Cool Fruity Goodness

Mini Bee's Knees provided your visual for my post today. The reason I chose it is for the pineapple which is my most loved smoothie flavor.

My favorite way to cool off which is something we need to do around here from April to October is to make smoothies. They are cold and I hope relatively nutritious and I have them many times when it is hot for a meal at breakfast or lunch.

My favorite smoothie uses about a cup of crushed ice, a small container of light vanilla yogurt, about a cup of pineapple-orange juice and frozen pineapple chunks. It all goes in the blender to make thick icy goodness that tastes so good. This makes a very big smoothie and you can share it and have a wonderful drink to go along with any breakfast or light lunch.

You don't need to stop there however. I alway start my smoothies with crushed ice and vanilla yogurt. The combinations of fruit and juice after that can be anything you like. For fruit you can use fresh bananas or frozen strawberries, mango, peaches, raspberries, blackberries or mixed of any of them. I think I use about 1/2 of fruit but I don't really measure. For juice I like to use orange or pineapple but I have used white grape, cranberry or anything blended with cranberry or any of the Welch's Orchard blends.

Have fun creating your own combinations!
Leave a comment and let me know what you come up with.

Etsy Orange Goldfish

I was listening in the car this weekend to NPR. The Prairie Home Companion Show was on and as usual the host was telling a story from Minnesota. This one was about a woman who made a seafood salad for her family in the middle of winter from all the fishy things she had in her freezer. At the end of the meal she remembered some goldfish that should have been in the freezer to be buried by her kids in the spring when the ground thawed. Of course she went and looked and the goldfish weren't there.

Anyway this brings me to today's bit of Etsy orange. I really don't think there is much that could be searched for on Etsy and not find some kind of art or crafted piece that would fit. Take a look at the picture of just some of the things that turned up from a search of the word goldfish and you will see baby things, jewelry, hair accessories, glasses, art and a toy.

Take a minute or two, go check out Etsy and see what you find.

Summer Knitting (or Crocheting)

 Update 8/8/13 The picture I had here of some beautifully hand painted yarn is not available because hopefully the lovely yarn sold. However the shop I talk about is still on Etsy with even more handpainted yarns and finished items as well.

In a search for orange to fit a blogging theme this is what I found. To me this Etsy seller jirbydesigns has captured the essence of summer in a color way she calls Fruit Punch. In this color grouping you can get anything from wool to silk to fun novelty yarns like a ladder or eyelash.These colors could take you from summer to fall with a fun wrap made of the ladder yarn to a pair of cozy socks knitted from the wool.
In her own words from her profile in her Etsy shop jirbydesigns explains where her inspiration comes from."I started selling my own line of handpainted yarns in the fall of 2004. I have developed my own colorways based on the nature that surrounds me both in Virginia and coastal North Carolina. I dye my yarns by hand in a small studio at my home. I handpaint the yarns in small quantities using Gaywool Dyes."
For more sunny, wonderful, amusing and very orange themed posts check out this blog for links to others in the Etsy Bloggers Street Team.