Hey mom, why don’t you post on smoothies? My reflex response: because they are so typical in our family I don’t think they count. They couldn’t possibly be interesting to people.

And yet.

We love them and have them almost every day. And they are so easy to make, they evade the rigid parameters of a recipe. Our smoothies are typically enjoyed for breakfast or as part of an after school snack. They judiciously represent the recommended ‘3-5 servings of fruit daily.’ AND are a perfect delivery system for a packet of Emergen-C.

Besides, for those of us who love the ideas of bananas, yet find the banana-ey texture hard to overcome: smoothies are key to banana consumption. And bananas are brilliantly good for you.

The ’sorta’ recipe for SMOOTHIES
serves 2-3.

2 large scoops lemon sorbet
1 banana
1 cup [frozen] mango cubes
1/2 cup [frozen] berries (strawberry, blackberry, blueberry, raspberry…)
Orange Juice to level of contents (play with OJ amounts according to how you like your smoothie: thick or thin)

Place all on blender, puree. Add blackberries on top to photo, if desired.

We snuck in a brief trip to Boston, Massachusetts last week. It has been our goal to steal the kids away and go explore the great city of Boston. And I must say, it was far too short a trip to take in this history rich, fall-embracing, food wise, grownup city. We really only had a few days, and managed to walk the Freedom Walk, drive Memorial Drive and visit the Museum of Science: wow.

And the hotel was fabulously GREEN. And I don’t mean just the color palate (well, that too, plus whites and charcoals and a smidgen of taupe). It was a great experience for our kids to see what a GREEN hotel meant, from a double flushing toilet (seriously a button for light flush and one for a full flush, to conserve water). And shampoo and soap dispensers in the shower so as not to waste a million little plastic bottles, plus energy efficient lighting and instead of bottled water, faucets with purified water. It was inspiring, and with as many hotels as their are in the world… we were especially aware since my son’s school project asks ‘what can we do to effect our environment positively?’ In this case ‘we’ was this hotel: please take this moment to applaud.

Of course, I could talk about the hotel, or the fact that we saw John Hancock’s and Paul Revere’s graves, or marched the Freedom Trail—starting at Boston Common—where soldiers marched before us. And I could tell you how inspiring it was to drive by Harvard and MIT and see north Boston which is thick in Italian heritage (with hazelnut gelato to die for). But really I mean to mention The Cheese Shop that we tucked into while in Concord, MA. (No doubt it is more important that Emerson lived there, and Waldon Pond and Sleepy Hollow are famous visiting sites).

It was pouring rain and we were due for a good sandwich, As we surreptitiously made our way through the streets of Concord, somewhere between the pouring rain and pangs of hunger, we ducked under a yellow awning… with the big embolden word CHEESE on it: who were we to resist? Sandwiches quickly consumed, we let our eyes feast on the vast array of wines and cheeses and all sorts of chocolates and goodies to try. We felt obliged to scoop up a small collection of untried chocolates. These 2 were our favorites, SO worth ordering if you want to try them too:

Lazzaroni: with amaretti cookie crumbles.

Lake Champlain Chocolates: 5 Star Chocolat Bar, Hazelnut.

It took me about a day and a half to realize this brief visit would not do justice to Boston; clearly, we will need to return and tour more, dig deeper into its history, visit the Tea Party ship (to reopen summer 2009) and of course, land in unexpected cheese shops to find cheese, wine… and chocolate!

Tip of the week is ‘tongue in cheek, ‘ since I don’t actually offer tips every week. And to be fair, I won’t be offering them each week going forward. I will, however, give you a tip this week—and many other randomly assigned weeks. You can peek at some of my past tips, given invariably during some week or another: check out scissors and ice cube trays, day-old-bread and great uses for glass jars.

I am a big fan of tips. The truth is, I adore good ideas, whether they are from me or someone else.

This idea came out of me trying to empty my refrigerator. I didn’t have a means to make meatballs, but did have some kalamata olives and a few straggling mozzarella balls. So I spruced up my spaghetti-with-red-sauce, and it occurred to me: mozzarella balls are a perfect meatball substitute. Some kids may not like meatballs, or perhaps you serve a vegetarian meal. Maybe it is simply time to change things up a bit.

When I poured all the noodles and tomato sauce into my bowl, I topped it with a handful of mozzarella balls. These ‘white cheese meatballs’ tasted great; I recommend a little meatball replacement therapy once in awhile. Variety is good for the palate, and certainly good for the soul.

I don’ t know if you have noticed but it seems cheese plates are taking their place on menus everywhere. They show up in the starting line and at the finish—whether you are tasting a flight of wines or wrapping up a splendid meal.

So once in awhile, we embrace the fad, and order ourselves a humble little plate of cheese. Often part of the fun is selecting a few cheeses from a list: a cheese plate of 1, 3 or 5 distinct cheeses. And then a little plate of cheeses arrive, sometimes with a sprig of thyme and quite often with some jellies, reduction sauces, a few olives or carefully placed almonds.

We recently ordered a plate of 3 cheeses, to liven up the notes of our respective glasses of vino. Our little plate of came with miniature wedges of cheeses, a few walnuts and a small ramekin of honey mustard dipping sauce.

We seem to rank them, when we have cheeses plated side by side. Of course, I never actually write down the name of the cheese, so that ‘one we liked the best’ remains nameless. But I will say this: it was a firm goat cheese (from… I think Spain), mild in flavor and lolled easily across our palates when paired with this ‘honey mustard sauce’.

Of course the following week I produced a similar appetizer in our home (with, I might add, a much larger wedge of cheese), complete with dipping sauce.

Honey & Cheese:

Buy: wedge of cheese, or two or three. I don’t find this sauce ideal for triple creams or sweet brie. Try matching this sweet and tangy condiment with a mild, semi-hard cheese. Or pick a few and find your own favorite.

3 T honey (I used clover, but lavender or blackberry honey might be interesting…)
1 tsp dijon mustard (I used one sans seeds)
big grinds of black pepper to top

Stir honey and dijon, grind pepper, serve.

Carrot chips? And how. I could have a pile of these, call it a meal, and be the better for it.

They aren’t bad for you, like many chips. They are not deep fried; no preservatives or other unmentionables are added. All that will rest on your palate is thinly-sliced, roasted carrots. All you need is a glugg of olive oil, a hearty pinch of coarse salt and carrots.

I am a big fan of trying new vegetables, or new shapes or new products. My family snacks on a lot of baby carrots; in the store recently I saw a bag of sliced carrots. They looked like ruffled chips. As I often do, I figured: different shapes, more interest. Why not? (if you don’t have waffle sliced carrots, just buy regular carrots, slice them 1/4 inch thick, at a slight diagonal. A mandoline might work if you can maintain slices between 1/4 - 1/8 inch).

Dinner appeared (as it often does: out of no where, and an hour too soon) and I tossed them on a cookie sheet with a sprinkle of oil and coarse salt. And tossed them so each carrot had a smear of oil; they are awesome. WAY better than fries or chips. Don’t believe me? Try them.

It just gets better: the other day at the grocer, I saw tri-colored carrots. Have you seen them? You can buy orange, white or purple carrots. I will be buying those next—this humble little side dish just became hip.

Carrot Chips
1 LB carrots, 1/4 inch slices on the diagonal
3 T olive oil (or so)
1-2 large pinches coarse salt

Toss carrots with oil, in bowl or with hands. Spread in single layer on cookie sheet. Sprinkle with salt. Roast in 400 degree oven for 25-30 minutes. (Sometimes I pump it up to 425).