summer – The Life and Times of Choconutmeg

Creamy and Refreshing Yoghurt Parfait: A Summer Delight!

I wasn’t always a huge parfait fan. If you follow this blog, you know that I mostly only eat chocolatey sweet things. But then, we went away for a weekend this June, and had this delicious parfait every morning at our Bed and Breakfast:

On a side note, we stayed in a boat house on the water in Catalina Bay, in the Kawartha Lakes region and it was absolutely lovely! Here are some photos of the place:

Our hostess was very gracious and kind, and the real bonus was that there was a resident kitty at the B&B!

But I was telling you about the parfait: it’s been a hot summer, and I’ve really been craving some creamy, berry filled parfait ever since our trip. So I went ahead and made some this morning:

If you’d like to give it a shot, here’s how:

Equipment:

A small thick bottomed saucepan

A grater or zester

Two bowls

Spoons, a spatula, and a whisk

Ingredients:

1 cup yoghurt

1/4 tsp vanilla essence

1 cup blueberries (frozen or fresh)

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

1 tsp finely grated lemon zest

1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice

1-3 tsp granola (you can go here, if you want to make your own (you can skip the coconut if you don’t like the idea of blueberries with coconut))

Method:

1. First, we’ve got to make our compote: Bring the sugar and water to boil in the saucepan at medium-high heat. Let it cook for 6-8 mins until the mixture thickens a bit. Add in the blueberries, lower the head to medium, and stir gently. Cook the berries for about 5 minutes. If you’re using frozen berries, cook the berries for a little longer. Take the pan off the heat. Add in the lemon zest and juice and mix well. Let the compote sit for about 15-20 minutes, until it cools.

2. Whisk the yoghurt and vanilla together in a bowl.

5. Serve the compote and yoghurt together in a new bowl. You can do it in whatever way looks nice to you. I did this:

6. Top off with granola and enjoy!

Strawberry-Banana Yoghurt Smoothie

If you’ve already read a few of my blog posts, or you’re a friend of mine, you probably know that I am not thrilled by the prospect of eating fruits and vegetables. Usually, I only use fruit and vegetables (with the exception of spinach, tomatoes and butternut squash) on my skin and hair! In fact, if a serial-killer were to abduct me with the express intention of torturing me, his/her best bet would be to force me to eat some fruit, or worse veggies.

But, I am getting old and well, wrinkles and the prospect of some debilitating illness (in that order) are also beginning to cause me some concern. This has prompted me to consider eating some fruit.

I tried at first to eat berries, specifically, strawberries, blueberries and such, but found them to be too sour. So then I began coupling them with slices of cake, specifically, cheesecake, Nutella cake and such. This worked, except, I also got horrendously fat ( not quite horrendously, but I did put on some weight). I found I was eating more cake and less fruit; not only did this make me fat, it sort of defied the purpose of eating fruit, namely to try and be more healthy, if I ended up eating more sugars and fats along with the fruit, in order to be able to consume the fruit.

But finally, I might have a solution! I’ve begun making fruit smoothies every morning and they’re quite refreshing! I’ve been told they’re pretty good by some of my friends who’ve tried them. For me, as you know, all good food has to be spicy and buttery or in the alternative, chocolatey, so while it’s really difficult to even think about raw fruit as yummy, I will say this, this smoothie is quite a bit better than edible, which makes it one of the best fruit smoothies in the world, I assure you.

If you want to try making one, all you need are 6 medium strawberries, a banana, yoghurt, milk, and a food processor or blender. Start by culling the strawberries:

If you don’t know how to do this, watch this video about how to cull strawberries fast:

Next, throw the berries and the banana (cut in half) into a processor or blender and process until smooth. Then add 2-4 tablespoons of yoghurt (depending on how tart you like your smoothie to be) and about 3 tablespoons of milk. Process some more until everything is blended and pour into a tall glass.

Drink immediately, and give yourself a pat on the pat for doing something healthy 🙂

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