simply parfait
{holding on to summer with these gorgeous farm fresh strawberries}
I've been feeling a tad under the weather the past few days. So imagine my relief when Saturday morning, I lazily looked at the clock and and saw 9am. With their dad off racing his bike, the girls had kindly let their mending mom sleep in. The house was quiet. Flashback to a recent morning just like this one:
I sensed a presence by the bed. Looking to my left there was little Aili, but she didn't quite look like Aili. She was covered head to toe in a white thick cream, ghostlike. Oh God. It smelled like Desitin.
Turns out the girls had been up for a while, preparing for the day. Mistaking an old tube of Desitin for sunscreen, (Why with a 3 and 5 year old I still had that tube, I have no idea) Aili had judiciously smeared it all over her body, and that of her stuffed animals. Correctly realizing it is some pretty goopy stuff, she'd taken her blankets to try and rub it in (or off, I suppose). When the blankets didn't work, I can only guess she thought it best to try to dilute the paste with water, which might explain the phantom footprints glowing on the wool rug en route to the bathroom and the mess around the sink. Any restful benefit accrued by sleeping in evaporated instantly. I wish I could say the same for the Desitin.
After a few hours of rigorous scrubbing and multiple wash cycles, I needed a break. And because a glass of wine by myself at 10am is pushing it, I indulged myself in a parfait. A Lemon Strawberry Parfait.
End flashback. Thankfully I'd remembered to throw away that dreaded tube of Creme de Derriere and the girls had been truly gracious this time.
I feel somewhat at odds with posting about a strawberry parfait in September, but we just happened to have eaten some gorgeous strawberries on our trip to Santa Cruz last week and it brought me back to the horrific hilarity of that Desitin Day. That, and I just love these photographs. Think of this final nod to strawberry season as my way of holding on to summer even while the days grow shorter. Soon enough will be time for soups and stews.
{lemon strawberry parfait restores sanity}
2 cups greek yogurt
1/4 tsp lemon zest
2 cups fresh strawberries
a few sprigs of fresh mint
:: Core and quarter 2 cups of fresh strawberries and set aside in a small bowl
:: Mix 1/4 teaspoon lemon zest into 2 cups of plain greek yogurt
:: In a medium glass (I use our water glasses), layer strawberries and yogurt, beginning with strawberries, two layers each.
:: Sprinkle with zest of lemon and top with a sprig of fresh mint
Makes 4 small parfaits
{lemon zest goes far. adjust as you like, depending on how much you want to flavor your yogurt}
{desitin carnage}
