Squeezed

Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all.  ~Harriet Van Horne


My entire kitchen smells like summer. 

That may have something to do with the fact that I spent almost two hours slicing, squeezing, and juicing 88 fresh key limes halves...

...resulting in one cup of fragrant, pale yellow-green juice. 

The final result should be two tart key lime pies, drizzled with a homemade sweet raspberry syrup, and topped with a fluffy mound of hand-beaten vanilla whipped cream...

...and maybe even some raspberry meringues with the left-over egg whites if I get extra ambitious.  

At least, that is the goal. 

We will have to see how things actually turn out when tomorrow comes...rest assured that a far-more detailed post will be written when the pies are completed 

This entire citrus-y adventure was inspired by Olivia at Of Horsefeathers and her key lime pie recipe. (You can read her post here and even watch her play-by-play video here.) 

Also, it doesn't hurt that key lime pie is one of my favorite summertime treats of all time. 

But as I stood at my kitchen counter, fingers busily draining every last drop of juice from the sparkling emerald fruits, I could not help but think about myself as a lime.

My key lime juicing set up.
Photo by DramaticElegance

I can be just a bit sour. Sharp. Almost intolerable at times.

It takes the hand of God on my heart, squeezing and pressing out all the goodness, tossing all the bitterness into the garbage, even turning me inside out and cleaning out every last bit of vileness from the inside...

...combining me with His pure love, the sweetness of His mercy, and a gentle spirit straight from His kingdom. 

It takes pain sometimes. Hardship. Even the heat of fire. 

But in the end, I will come forth...

...squeezed.

...beautiful.

...sweet. 

"And I will put this third into the fire, and refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested. They will call upon my name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are my people’; and they will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’” ~ Zechariah 13:9


(Follow my blog with Bloglovin)