Mis-Directions

Hello hello, and welcome to this week’s six-sentence story, where the word of the week is ZEST.  I knew it had other meanings, but I immediately thought back to the confusion I felt the first time I read a recipe requiring lemon zest and wanted to work some of that confusion in here.  Follow along with Peg, Vi, and Maj as they try to work their way through a recipe to reap the rewards.

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Peg knew that she wasn’t hitting the bottom as she stirred, but by her estimation the ladle was about six than a lack of proper mixing, besides Aunt Ella always said it was the intent that mattered more than the act anyhow.

“What next,” she demanded, a little impatient now, there were three of them, one reading the book, one prepping ingredients, and one stirring, herself, and while she had agreed to stay at the same post the entire time, she had not anticipated how slow the others would be.

“Ah, yes, 1 tablespoon zest of lemon, 1 tablespoon zest of lime, 1 teaspoon zest of orange, and 1 teaspoon zest of toddler,” Vi read with the confidence of someone who was reading aloud, and not listening to what they were saying at all.

“I thought zest was only for citrus,” Peg said, at the same time Maj asked, “is that the whole skin, or just like the top layer with the vegetable peeler?”

Vi frowned at the both of them, then looked back at the book before exclaiming, “OH, sorry, 1 tablespoon zest of lemon, 1 tablespoon zest of lime, 1 teaspoon zest of orange, 1 teaspoon zest of GRAPEFRUIT, 9 tablespoons BLOOD of a toddler, that makes so much more sense, my eyes skipped a line.”

Peg rolled her eyes, she was starting to think that this whole thing had been a waste of time, that they weren’t going to be successful at all, but she kept stirring, because even the chance of it working, of immortality was worth the sore arms she was sure to have in the morning.