Ripe

During a weekend at home, on a evening walk with my Dad during the golden hour, we stopped to admire our neighbors blueberry garden. The ripening berries were in such a wide range of mint green to dusty rose to dark fuchsia and finally into a deep plum wine. Maybe I haven't taken the time to stop and really notice the colors blueberries go through from to make them the deep purple and blue they end up being when they are finally picked and eaten.

If you haven't been able to notice from my blog design, I love the cool color palette with lots of greens and purples. With the hint of coral and raspberry, these berries have all of my favorites.  I couldn't help but share these beautiful photos I captured when the light was perfect and right before a thunderstorm hit. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do, as the indian summer approaches right before fall encroaches.  

Pomegranate

I've always heard how amazing pomegranate is for you, and I've seen it as a smoothie flavor and in different juices, but I've never actually bought a pomegranate and opened one to see what the fruit looked like.  Over Thanksgiving break, Dad had picked up a few from the grocery store for us to enjoy together!  They even came with a brochure on how to cut out the fruit.  I was kind of surprised to see what was inside, even though I've seen pictures, it just never occurred to me how small the edible pieces, or arils, would be since the pomegranate itself is rather large!  Dad and I had a blast sharing our first pomegranate, which is such a great fruit for the holidays with its sweet flavor and vibrant red color!

So here's how to buy & open a pomegranate for the best results!  

-Choose a pomegranate based on weight not color, the heavier the fruit the more juicy the arils will be.

-Serving options include salads, yogurt, oatmeal or just simply by the handful!

-Store in the fridge for up to 10 days of delicious fruit!

Step 1: Cut 1 inch off the top and the bottom.

Step 2:  Score the skin at each section.

Step 3: Separate the sections underwater.

Step 4: Loosen the arils in the water.

Step 5:  Scoop out the floating membrane.

Step 6:  Strain & Enjoy!

Summer Heat

Summertime Popsicles

          For not being the most handy in the kitchen I own interesting gadgets, my favorite is my new popsicle mold!  With all my fresh fruit, from grocery shopping this week, it was the perfect time to try it out!  On one side I used strawberries and kiwis in white grape juice, and on the other, I added pieces of mango in pineapple juice.  So far I've only tried the strawberry ones, but I can't wait to taste the sweet mango ones!