Homemade sweetened lime juice is combined with London dry gin to make a tart and refreshing Low FODMAP Gin Gimlet Cocktail.

The Derecho

I thought I’d share a cocktail recipe today because I don’t know about you, but I need a drink! The past two weeks have been unbelievable. I live in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and you may have heard about what happened here August 10. We had a storm called a derecho (yeah, I’d never head of it either) come through with hurricane-strength winds, topping at 140 mph. It decimated the city. The whole city was without power for days, even weeks for some people. Cedar Rapids lost an estimated 50% of its tree cover. The linden tree in our front yard broke off at the base of its trunk and fell into the driveway. Some weren’t so lucky, with trees falling on their house. Others had their roof blow away.

Linden tree blown over by a derecho in Cedar Rapids, Iowa

The entire city being without electricity for so long was a surreal experience. Keeping the windows wide open, we fell asleep at night to the sound of generators and the smell of burning wood. Everything in our refrigerator and freezer went bad and we had to throw it all out. We ate peanut butter and anything else from the pantry that didn’t require cooking. We couldn’t even order food in because all of the restaurants were without electricity too.

Finally, the heat got to be too much for us and we decided to stay at my parents’ house thirty minutes away. They had air conditioning! And internet! We hesitated going to stay with my parents because of COVID-19, but felt we had been careful enough quarantining that my parents would be safe. Our neighborhood finally got electricity restored six days after the derecho. It took another six days to get our internet connection back.

The Cocktail

So I am finally feeling that things have been restored and are back to normal. Well, as normal as life can be in 2020! This year has been a challenge for the entire world, so I’m sure everyone could use a drink. I have just the drink for you: Low FODMAP Gin Gimlet Cocktail. Gimlets are very simple cocktails with just two ingredients: gin and sweetened lime juice. Both gin and lime juice are low-FODMAP! I use my Homemade Sweetened Lime Juice recipe, which you can find in my post about Virgin Mojitos. My favorite gin for this cocktail is Bombay Sapphire, but any London Dry gin will do.

Shhh…don’t tell anyone, but I usually drink a double of this recipe. However, Monash has only tested 1 oz. of gin, so stick with that amount if you are on the elimination phase of the diet. Also, keep in mind that alcohol can irritate the gut and should be consumed with food. Here’s hoping 2020 doesn’t get any worse. Cheers!