Still Life Goes Fast

I sometimes buy flowers to decorate my home, but more often I prefer to decorate with what is available. Pruned edges of plants become a dramatic arrangement, dried crape myrtle blossoms are miniature "winter tulips", fresh blooms and herbs brighten a kitchen window or table. Bring the outside in, keep it simple, find beauty in something that would otherwise be mundane.

 As I was walking around the house a few days ago, enjoying the warm breezes through all the open doors and windows, I realized that I usually have fruit placed throughout the house (more in the cool winter than summer), and I thought of all the wonderful Still Life art featuring a bounty of fruit and everyday objects, so I snapped a few pictures.

Consider yourself warned: these "still life" arrangements go fast if you have growing children around. So why relegate these wonderful colors to the refrigerator? I say enjoy the beauty, meditate on the impermanence of life, and then have a snack.

Get Your Greens In!

For Christmas, I received a copy of "What Chefs Feed Their Kids" and immediately found a fun food game that our family loves. One of the chefs played a game with her children called "open your mouth and close your eyes and I will give you a big surprise!"  My kids love playing this game and have tried lots of new foods because it's so fun. I begin by closing my eyes and letting one of them give me a bite and I try to guess what they gave me; then it's my turn. It's most fun when there are a mix of new/familiar foods on the table, or where foods can be arranged to make tasty bites (like tacos or stir fry).

The recipe I'll share here is adapted from the Greens Puree in the book. I suppose this would be a fine baby food, if you are into making your own (I was not -- we just fed bites from what we had for dinner). It's also suggested as a nice addition to soups or sauces. I had other plans for it: smoothies! 

Green smoothies hit the spot!

I love to add greens to smoothies, but I also like my smoothies really smooth, not grainy or lumpy. Since I have still not fulfilled my Vitamix lust (those things are pricey!), I have not been able to add kale or other "toughish" greens to my smoothies, just spinach occasionally.

The recipe calls for a mix of kale, collard greens, basil and spinach with 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil, same amount of water, and 1 tsp salt. Steam greens on low heat for 15-20 minutes (till things are soft and wilted), then add herbs till wilted. Puree in blender; thin with water, stock, etc. 

Steamed Greens, ready to puree

I had a lot of kale and a tiny bit of spinach. We had a very warm February down South and that was not terribly helpful for the spinach in the area. I also didn't have basil yet, but I did have parsely and lemon thyme, so I used that. My bright green puree went straight into the freezer!

Greens Ice Cubes for smoothies

This is a great base for smoothies! We have added it to all kinds, but if you mix the green with berries or other red/blue colors, the final smoothie is tasty, but a very unappetizing brownish hue. For "green smoothies" we add peaches, banana, pineapple and yogurt or water. I've found if I save fruit in the freezer and use that instead of ice cubes, then I can thin the smoothies with water instead of juice and not worry about watering down the flavor.

Sangria for All, and other uses for frozen fruit

Last week, I was making some white wine sangria when my four-year-old said, "Oh mommy, how beautiful!! Can I have some of that pretty drink?" Since I really love my cool and refreshing summertime beverages, I don't know why it never before occurred to me to use frozen fruit as ice cubes in drinks, but how pretty is this?

The "sangria" we are drinking here includes some limeade, pineapple juice, water, a touch of ginger ale and, frozen peaches and fresh strawberries. I freeze bits of fruit on a cookie sheet whenever we have an overabundance, so there is always a variety in the freezer and I foresee a summer full of sangria-style beverages here at Sunnybrook South.

My related "Use it All" dilemma: when the adults finished off the real sangrias, I was left with a lot of slightly boozy fruit, which I finally decided to puree in the blender and freeze into ice cubes. I plan to use them to make some strawberry/peach margaritas and I think a fruity cube would be a nice addition to a summertime Gin&Tonic!

Waste not, want not!