Prickly Pear Aguas Frescas and Thanksgiving

This has been a year, not just a season, of great transition... an epic relocation back to Oregon from the far reaches of Washington. It took us months to accomplish our move with a husband who suffered an injury, required surgery and a long stretch of recovery time. Transitions into new jobs, new opportunities, putting down roots, networking for business, and yet another move, have kept my dance card pretty full.

I don't wonder where the time went, that's pretty clear, but as I reflect on how much has been packed in to this year, I'm going to take some time here to be thankful for all blessing packed in to this year too. Surviving and thriving, I'm amazed and thankful for all.... after all, everything leading up to right now has brought me here. "Here" is good, and it's right here that I attend to my languishing food blog, and that's another good thing!

Oh yes, my food blog has seriously languished... my last post was in April, like seven months ago! A quick post about the marvels of peeling an egg. Wow! During these past months, there were so many meals shared, and mostly prepared by family, who are far better cooks than me; quite a few meals on the go, and with so much on my plate, there has hardly been room for food.

I may not post as often as I have in the past, but I do want to play catch up during the winter and share some tasty recipes that are creations of my daughter and her husband (at one time a chef). Hopefully, we can get some good photos of our fare and feasts, and I'll try to get back in my kitchen as my own creative juices start flowing again...

And speaking of juice... Fantastic to serve at Thanksgiving, here's my daughter Effie's recipe for her non-alcoholic Prickly Pear Aguas Frescas:

Ingredients:

4 prickly pears (available fall/winter seasons), peeled with a knife and rubber gloves (a must)
1/4 cup white sugar
2 limes, juiced plus 1 lime for slices to garnish
1/4 teaspoon ground canela (Mexican cinnamon) or regular cinnamon
2 cups ice

Directions:

1. Puree the prickly pears in a blender.
2. Pass through a fine sieve or mesh strainer in to a bowl to strain out ever seed; use rubber spatula.
3. Puree the pear liquid again, adding in the sugar, lime juice and ice in a blender for 1 minute.
4. Pour into glasses and garnish with lime.

“I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Novembers.”  

Cheers!