You Get A Lot Out of Them

Photo by John McQuaid on Unsplash‍ ‍

“You get a lot out of them, even when things aren’t perfect” is the writing prompt for this 6-minute exercise:

I’m thinking mainly of citrus. Lemons, limes, oranges, grapefruit. Though, in my experience, it can be difficult to get a lot out of limes. Limes can be stubbornly dry, unyielding no matter how hard you squeeze. Though that’s okay because a little bit of lime goes a long way. Same for some lemons. I’m thinking of how lemons can be juicy and luscious or withered and hard. Like some women I’ve known. Like ME, depending on the age and the season when you encountered me. Back to lemons not yielding much. If you’ve never tended bar — and even if you have, depending on what sort of bar you were tending — you may not know about this. To make lemon twists for martinis, you make vertical stripes all around the lemon on its outside, from end to end. Just deep enough to reach the white pulp layer. Then you do a similar cut around the circumference at the top and bottom of the lemon, mimicking the final latitude lines before the poles on a globe. You put the scored lemon in your little bartender’s box. You’ll often see this sitting next to the waitress station. Compartments for sliced limes, sliced lemons, cherries, maybe olives or orange wedges. When the martini with a twist is ordered, you take out your pre-scored lemon. Ideally, it has dried out slightly, awaiting use. With your paring knife, you carefully peel one strip away from the white membrane. Then you gently twist the lemon over the top of the martini so a few precious drops of lemon-peel essence fall into the glass. Finally, you gently rub the twist around the rim of the glass and let it fall on the top of the liquor. Et voila!