By Kathryn Reed

Cooking and cocktails are usually separate things. Not so with this drink.

While it takes more effort than the usual libation, it was well worth it. The final product was delicious.

The only problem was stopping at one. Sue made them on a work night, so we limited our intake.

I’m looking forward to more soon. That is the nice thing about this recipe – the ingredients will last a few days in the fridge.

I would have thought adding sugar to the naturally sweet peaches would have been overkill. Not so. The bourbon and lime juice temper the sweetness.

This is still a sweet drink, but not outrageously so. The real problem is the alcohol is subtle enough that on a warm day I could see it would be too easy to throw a few of these back and not realize what I did until it’s too late.

Shake Your Peaches (makes 8 drinks)

2½ C water

2/3 C sugar

3 peeled peaches, chopped

1¼ C bourbon

1 C fresh lime juice

Combine water, sugar and peaches in saucepan over high heat. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir as needed.

Place pan in bowl of ice water. Once at room temperature, puree in blender. Add bourbon and lime juice. Mix well. Chill until cold.

Serve over ice.