Product Description

Smoothie stands are popping up like espresso bars all over the country, but these refreshing drinks are a cinch to make at home. It takes just minutes to whip up a smooth concoction of succulent blackberries, sweet blueberries, chilled grape juice, and rich vanilla yogurt. Smoothies is bursting with tempting suggestions for adventurous mixtures of fruits, flavourings, sorbets, yogurts, soy milks, and other deliciously healthful ingredients bursting with energy.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #455275 in Books
• Published on: 1997-07-01
• Released on: 1996-10-16
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 108 pages

Ingram
Smoothie stands are popping up like espresso bars all over the country, but these refreshing drinks are a cinch to make at home. SMOOTHIES bursts with tempting suggestions for adventurous mixtures of fruits, flavorings, sorbets, yogurts, soy milk, and other deliciously healthful ingredients zinging with energy. 30 full-color photos.

From the Inside Flap
Any Time and Any Place: that's when and where to enjoy a smoothie. It takes just minutes to blend one--making them the perfect treat for any moment of a busy day. And nothing is more healthful and refreshing than the daily dose of fresh fruit they provide. Smoothies is full of creative suggestions for adventurous mixtures of fruits and nectars, sorbets and ice creams, yogurts and soy milks, and for special occasions, a little champagne or rum! To start your day off right, enjoy a SMOOTHIE CLASSICO--the time-honored blend of orange juice, strawberries, and bananas that we've all come to know and love. For a quick lunch, try the BLACK BEAUTY, a lucious melange of succulent blackberries, sweet blueberries, chilled grape juice, and creamy vanilla yogurt. To boost your energy for a trip to the gym, savor a glass of MANGO MADNESS, juicy tropical gruit combined with ambrosial buttermilk, zesty fresh ginger, and tart lime juice. And wow your dinner guests with an elegant GOLDEN GIRL--sweet dessert wine paired with fresh pears and apricots.

About the Author
Mary Corpening Barber and Sara Corpening are the acclaimed owners of Thymes Two Catering in San Francisco and regular contributors to Bon Appetit magazine. After studying at Peter Kump's New York Cooking School and La Varenne in Joigny, France, they worked at such celebrated restaurants as New York's Montrachet, Tribeca Grill, The Quilted Giraffe, and March, and at San Francisco's Aqua and Splendido. Lori Lyn Narlock is a San Francisco-based writer, editor, and consultant. She is the former promotional chef for Bon Appetit magazine and has taught cooking classes in the United States and Japan. She is also an inventor of kitchenware. Amy Neunsinger's photographs have been featured in Martha Stewart Living, Travel & Leisure, Glamour, Buzz, Los Angeles Magazine, and Health. She divides her time between Los Angeles and New York.

Customer Reviews

A perfect blend...
The food court near my seminary has recently opened a 'smoothie bar', and the bookstore manager has taken a fancy to it; hence, for my birthday, part of my gifts included this book on 'Smoothies'. In it are 50 fancy recipes for smoothies -- blender-produced fruit drinks that can be decadent, nutritious, or both! Gone are the days when one simply pushed a banana and milk in a blender. In this book are complex and intricate ideas for wonderful treats.

The book begins with a basic introduction to smoothies. Smoothies are for everyone, and there are appropriate smoothies for almost any time of day and any kind of taste. The nutrition and food/fruit guide at the beginning gives an overall view of things you need to know; particularly with regard to the fruit, preparation is important. Smoothies generally assume frozen fruit -- freezing in a certain way can lead to much greater convenience at the 'smooth' end. Similarly, the guide to different kinds of milk, juice, etc., and equipment for use is very handy.

Beyond this, the primary part of the book is organised into four sections, according to different kinds of smoothies.

**Wholesome Mergers**
These are for the health-food fans. Peaches, plums, nectarines, mangos, even rhubarb make an appearance in this section. There are sixteen recipes in all. Even the so-called 'Bad Boy' here is a healthy feast of boysenberries and blueberries.

**No-Moo Blends**
As the name would indicate, these smoothies are made from anything but standard dairy milk -- soy, rice, yogurt, tofu, anything but milk. Smoothies made with tea, with juices, with non-dairy products will be appreciated by vegetarian/vegan types, but also by others who won't know they're not supposed to like them!

**Decadent Medleys**
Here is where you can go wild with frozen yogurt, ice cream, chocolate additives, and the like. These are not just smoothies -- these are high-end, satisfying desserts. As the authors state, it takes tremendous willpower, upon making two servings, not to eat both servings yourself! Cheesecake, mocha, cappuccino -- anything sweet and decadent will do. Here is even a root-beer float like none other!

**Drunken Concoctions**
From the Tropical Teaser to the Sunset Sipper, these smoothies are just the thing for parties and small gatherings of good friends. Wine, rum, brandy, Grand Marnier, and more are used here, to no small effect.

The average smoothie takes only about ten minutes to make, given proper pre-planning and storage of the ingredients. The authors recommend storing and labelling in one-serving amounts, for ease of use later.

These are 'designer' smoothies -- they are not for the timid; the ingredients can be hard to come by (one needs a good quality grocer nearby). Yet these are delightful, unique treats, unlikely to be found even in the fanciest of restaurants and smoothie bars.

The book itself is a work of art, with stunning photography, innovative and modern graphic layout designs, full-colour format and sturdy, moisture-resistant pages (the better for the guide to be used in the kitchen). This makes a good recipe book and an interesting coffee-table book.

Smooth Move!
I first purchased this book hoping it would help me get more produce into a picky eater. Not only did it work beautifully to that end, but I have given it four times as a gift.

The recipes are divided into 'wholesome mergers', which include some dairy products, 'no-moo blends', which don't, 'decadent medleys', which are more desert-like and calorie laden, and a few 'drunken concoctions', which, of course, include alcohol. The book has great visual appeal, lip-smacking pictures, and a vintage flavor.

There are a couple of invaluable smoothie lessons that I picked up from this book. One is to freeze the fruit beforehand, in a single layer on a cookie sheet, then store it in a container. Once you have an idea of what your favorite smoothies call for, you can always have the ingredients on hand. I now always break older bananas into pieces and toss them into baggies in the freezer.

Although some smoothies ingredients call for advance planning, there are plenty that I can make from basic on-hand ingredients: for instance the Smoothie a la King (named for Elvis) made with bananas, vanilla frozen yogurt, peanut butter, and milk; and the Smoothie Classico, made with frozen strawberries, bananas, and orange juice. This week, with what I had on hand, I also made the Pea-Pine-Fu, featuring peaches, pineapple, and tofu; the Sweet Cherry-ot made with peaches, cherries, cherry juice, and raspberry sorbet; and the Jitterbug, made with coffee, bananas, vanilla frozen yogurt, and the hazelnut syrup I had leftover from the last time I made this one!

One drawback, as mentioned by other people, is the number of differing ingredients needed for different smoothies. If you want to make three different smoothies in one week, you may need three different juice flavors. If you don't have unlimited space in your fridge (as I don't) you may need to do a little creative substituting such as juice flavors, sorbet flavors, and soymilk for cow milk, etc. But hey! Smoothies are an art, not a science! It's easy once you get the basic smoothie idea.

Basically, however, I've learned scads about smoothies from this book, and every smoothie I've made has been absolutely delicious. I don't think I have any other recipe book from which I have made over 1/2 the recipes!

yummy!!
This is a great smoothie book not too many weird ingredients and the drinks are very tasty and healthy, I'm glad I purchased this-it gets a lot of use!!