Toadstools, berries, dead bugs and cicada shells. Those were some of the many ingredients. I stirred them into a bucket of water and left them next to the fence, as far as I could get from the house. Dad could be a spoil sport.

I wasn’t sure what, but I knew something magical would happen eventually. I’d heard you could put a horse’s hair in water and it would turn into a worm, so I figured anything was possible.

Unfortunately, I never got to find out. Just as my brew was reaching maturity, Dad smelled it from inside the house and said “God what’s that smell?” and tumped it over. I said, “Dad, no! My potion!”

But Dad didn’t believe in magic.

After losing several potions with a lot of potential, I gave up on magic and turned to science.

I mixed household items like Windex, perfume and shampoo and put my “experiments” in the freezer. And in a few days, voila! They disappeared. I never saw it happen, but I was impressed.

Sometimes I got into the medicine cabinet for more scientific looking items. I learned that dropping Dad’s Alka-Seltzer into a sink full of water would make them disappear.

Then I turned to the kitchen. Baking supplies were a goldmine for science.

My biggest discovery: You know how baker’s cocoa floats on top of the milk and refuses to sink? Green food coloring worked like a charm. Add a little sugar and you have green chocolate milk. Red, blue and yellow had no effect. So what if Mom and Dad wouldn’t buy more Hershey’s Quick . We had it covered.

I admit I was unethical. Green chocolate milk looked like it might be poisonous, so I tested it on my little brother. When he liked it and didn’t die, it was Katie bar the door. Green chocolate milk was on the menu.

Mom asked, “What on earth is happening to the green food coloring?” But I never gave up my secret.