Smoothie Bowl

I had my first smoothie bowl last summer and 

then again when we were down in Cabo, and

hubby and I fell in love.  Smoothie bowls are the

perfect breakfast or even dessert for summer.

We are headed to Lake Powell next week and

this will be featured on our menu for breakfast.

My Week of Lake Powell Menus are always one

of my most popular posts for the summer.  I noticed

people are already reading them.  We don't do hot dogs

and plain old hamburgers when we houseboat at

Lake Powell - everyone does their best to cook a

great meal.  Look forward to my week's menu

after we get back.  

Of course you can mix it up every time you make

one, but this smoothie bowl features items that we

almost always have around the kitchen.

Smoothie Bowl Recipe

1-2 bananas, cut into pieces

1 handful of blueberries,

1 handful of raspberries,

6 - 8 strawberries,

1 orange peeled

1 C. ice cubes

Place everything in a blender until smooth.

You want the smoothie to be thick so that

it is spoonable and the toppings won't sink to

the bottom.  You can substitute frozen fruit for

the ice cubes if you want.  

This should make enough for two people.  Divide

into two bowls and top with fresh fruit and sprinkles of

granola, coconut or nuts - anything you love that gives

it some texture and flavor.   Eat right away.  

So easy and quick and refreshing and 

perfect on a hot summer day.

Enjoy all the fun tastes of summer.  Add some pineapple, mango,

or any fruits you love.  

I told my friends the other day,

"I have waited my whole life for summer!" 

Enjoy every minute of it for it flies!

Showstopping Fruit Platter

Wow, now that is a fruit platter that makes your mouth water!

My youngest daughter will 

be graduating from 

Culinary Art School 

this week and I just had to feature

her final project.  She graduated last year with a one

year certificate and this year she will be finished with

her two year certificate.  She had to complete a 10 hour

project of her choosing and this huge culinary creation

is half of her project.  The other half will be putting on

a pizza party using our pizza oven for her classmates

where she does all of the prep and manages the fire

and of course the clean up.

I wanted to get photos as this project was so impressive

and I knew my readers would want to see it.  She was 

surprised to see me show up at school and said she could

have just taken photos with her phone!

Ha ha - I need better photos to post than that.

I love this part of the presentation - she has scooped out the bottom

of a pineapple and filled it with chocolate covered strawberries.

These were actually the first Bling Bling Berries we made

even though I posted the others first.

She dipped all of the berries herself.

She did all of it herself, including coming up with the idea.  I just love

the pineapple flowers with a grape center.

Everything sits in a large watermelon that she flattened the bottom of

and then took the top off.  The parsley comes from our garden and is

held in around the rim with floral picks or wide bobbie pins.

Then clusters of black and green grapes alternate around the rim of

the melon.  She filled the center with skewers of assorted fruit and

then placed more parsley around the bottom and tucked in additional

chocolate covered strawberries in assorted chocolates.

I caught up with her when she wasn't quite finished.  It was fun

to see her work and to see her classmates come over to 

compliment her on how beautifully it had turned out.

She started her first year in a much smaller kitchen but the school

built a wonderful new building with a

  3.1 million dollar kitchen.

What a wonderful place to learn and to cook.

It makes me want to go to Culinary Arts School!

Wouldn't this be wonderful for a wedding or a shower or other

special occasion?

Here she is with her teacher Tony inspecting her final project.

How fun to have been there to see her finish putting it together

and showing it off.

We are so proud of her accomplishments  -

now we just need to get her to cook for us more!!!!

Actually, doing this was what inspired her wonderful

fruit bouquet that she gave me for Mother's Day!

I want to show this off at

Foodie Friday

Weekend Wrapup

Seasonal Sunday

On The Menu Monday