BLOG-The Indulgence
- Published: May 19, 2012
My daughter Zan surprised us in April by asking if we could make popsicles. I had flashing memories of making homemade pops with my brothers and sisters using kool aid, toothpicks, and ice trays and, of course, thought her idea brilliant. We assessed the kitchen holdings and found we had sufficient resources for a decent strawberry banana smoothie. Next we scrounged the house for ice trays, our success included flower and fish forms from IKEA and ice cream sandwich molds. Once we amassed the necessary items, we blended the smoothie, ran through our supply of toothpicks (Note to self: add toothpicks to grocery list.), popped the filled trays into the fridge. Six hours later we were snacking on our frozen treat. Hands down, the kids preferred the traditional toothpick pops reminding us all how much food on a stick rules.
Just yesterday, Zan and I were at the Wright Patterson Base Exchange when we passed a demonstration booth for the Vitamix blender. I had heard of this blender from my Aunt Teri. She and her husband own a family farm in upstate New York, and they use the Vitamix to process butter and grind flours. Aunt Teri highly recommended it to me several years back and it’s remained on my Christmas wish list since. Here finally was my chance to see it in action. The demonstrator soon materialized and happily set about feeding us. He started off with a strawberry banana smoothie and then made a magnificent sorbet out of avocado, spinach, lime, and agave, a honey-like nectar. My daughter—suspicious of green food—gamely tried the sorbet after I assured her that it tasted like watermelon. She agreed to take an Elmo taste—a medium sized bite on the center of her tongue—after which she asked for her very own sample and found a comfortable corner to sit and enjoy the sorbet at leisure. She wasn’t the only one sold on its goodness. Somewhere between the soup tortilla, cashew ice cream, and rice flour demos, I decided to take a blender home. (Note to husband: Strike bar blender from Christmas list.)
In removing the blender from its packaging, I was inordinately pleased to find a notice boasting its Cleveland, Ohio origin. I was raised in one of the seats of American manufacturing and intimately know the importance of manufacturing to the local economy. So it was good to find myself supporting the home team. Founded in 1921 by William G. Barnard “the Father of the Infomercial”, the Vitamix Corporation‘s vision is admirable and true in its execution: to bring vitality to people’s lives and remove boundaries between homemade and professional food preparation. As the first week approaches of my family’s produce pickup from Smaller Footprint Farm, the ability to make salsas, soups, sorbets, and smoothies fresh and quickly will be much appreciated.
Zan was ready to stay up all night making smoothies. She combed our strawberry plants for berries to add to blender and carted ice cubes from the kitchen refrigerator to make her first sorbet as I cleaned the pitcher. Berries being short, we made a rhubarb mint sorbet instead. The rhubarb came from the garden of our friend Carol. Her generosity included a starter plug that’s been added to my own garden (Note: Continue to water new plantings; the weather’s been dry.). Our homemade sorbet was a brilliant green due to the fresh cut collard green that I snuck in at the end. Early arrivals to today’s farmers market may find local strawberries in season. If I hurry, maybe I can surprise Zan with the fixings for strawberry banana smoothie, then she can treat the family by whipping it up. If you hear a whirring sound coming from our kitchen, that will be her.
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