Time to Cool Off

Those of you that know me personally, know that I'm passionate about food - cooking, eating, and sharing. Even after being in gyms for nearly 32 years and witnessing one "health" fad after another, I still find myself seeking pleasure from the food on my plate. Being a CIA grad makes that easy to accomplish.

We're in the dog-days of summer here in the desert. Temperatures will routinely hover well above 105 F soaring 10 or even 15 degrees higher! On days like this I reach for fresh fruit: Cool, fresh, ready-to-eat fruit that makes me happy in the mouth. Last week strawberries and pineapples were on sale and I decided to stock up: One-half flat (about 6 lbs) of strawberries for $4 bucks and the pineapples were $2.49. Such a deal! The berries needed to be washed and cleaned but the pineapple needed a few more days to sweeten-up. In a nutshell, a few days later the pineapple was very ripe and the berries didn't look so happy but I'll be damned if anything in my kitchen is going to go to waste.

Out comes the food processor (a blender would work but you'd have to process the fruit in batches). The very ripe berries and very ripe pineapple are placed in the processor bowl and pulsed for 30 seconds. A splash (I said splash) of fruity triple sec and Cassis (black currant liquer) are added the puree is poured into ice cube trays (a little vegetable spray helps later) and frozen. The separated, frozen cubes were placed in a freezer bag for a refreshing, ready-to-eat treat. Of course, you can do this with any fruit or combination and you can substitute the triple sec and Cassis with a squeeze of lemon and/or lime. Yummy!

Confession: No, 6 lbs of berries and a pineapple won't go into two ice cube trays. Lets just say there was a little snacking before the Cuisinart got involved.