‘Tis the season to seek out lush summer melons and enjoy them any which way you can. Right now, cantaloupes, watermelons, honeydews, crenshaws — even lesser-known melons like piel de sapo, or “toad skin” — are crowding the produce bins. You can trim away the hard rinds, then chop the flesh and add it to [...]
I’d be willing to bet that most people would say that summer = watermelon and watermelon = summer. You can’t have one without the other. Just ask my watermelon-loving friend. Her superpower is eating an entire watermelon in one sitting … although then she groans about having “watermelon belly.” Good thing watermelons aren’t in season [...]
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What to do when a friend gives you the gift of perfectly sweet honeydew? It depends how quickly you want to enjoy it! I thought about blending it with coconut milk and honey to make ice cream, but then I decided that I didn’t want to wait for the ice cream maker to do its [...]
“Oh, the weather outside is frightful”…so let’s pretend we’re someplace a bit more tropical with a refreshing smoothie in our hand. After this much snow, I’m okay with the idea of being a bit unseasonal and including a summery banana with a wintery pear. Using coconut milk rather than dairy is another good way to [...]
Continue reading about Sipping Summer & Winter Out of a Single Glass
As my regular readers know, when I discover a new ingredient or a new way to use a tried-and-true ingredient, I go on a [fill in the blank] kick. This time, it’s macadamia nut butter. I started out dipping 90% dark chocolate squares into it (UNbelievable!), then made salad dressings out of it, and now [...]
Continue reading about Coconut, Banana & Macadamia All in One Glass
Dates are fabulously useful! Just don’t confuse them with figs, which are also lovely but which don’t have the staying power or sweetness of dates. (And don’t confuse fresh figs with the gritty stuff inside Fig Newtons — an actual fig tastes much lighter and fruitier, plus it beautifully shades from pink to cream to [...]
In the tradition of memorable beverages like the Harvey Wallbanger and the Arnold Palmer, I’m going to name my most recent smoothie/cocktail creation after my friend Jill. Why? Because she’s nuts about watermelons — she’s capable of consuming an entire melon in one sitting. (I wish I could do the same with my beloved pineapples, [...]
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Upfront disclosure to the mousse die-hards out there: this is not a true mousse. True mousses are made with eggs — they’re the key ingredient, in fact — whereas this one is made with macadamia nut butter. Still, the nutty richness of the macadamia butter is very reminiscent of an eggy richness, and both the [...]
Here’s some fruit trivia for the day: what’s the difference between a Hawaiian papaya and a maradol papaya? The latter is from Mexico and is visually very different than the vaguely-pear-shaped Hawaiian variety — maradols are almost a foot long and have much darker flesh. Both, however, have a wonderfully smooth tropical flavor; both blend [...]
Who doesn’t like a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup? Peanut butter and chocolate just go together. But I guarantee that once you make your own PB&C in solid form or smoothie/shake form, you won’t ever want to go back to the prepackaged kind. The homemade variety tastes better, it’s a whole lot better for your health, [...]
