I’m sure you’ve noticed summer has turned the heat up on us. The beaming sunshine combined with high humidity is making me sweat in places I really don’t enjoy. A refreshing cold beverage is my saving grace.
Hot off working on the farm, I stopped by the grocery store to buy some snacks and cool drinks. I was so hot I would have climbed into one of their freezers if I could. I opted not to, and decided to just soak in the cool air conditioning as I shopped; that day I didn’t mind waiting in the checkout line.
When I was browsing the popsicles and ice cream, I spotted something I haven’t had in many years, sherbet. I couldn’t say no to the neon colors of the rainbow dessert along with a sale tag — it was in my cart, along with a can of Sprite.
This takes me back to my first job as an ice cream scooper. We not only scooped cups and cones, but also made frappes, and this drink called a “Freeze.” On the menu board, it just said, “Freeze,” with no description. Most customers didn’t know what a freeze was (a blend of soda and sherbet), but I did, and I was going to recreate it at home the best I could.
For this Lime Freeze, all you need is the sherbet and some Sprite. All you have to do is let the sherbet soften on the counter, and depending on the temperature of your house, it might not take long. Mix it with Sprite in your favorite glass or cup. I chose to use this reusable aluminum Solo cup because I like how it makes the outside frosty as well. I scooped the lime flavor out of the sherbet trio into my cup, and stirred it up with Sprite. You could use a blender, but I wasn’t in the mood to dirty dishes or have an appliance give off any unnecessary heat. If it’s too thick, add more soda; too thin, add more sherbet.
The great thing about getting the sherbet trio is that you can try different flavors of freezes. Lemon-lime, like I did, orange, or raspberry. You can mix and match the flavors of sherbet with different sodas as you’d like — pick your favorites and try them. I bought the Turkey Hill brand; the three flavors are separated in the half-gallon, whereas with a more recent purchase of the Stop & Shop brand sherbet, they’re marbled together.
That hot summer night I sat out on my back deck under the stars with my lemon-lime freeze, watching the fireflies and reminiscing about my summers working as an ice cream scooper. This drink might not be fancy or extravagant, but it will definitely make you feel like a cool kid.
Sorry, but drinking garbage is not cool.
https://health.clevelandclinic.org/avoid-the-hidden-dangers-of-high-fructose-corn-syrup-video/
Ingredients in the sherbet:
Milk, Water, Sugar, Corn Syrup, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Concentrated Fruit Juices (Raspberry, Orange, Lemon, Lime), Citric Acid, Raspberry Puree, Orange, Lemon & Lime Pulp, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Carob Bean Gum, Carbohydrate Gum, Guar Gum, Fruit and Vegetable Juices (for Color), Vitamin C, Yellow 6, Yellow 5, Red 40, Blue 1.
(There are delicious ice creams and sorbets without chemicals and HF corn syrup.)
Sprite:
Carbonated Water
High Fructose Corn Syrup
Citric Acid
Natural Flavors
Sodium Citrate
Sodium Benzoate
Homemade lemonade ingredients:
Water
Sugar or honey
lemon juice
Jackie, you can pretty much suck the fun of anything can’t you?
Everybody knows what’s in Sprite or sherbet. So if someone decides they want to consume it, why is it your business?
Jim. Look, it could be worse. At least I’m not a vegan brow beater. 🤪
Jim– I actually doubt that everybody knows what’s in sprite or sherbet.
I think most people could care less about what’s in most “food” they eat, and don’t read the ingredients. I have had people ask me why I think corn syrup is bad for them.
https://health.clevelandclinic.org/avoid-the-hidden-dangers-of-high-fructose-corn-syrup-video/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CHigh%20fructose%20corn%20syrup%20also,or%20what%20we%20call%20cirrhosis.
I have a friend who regularly consumes sprite and we weighed out 31 grams of sugar on my kitchen scale. That’s how much sugar is in a 12 oz can of sprite. He was amazed that there are over 6 rounded teaspoons worth of sugar in one can.
How many people know that ?
While it may be none of Jackie’s business, she seems to be a person who cares about her fellow citizens. The negative health consequences of large companies with slick advertising budgets creating a diabetes crisis so their top exec’s can fly in their private jets to the vineyard are well known.
I can be a little more blunt and quote the CDC “Diabetes is the most expensive chronic condition in our nation. $1 out of every $4 in US health care costs is spent on caring for people with diabetes. $237 billion‡(c) is spent each year on direct medical costs and another $90 billion‡(c) on reduced productivity.” One out of every 4 dollars–I understand that diabetes has numerous causes, but I resent the fact that 1/4 of my insurance premium goes to care for people with diabetes. Not all of them are to blame of course– but the pretty packaging by merchants of death certainly is the main cause.
Ok Don, you have a point. Most people probably don’t actually know what’s in Sprite or sherbet. But would you agree that most people know it’s not good for you?
You can resent that 1/4 of your premium goes to care for people with diabetes all you want, but there’s probably a good amount of people who resent that a percentage of their insurance premium goes to support some health issue you may have.
So again, why is what someone chooses to put into their body your or anyone else’s business?
Jim, I had “a point”, too, even if you don’t like being reminded of it. Many parents care deeply about what goes in their children’s body, but as we all know, stopping to read the ingredients while shopping with a two year old when you have to hurry up to pick up your older child from day camp, is not something a parent can easily do. Parents try to grab what they need as quickly as possible, often grabbing something that their toddler starts whining for. Colorfully appealing ice cream packaging, (a rainbow!) will grab the attention of a child and make them want that ice cream. People may not often know what’s in the stuff they give their children but if they did know, or had the time it takes to know, they’d likely not want to give their 5 year old the drink that this author writes about. I know it’s a buzz kill to have a pretty and deceptively thirst-quenching drink dissected, not for its nutritional value (there is no value), but for it’s potentially damaging ingredients. Most people do care about their kids health and future, even harried parents who don’t have the time to stop and read the fine print.
Why do you think that all our food packaging now has the listed ingredients, anyway? People who care about other people demanded to know. Imagine a parent buying a pack of cookies without looking to see if there are peanuts in them, which could be deadly to their allergic child.
I am disappointed to see articles like this that disregard the reality of awful ingredients. I was hoping to read about something that would be refreshing and not, you know, gross.
Jim– a case in point is that cigarettes and alcohol are heavily taxed, and in theory some of that money goes to educational programs. Sugar taxes and attempts to reduce the amount of sugar in America’s diet have been rejected.
As for the business of what we put in our bodies– 17 states and the federal government still have criminal penalties for possession of Marijuana.
Forget other drugs.
Almost 10 teaspoons, or 18 of those little packets of sugar in a 12 oz can of Pepsi, by the way.
Almost everyone would be totally “grossed out” to watch someone put 18 packets of sugar into their 12 oz. cup of iced coffee…. Most of the general public would never think of doing that, but put it in a pretty package with slick advertising, and down it goes–
The point is, I hope that someone reading this may be influenced to at least think about what they eat or drink ..
I actually care about the health of people I don’t know, and I think Jackie does also.
Jackie– I gotta agree with you about those ingredients– High fructose corn syrup is, in my opinion pre embalming fluid.
But the packaging is so pretty…
I like your recipe for lemonade by the way– that’s what I do..
And I even have the recipe for ice, which I have never publicly shared. It goes quite well with lemonade ;
Put water (or homemade lemonade) in ice cube trays. Put in freezer for about 1 hour–
done—
The stuff can really cool you down..
Be safe in the heat– It is the #1 cause of death and ER visits related to weather.
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