of those, he always made his without. Same basic recipe: start with a large container; this time you will want to fill it 3/3rds full with water. There's no mixing here, instead you will need to put the entire container directly into the refrigerator to chill. This is going to take a while (the drawback to this method). There's no telling how long it will take to get your Pop-Pop's Cold Blah-Blah to where it needs to be. It just depends on how powerful your refrigerator is, and whether you're keeping anything really hot in there.
Some of my brothers or sisters have occasionally attempted to cut corners and make a batch of Pop-Pop's Cold Blah-Blah by putting the container into the freezer. Let me advise you on this one: DON'T.
The time you save is not worth the risk you take.
2 comments:
That sounds like a great recipe, but where do you get these "ice cubes" from? Could you post a recipe?
That's a good question. I don't know where got them when I was a kid, they were always just in the freezer. These days, just use the store-bought kind. I think it's one of those things were modern convenience has just made the art of the home-made ice cube making obsolete.
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