Lemonade with Blue Borage Ice Cubes

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Homemade Lemonade with Blue Borage Ice Cubes, Photo by Cecilia Kennedy

The plants in the backyard have signed up for dating apps; I just know it, but they’re not very good at writing enticing profiles. For instance, I suspect that the borage plant (which is actually growing!) feels somewhat neglected and has taken matters into their own hands—signing up for Tinder and writing the following description: “I’m hairy, yet edible with succulent stems and four—count them—four clusters of nutlets in the center! I go by Borage, which I know sounds like ‘boring’ or ‘burrow,’ but I’ve loosened quite a bit of phlegm in my day. Wink. Wink. Nudge. Nudge.” (For a more accurate and informative description, check out this article here, by the Flower Essence Society: “Three Faces of Borage: Medicinal Herb, Homeopathic Remedy, Flower Essence” by Joel Kreisberg.)

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Blue Borage Plants in the Fixin’ Leaks and Leeks Backyard. Photo by Cecilia Kennedy

This description does not do this plant any justice because it actually has a marvelous pale-blue, star-shaped bloom that brings happiness and joy.  Herbalists of old have claimed that it can cure melancholy, heart conditions, and pulmonary illnesses. Also, you could throw the flowers into a cocktail or a salad. At the Fixin’ Leaks and Leeks household, we froze some of the blooms in ice cubes and whipped up a batch of homemade lemonade. The recipe for the lemonade is quite simple:

3/4 cup of granulated sugar (add ¼ cup more, if you like a sweeter lemonade)

1 ½ quarts of cold water

1 cup of lemon juice, squeezed from 4-6 lemons

Mix everything together and add ice cubes—made with freshly-washed blue borage petals.

Except, squeezing lemons is hard if you don’t have a juice squeezer, but Alex saved the day by working a butter knife into the lemons in order to extract the juice. (I strongly suggest that you find an Alex to help out.) Some seeds did sneak into the bowl, but we strained them before adding the juice to the water and sugar.

Then, the ice cubes, each with a blue borage bloom, slid so nicely into the glass. (The flower itself tasted like a honey-cucumber candy treat.)

Yes, lemonade and blue borage ice cubes go well together. Perhaps they will get married. Perhaps their favorite song will be “I Melt with You” by Modern English. Maybe I’ll be invited to the wedding because, after all, I introduced them because the whole dating app thing didn’t work. Maybe I’ll be in the wedding party, and I’ll get to make the toast. Here’s what I’d say:

Blue borage with your star-shaped blooms,

What were you doing in those shady chat rooms?

Get in the kitchen with the Fixin’ Leeks and Leaks Team!

We’ll set you up on the dating scene.

Come meet this lemon, that’s mighty fine.

We won’t wait up; have a great time.

Now here you are, together at last,

You crazy, cucumber citrusy blast.

In Other News:  I have two short stories to share with you:

“Night Walks During Quarantine” was published July 4th, on Spillwords, and I completely forgot about it until now. Feel free to check it out on this link here: Night Walks During Quarantine.

The other one is “Double the Sugar” in The Potato Soup Journal. Here is the link: Double the Sugar.

Oh! And I’ve decided that I would love to do reviews for any authors out there who would like a review. Check out this link, which I’ve added to the Fixin’ Leaks and Leeks home page: “Reviews.” Cheers!

Your Turn: What is your favorite plant—edible or otherwise? If you’re feeling brave/naughty, leave a “dating app” profile for that plant in the comments section below. Let’s bring lonely plants together.

Published by ckennedy

Author of the DIY blog: Fixin' Leaks and Leeks. Paper/Rock Writing Consultation, Sole Proprietor.

25 thoughts on “Lemonade with Blue Borage Ice Cubes”

  7. The lemonade with blue borage ice cubes sounds very refreshing.

    Congratulations on the publication of your two stories! I just read them both. I hope “Night Walks During Quarantine” isn’t a harbinger of things to come. I got quite a kick out of “Double the Sugar.”

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  9. Wild stories! (Does borage have hallucinogenic qualities?) Sugar Up & Keep Walkin’.
    I wonder if all the people staying home, are bothering the poltergeists, who’re used to having the place to themselves for eight hours a day. Great writing, vivid and concise.
    My favorite plant romance, is rare and special kind of love, sort of a threesome, I guess. The one where they convert alfalfa to a grilled steak, and then it meets up with a sprig of parsley and a baked potato. I guess there’s garlic and peppercorns involved too. Then, the dramatic part of the plot, when I show up with a knife.

    Liked by 1 person

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