Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Have Granita, Will Travel


This blog is a service to those who live to travel for (as my tagline says) more than a month but less than a lifetime. You, like me, crave sweet tree smells and salty sunshine. You want to bump over rutted roads in a rattletrap pick-up. You crave views, foreign language news, and every color blue.

But, um, you’re sitting in your living room, with no way out for the moment. Like me. Right?

So, hey! I have something for you! You may not be able to dive into shades of blue just yet, but you can whip up some blueberry granita. Rick and I just polished off the last of our own batch, but I have a dish of mango granita chilling upstairs, so we’re not sad.

Lime-mint granita started me down this path three years ago. Tomorrow I’ll whip up a granita made from plums.

All you need is a little fruit, a sprinkle of sugar, a bit of water, squeeze of lemon or lime, and a freezer. Oh, and a spoon.

It tastes like the tropics. Enjoy your getaway :-)


Blueberry granita (tried it...loved it...don’t waste calories on the crème fraiche)

Mint lime granita (tried it...loved it...really good on hot days and as an entremezzo)

Mango-lime granita (tried it...didn't love it...)

Plum granita (holy moly! This tastes like Christmas! Served it with slices of carrot bread from the farmers' market. I used vanilla extract instead of vanilla bean, and ground allspice instead of whole.)

Strawberry granita

Orange granita (If you're lazy like me and use a box grater to get the orange zest for this, your granita will end up with some terrific chewy little orange bits that taste like candy, yum!)

Nectarine granita

Peach granita

Coffee granita

Apple granita

Canteloupe granita (Hmmm. Tried it. Something not quite right...maybe canteloupe doesn't translate well into granita?)

Cherry granita

Grape granita (Perfect for leftover grapes! Tastes just like...grapes!)

Green tea and honeydew granita

Pineapple granita (Yes! Very nice! Fun to imagine the possibilities with this true-tasting granita - maybe add a bit o' rum and some coconut sprinkles?)

Kiwi granita


Cranberry granita

Pomegranate granita

Grapefruit granita

Raspberry granita

Watermelon granita (tried it on a hot 4th of July night - loved it!)

And finally, after working your way through all those, you can toast yourself with a SANGRIA GRANITA!


Granita photo courtesy of nyaa_birdies_perch's photostream at Wikimedia commons

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