Menu for One

Alton Brown's Purple Smoothie (part of this complete breakfast!)

 Last week, the food blogging scene was abuzz with the success of the first annual food blogging camp  at Club Med Ixtapa.  Attendees benefitted from small workshops with food writers, food stylists, photographers, and chefs, including Michael Ruhlman, Matt Armendariz, and David Lebovitz.  While I did not go (err...as you can see by the quality of the lead photo to this post - I need to do a better job rinsing that glass!), I wished that I had, envying their chance to slowly sip tropical drinks adorned with little umbrellas while listening to the soft lapping of ocean waves on the beach.  Sigh.

Alas, lately I have been spending my days in a window-less room reviewing documents to be shared in a class action lawsuit, so I have to get my kicks where I can.  I cannot bring the beach to me, but I can put a fruity drink in my hand.  I swapped the little umbrella for an awesome curly straw (courtesy of my friends Tim and Ben, who decided that when it came time for me to celebrate passing the bar exam, regular drinks and regular straws just would not do.  Thanks, guys.) and left out the hard stuff (to keep this drink weekday morning-friendly), although you could certainly add whatever you like. 

Taking a page out of Eugenia Bone's book, I have portioned this smoothie recipe into single servings so this fruity concoction can be enjoyed on a moment's notice (especially early in the day when I might be less inclined to mix and measure, as easy as it may be).  It should be noted that this recipe, as much as any smoothie is a recipe, comes courtesy of Alton Brown, although I have adapted slightly. 

Into freezer-safe containers, combine 2 ounces (by weight) each of frozen strawberries, blueberries, and peaches.  Mango might be a nice substitute, but for the sake of convenience, I might shy away from the seedier fruits, such as raspberries and blackberries.  Next, add 2 ounces (by weight) of banana (roughly half of a banana) broken into bite-sized pieces (your blender will thank you).  Then add 2 ounces (by weight) of any purple fruit juice.  Try acai juice, which comes from the fruit of a species of palm tree (every time it's mentioned, all I can hear is Will Ferrell from Zoolander saying "It's so hot right now."), trendy pomegranate juice, or the old-reliable grape juice (which is what I used because it's waaaay cheaper than the other two). 

Seal and save in the freezer until you're in need of a 10 minute tropical getaway.  I let a bag partially defrost in the refrigerator overnight, then blend it (slowly at first to help grind up the big chunks of fruit, then at a higher speed for 30-60 seconds), adding milk (or soy milk for protein, but milk is cheaper, and I'm all about cheap right now) until the smoothie reaches my desired consistency.

Speaking of cheap...this smoothie is cheap!

CHEAP EATS: Making your own freezer-ready smoothie mix will save you money right off the bat - it's cheaper than the frozen bags of smoothie mixes you can buy at the store, and certainly much less expensive (and arguably better for you) than anything you could buy at a national smoothie chain.  I recommend buying pre-frozen fruit (with the exception of bananas) over buying fresh fruit and freezing it yourself.  Frozen fruit is already picked at its peak and frozen immediately, so sometimes the quality can be even better than berries you might find in your produce section, say, in the dead of winter.

But get this!  The first time I made this, I went to my local Publix to pick up bags of frozen fruit at $3.99 a pop.  But while I was strolling up and down the isles of Whole Foods (isn't that just so relaxing?), I discovered that their frozen fruit was - wait for it - nearly $2.00 cheaper per bag!  Who saw that coming?  I did not.  All in all, this drink is about $1.60 per serving!  So get yourself some fruit and pull out your blender!  You need a $1.60 vacation!

Blackberry Limeade (porch swing not included)

I am frequently asked how I came to live in Georgia and whether I have grown accustomed to living in the South.  Truth be told, it wasn't much of an adjustment moving to the land of collard greens and fried chicken.  The South is often characterized by its people (warm and friendly...Atlanta drivers might want to take a refresher course), its weather (sunny and hot hot hot), and its food (good home cookin', usually a little on the heavy side, but nevertheless a key ingredient of the hospitality for which Southerners are known).

Aside from the weather, my small hometown in New Hampshire was not much different.  It, too, was filled with very friendly people, who were just as soon to smile when you pass them on the sidewalk.  

I once chatted with a professor at a small college in New England who was writing an article on what he termed "small town civility."  Although friendliness or good manners, or whatever you want to call it, can exist anywhere, the dynamics of living in a small town forces residents to exhibit more neighborly behavior than people living in larger, more urban environments.  For example, here in Atlanta, I can go to the same grocery store a dozen times and never run into anyone I know.  The anonymity that comes from living in an urban environment gives city folk the freedom to act however they like in public because they probably won't see the people in any particular place again.  But the professor theorized that in a small town, you have to be civil with everyone who crosses your path.  You can't chew someone out for cutting you off in traffic or ignore them at the post office because she's your banker or he's the only plumber in town.  You're probably going to need their help at one point or another.

But I digress.  I venture that, no matter whether you're a city girl or country boy, you can appreciate a porch swing or an adirondack chair and a tall glass filled with something cool and refreshing.  If you've been meaning to dust the pollen off your adirondack chair, or want to take a 10 minute mental vacation to pretend you have a house with a porch and a swing, I suggest you whip up some of this:

BLACKBERRY LIMEADE: AMETHYST ELIXER
Adapted from a recipe by Martha Hall Foose, found in Screen Doors and Sweet Tea

4 cups fresh blackberries, or unsweetened frozen blackberries, thawed
1 cup sugar
The peal from half of a lime
1/2 cup fresh lime juice (roughly 8 limes)
2 cups of club soda, or tonic water

Place the berries in a food processor and pulse until the berries have emitted their dark juice.  Be careful not to pulverize the seeds, for they are not invited to be in the drink, and it's easier to keep them out when they're somewhat whole.  Using the back of a plastic spoon, press the juice and what remains of the berries through a fine mesh sieve to separate the juice from the seeds.  Mix the blackberry juice with the lime juice.

Next, in a small saucepan, combine the sugar, water, and lime zest.  Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes to form a simple syrup.  Remove the peel, and allow the syrup to cool to room temperature.  Slowly add 3/4 of the syrup to the blackberry/lime juice and taste, and then add the remainder of the mixture to your taste.  Keep in mind that the mixture will be diluted by the club soda.

Fill a tall glass with ice.  Fill 1/3 of the way with the blackberry limeade and the rest of the way with club soda or tonic water (some gin might also be a great addition to the party).  Sit back, relax, and enjoy.

Hot Chocolate

I know you won't believe this, but as I write, it is actually snowing here in Atlanta.  And not just flurrying - giant snowflakes are actually accumulating on the ground.  Needless to say, my local grocery store looked like it had more traffic today than it did on Superbowl Sunday.

As a matter of fact, I hail from above the Mason-Dixon line where snow is almost more common than sunshine.  I remember once our local grocer told us that it wasn't milk, bread, and eggs that she sold out of just before a big blizzard: it was ice cream (the rationale being that if the power goes out, someone will just have to eat it before it melts!)

Well, I didn't have any ice cream.  But where one can't have ice cream, surely hot chocolate is a close second on a day like today.  I borrowed this recipe from Ellie Krieger.  Here's my mise-en-place:

First, heat one mug's worth of milk (1 c.) in a small saucepan with a cinnamon stick (optional, but worth it). 

While you wait for that to simmer, combine 2 tsp. unsweetened cocoa powder, 2 tsp. sugar, and 2 tsp. water in your mug, stirring to form a paste. 

At this point, your milk is probably ready (you'll know because little bubbles will have formed around the edge of the pan).  Carefully, add it to your mug, stirring gently.  You now have a single mug of hot chocolate.

But wait!  This recipe is ripe for improvisation.  Consider adding a dash of vanilla (as I did), a spoonful of nutella, peppermint, almond extract...the sky's the limit.  Curl up in an armchair with a blanket and a book, and you're set to weather the day!