winter fruit

we eat in season, so why not drink seasonably too?!  southern california has citrus trees growing abundantly EVERYWHERE.  my backyard can attest to this.  i had pink grapefruits and vanilla vodka on hand and decided to mix them together to see what i'd get.

)))BOOM(((

this baby is a real gem and i will make it again for sure. think creamsicle but better.
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fresh grapefruit juice strained to remove pulp
vanilla vodka (i used stoli leftover from a previous party)
ice
sugar

-i juiced 3 large pink grapefruits
-add strained juice to a shaker with a handful of ice and a few shots of vodka
-shake what your mama gave you
-use leftover grapefruit skins to wet the rim of the glass...dip in sugar
-pour yourself a drink

.::enjoy::.

Winter Goodness

we have one orange, one avocado, one tangerine and two meyer lemon trees.  they are LOADED with fruit right now.  i'm not complaining in any way shape or form but i need recipes to use all this fruit!  we've been giving it away to our friends and family and eating/drinking it almost every day at our own house.  so as you can imagine, i'm always on the hunt for new orange/lemon recipes to try.

coincidently, my friend erin emailed me the other day from the bay area, sharing a WONDERFUL recipe she tweaked from Gourmet magazine.  it's too good, easy, cheap and healthy to keep to ourselves. it also has lentils which i love....so here it is:



Rice and Lentil Spinach Salad with Oranges and Dried Cherries

yield: Makes 6 servings

active time: 20 min

total time: 35 min

1 package Trader Joe's Ready to Eat Lentils

1 package Trader Joe's Frozen Rice Medley (Brown Rice, Red Rice, Black Barley)

1/4 cup finely chopped shallot (about 1 large shallot)

2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar (i used apple cider vinegar since it's what i had on hand)

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

2 oranges

1/3 cup dried cherries, chopped (i left mine whole.  i also used golden raisins the first time i made it since that's all i had)

1/4 cup olive oil

2-3 large handfuls organic spinach 

put one package of rice (three come in a box) in a pan and heat over medium heat until totally defrosted.  you can also put a package in the refrigerator earlier in the day to defrost and skip this step.  

when the lentils come out of the packaging, they need some breaking up.  do this in a large bowl.  add rice.  

Stir together shallot, vinegar, and lemon juice and let stand. Finely grate zest from 1 orange and cut away remaining peel and pith of both. Cut sections free from membranes and cut sections into 1/2-inch pieces. Toss warm rice with lentils, shallot mixture, orange, zest, cherries, oil, and spinach and season with salt and pepper. Serve warm or at room temperature.

see how easy that was?  and just wait until you taste it.  DELICIOUS!

WOW

i know we're at the cusp of summer and all i can think about is tomatoes, berries, corn and other warm weather delights, but i ran across this beautiful picture of a persimmon tree today. absolutely lovely. this fall fruit makes such a color statement in a yard and i think i'll have to add it to my current list of trees i want in my garden one day:

• Lemon (of course! i'm one of the biggest lemon freaks on the planet)
• Guava (strawberry-guava is a fav)
  
• Hass Avocado
• Pink Grapefruit
• Peach
• Persimmon
• Black Mission Fig (i've got to represent my Fresno roots)