Indian Lemonade
Upon arriving home, we immediately began to strip fingerfuls of fuzzy berries to make sumacade.
Everyone (even me) pitched in.
Susannah was at first industrious,
until her obsession (yea, verily, her obsession) with bugs overwhelmed her, and she began hallucinating. She was certain that one fuzzy little berry (identical in every way, mind you, to the countless fuzzy, little berries she's eaten before) was a bumblebee.
That pretty much put a stop to her industriousness, a scant minute after it had begun.
Annie reminded us of why we love sumac berries so much. They're like sweetTarts, only fuzzier!
Then the girls mashed them a little bit.
And then we let the berries steep in water, and I strained them out, and we slurped and slurped, saving only one glass for the Papa, who loved it and wished for more.
The End
2 comments :
I am beside myself every year when I hear about you guys and your sumac berry adventures.
I seriously have thought that all sumac was to be avoided, up until very recently. I still didn't know you could EAT some of it. It sort of goes against everything I thought and kind of gives me the willies. I picture myself in the ER or at least with a hugely swollen mouth.
It is so interesting! Did your mama teach you this? I am going to google it and read up on it. I have seen nary a sumac bush around these parts, though, but it is interesting info to have in any case. :D
My brothers and I used to eat it all the time when we were growing up, not because we'd been told it was edible, but because when you play outside all day long, you're bound to discover edible things through trial and error!
I actually learned about making Indian lemonade after YOU were surprised to see the girls nibbling staghorn (velvet) sumac two (?) years ago. I looked it up to ensure that I wasn't telling you falsehood, and that, indeed, it was safe for everyone to nibble and not just for me and the girls. I found a instructions for sumac lemonade, and the rest is history.
Any sumac with white berries is definitely poisonous, though, and one should never munch without first being certain of what one is munching.
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