I made this great pink lemonade and I didn't even have to buy anything from a store. Can you guess my secret?

I'll show my process in reverse. Let me know, in the comments below, when you figured out what my secret ingredient is. Have you ever foraged it and used it yourself? I really want to know!

I know that this drink doesn't meet the requirements for Steemit Culinary Challenge #14, but I couldn't help myself! There aren't any lemons at all in here, but the result is even better than using lemons -- the pink color is already built in! I was, of course, disqualified from the Steemit Culinary Challenge, but that's OK. I want to make the point that even if you don't have lemons, you can still make lemonade. Here goes!

Step 4. Make the Faux Pink Lemonade

I put some icicles in my glass. Where did I get them? From our big ice storm. I picked them off some rose petals and saved them in my freezer. I poured my lemonade over the icicles and added some spearmint. That's it! It tastes great!

Step 3. Strain and Sweeten My Secret Ingredient

I strain out the liquid into another container. I let that sit a couple minutes, so any tiny particles can settle out. Then I pour almost all the liquid back into my bowl.

Once I remove my secret ingredient, I need to sweeten up the liquid. It tastes like lemonade without any sweetener and is just as sour! I add about 1/3 cup of honey to a little of my liquid, and heat to dissolve the honey. Then I stir that mix back into the rest of the liquid,and put it in the refrigerator to cool.

Step 2. Soak My Secret Ingredient

I use a couple seedheads of my secret ingredient. I break off the smaller seedheads, so everything fits into a bowl. Then I cover them with boiling water and add a few spearmint leaves, too. I don't want the spearmint flavor to dominate, so a few is enough. I let all this sit until it cools.

Step 1. Forage and Preserve My Secret Ingredient

Have you figured out what my wild faux lemon is yet? It's the seedhead of Smooth Sumac (Rhus glabra). Any of the red-seeded sumacs would work for this sorbet, including Staghorn Sumac (Rhus typhina), the Winged Sumac (R. copallinum), the Desert Sumac (R. microphylla), the Fragrant Sumac (R. aromatica), and even the Skunkbush Sumac (R. trilobata). They all can be used the same way, once you can identify them reliably.

Ingredients for a Wild Faux Pink Lemonade: Homestead honey, smooth sumac heads, and spearmint leaves

Several months ago, I made a really detailed post about foraging and preserving sumac berries. But I was frustrated at its low earnings and the 30-day limit for people to leave comments. So I edited out most of the information. I don't do that anymore. I'll repost that article, if anyone is interested. Sumac is a worthwhile plant to know. And some kind or another grows in many parts of the world. Sumac is vastly underappreciated!

I know the key ingredient for Steemit Culinary Challenge 14 is lemons. But if you live in a cooler climate, you are more likely to have Sumac bushes near you. And they work just as good as a lemon for making a lot of great things to eat and drink - anywhere you would use lemon juice. I hope you can enjoy some sumac, too!

What Do You Think?

Did you figure out my secret ingredient? Have you ever used Sumac berries to make anything to eat? Do you have an Sumac bushes growing in your area? I would really like to know!

I write about foraging because I believe that we can all have lives that are richer, more secure, more grounded, and more interesting by getting to know the plants and the land around us – in our yards, our parks, and our wilderness.

I would like Steemit to be the premier site for Foraging on the Internet! If you have any thoughts about foraging, or experiences to share, write a post and be sure to use the Foraging tag. And check out the Hive account@foraging-trail to see curated quality posts about foraging. Happy Foraging!