Mash it Up!
BANISH SUMMERTIME BOREDOM WITH FRESH FRUIT
One of the longstanding rules in our household is that there is no such thing as boredom. At least not for long. When boredom starts to creep in, that’s when you need to fire up your imagination.
Sometimes the most beautiful moments can begin with a chorus of “there’s nothing to do.”
A few weeks ago our daughter had a friend over and, after they had played in the sprinkler, jumped on the trampoline and watched TV and YouTube videos, they had exhausted their obvious teenage entertainment options. And I wasn’t home so they couldn’t run to me with woeful tales of “we have nothing left to do.”
Our “no boredom” rule subconsciously played in the back of my daughter’s head, which got her to thinking …
Years ago when I ran Dirt to Dine, a farm-based culinary day camp at Napa’s Connolly Ranch, one of the kids’ favorite activities was making what we called “Watermelon Mash.” It is a “mash” because it is not quite as blended as a drink, but not as chunky as fruit salad. It is a delicious something in between, and there are endless variations to be created and enjoyed.
The girls rallied and headed for our neighborhood market, where they purchased a small watermelon and a pineapple. Back at home they picked mint and borage flowers from the garden.
In the kitchen, they carefully removed the flesh of both fruits, keeping the shells intact so they could be used as their drinking vessels. Then they mashed and mashed and mashed. Once the fruit was the perfect consistency they poured it back into the pineapple and watermelon “cups” and added mint and beautiful borage flowers. Borage flowers taste a bit like cucumber and are delicious to eat straight off the plant.
Back outside enjoying their creations, the girls realized that they had passed a very fun couple of hours, with not a hint of “boredom” in sight. And had gained a delicious reward for their efforts, to boot!
Upon my return home I got to share the bounty of their creative venture, too. At least what was left of it …
