The Accidental Perk

Lemonade: as vital to my strudel as a pool is to a hillside resort.

Hubby and I planned a holiday in Europe a couple of years ago, and it involved driving over the Swiss Alps to Pordnone in Italy in a day. We were pretty confident about succeeding in doing that and so had booked holiday accommodation in the historical centre of Pordnone.

But we didn't as we didn't bargain on me getting bored listless with hours confined to the car's front passenger seat. So when we still had another five hours of driving before we could get to our destination, I mutinied. And successfully demanded that we stay over night in the next town we chanced upon.

It didn't matter that we were driving through the most depressing looking industrial neighbourhood, which as good as fore-warned an even more crummy town centre. I was determined to spend the rest of the evening working out my legs.

So imagine our surprise when we did arrive in the heart of town. Trento's city centre had a beauty that surpassed Verona. It was like chancing upon a rainbow after a blistering thunder storm. It turned out that we've stumbled upon a town known only to vacationing Italians born and bred in Italy. What a divine stroke of luck! And to this day we would advise friends planning an Italian holiday to pay a visit to this exquisite little piece of heaven on earth.

And cooking's like that at times. Like the other day when I was making a well-loved tried-and-tested apple strudel recipe and discovered half-way through the preparations that I'd used every one of my lemons' zest to make a fresh batch of home-made lemonade. And the apple strudel recipe definitely needed that. In exasperation I added two tablespoons of the home-made brew into the sliced apple filling. And kept all my fingers crossed when I shoved the raw strudel into the oven.

Well, the emergency switch up turned into a blessing in disguise. The apple strudel came out of the oven tastier than ever. The lemonade accentuated the flavours of the sherry soaked raisins and enhanced the tartness of the slices of pure granny smiths. Even hubby commented that I was actually on to something here, and he wolfed down his portion before the strudel had time to cool down to room temperature.

From now onward, lemonade's more than just a refreshing drink to wash down the strudel: it's a vital ingredient!