When I was a little girl I wasn’t a tomboy and I wasn’t a real girly girl.  Cabbage Patch kids made me gag and those stupid Strawberry Shortcake dolls made me equally nauseous.  I liked Smurfs, because they were adorable and I was German and knew about them before they hit the U.S. hard, stuffed animals, because I loved real ones so much, anything that had to do with cooking or baking, as you can imagine, and Hello Kitty.

I was in 5th grade, I believe, when the Hello Kitty craze hit.  Every major department store had a Hello Kitty stand full of mini notepads, eraser sets, pencils, etc.  I would take my allowance to the mall on a Friday night after school and look at every little piece of merchandise on those stands trying to decide which I would buy.  I always came to a hasty decision as my parents counted down, urging me to choose something before they reached a count of ten.  I don’t know what it was about those silly colorful sets.  I loved anything in miniature and anything that came in a neat little package, so maybe that was it.  I am big on organization to this day, and making a “home” for everything, so either that character trait is what made Hello Kitty so appealing to me or maybe “she” was the one who started me on the need for compartmentalizing material possessions.  I would like to take the simple route and say that it was the “in” thing so I had to have what all the other little girls had at that time, but being the odd ball in the group, I never really conformed in that way even from an early age and thank goodness!  I can’t imagine having had a pink-ruffled canopy bed full of those downright creepy Cabbage Patch Kids just because other little girls my age had those things, but I sure loved the heck out of that Hello Kitty junk.

I also have always found sheer delight in  colored pens.  I was a big note taker in high school and college.  Notes, notes, notes, notes, notes.  To keep them organized I wrote different categories of notes in different colored ink so that when I went to write a report or study for a test I could easily see where one section left off and another began.  Homeschooling has been the same.  Lesson plans, graded papers, math notes for teaching all end up scribbled in different colored ink.  I HAVE to have my mulitcolored pens.  It’s no wonder that my Edible Tapestry notebooks, where I scribble down the recipes for dishes I make, are filled with different colored writings and marginal notes.  If I change an ingredient or rewrite a portion of a method, it must be done in a different color so I can clearly see the changes when I go to post the recipe.  I don’t exactly think the world would stop spinning if I don’t have my pens but it feels like my world would be much more difficult.

Because I think in such a visual manner, making these sodas the other night with my family reminded me of the Hello Kitty infatuation I had as a child and my obsession with colored pens and markers.  I was sublimely happy to have had the foresight to purchase plastic straws and drink stirrers, something that goes completely against my crunchy personality and refusal to buy disposable anything but toilet paper and tissues, the occasional roll of parchment paper for baking and disposable everything for birthday parties.

We had so much fun! I made all four sodas in one night, but only one glassful of each.  We divided up every glassful into juice glasses and we included a colored stirrer and straw with each person’s portion.  The Orange Soda and Sparkling Lemonade had either a lemon or orange slice hinged onto the rim of the glass.  Some first attempts ended horribly so repeat batches had to be made.  By the time we were done sampling and were satisfied with our concoctions we felt like Charley and his grandfather after they had snitched Fizzy Lifting Drinks from Willy Wonka’s factory.  In fact, I was seriously concerned at one point about my little guy and if I would be able to catch him before he hit the spinning ceiling fan.

To make the following sodas you will first need to make a batch of simple syrup.  This recipe made enough for approximately 12 drinks.  I used seltzer water but you can use any fizzy water that is unflavored that comes under any of the following labels– seltzer, club soda, tonic water, etc.  Add all of the ingredients in the order in which they are listed.  The extracts I found in the herbs and spices section of the grocery store.

Simple Syrup:

3 cups water

3 cups sugar

Combine the sugar with the water and heat to just under a boil until the sugar is dissolved.  Chill until ice cold.

Orange Soda:

1/4 c. simple syrup

1/2 tsp. natural orange extract

Ice

Seltzer water

Makes one tall glass.

No Brew Root Beer:

1/4 c. simple syrup

1/2 tsp. Root Beer Concentrate

Ice

Seltzer

The finished soda could not compare to a good bottle or IBC or A&W but it was so much fun to make!  It’s also clear and makes no head of foam whatsoever which makes it odd to drink.

Makes one tall glass.

Sparkling Lemonade:

1/4 c. simple syrup

Juice of one lemon

Ice

Seltzer water

Makes one tall glass.

Vanilla Italian Creamosa:

1/4 c. simple syrup

1/4 tsp. pure vanilla extract

2 T half  & half

Ice (optional)

Seltzer water

Makes one tall glass.

The creamosa was our favorite.  It’s like a vanilla milkshake that quenches your thirst as you drink it rather than making you thirsty!

So nice to be able to control the amount of sugar and additives in my kids’ glasses of soda.  These aren’t “healthy” per se, but simple and fun to make as a dessert or for a special occasion.  I want to make them by the pitcher  for the next birthday party I throw.  What fun!