Orange Blueberry Smoothie and My Acme Juicer

I spent the early part of the morning juicing Valencia oranges from our trees.

I love my Acme Juicer! I remember back in 1973 when I bought a used Acme juicer from an old women that used it to make juice for her husband.  He had had cancer and had passed away a few years before. She said it was the best juicer I would ever own.  She even gave me a few books on juicing.  I paid her a mere $25.00 for it then.  I used that juicer for years until one day I decided to sell it at a garage sale.  I don't know what possessed me to do that, but I did.

Now, we live in a home that has 13 citrus trees. It took me a while to find another used Acme juicer for a reasonable price; I finally found this one on EBay and paid around $50.00 for it; that was about 7 years ago.  When it arrived it was not very clean but with some soap and water and a few Q-tips and toothpicks I was able to clean it up and it now looks like new. This one also came with the citrus juice attachment that my other one did not have. I am not sure if they even had that attachment available in the 70's.

 It only took me about 15 minutes to juice all these Valencia's.  This juicer also has two sections for the pulp, the first one for the seeds that allows the smaller parts of pulp to rest in the second reservoir. I always put the pulp back in the juice since I don't want to waste the extra fiber and nutrients. I happen to like pulp in my juice.

 I was able to get about 4 quarts from this batch of oranges. Still lots more on the tree that need to be picked and juiced.  I think we will have plenty for the hot summer months.  I don't want to wait that long for a smoothie so I made one this afternoon and enjoyed the warm afternoon sun on the patio. We had quite a bit of rain the last few days and it was cool out but still warm enough to enjoy the smoothie.

Here is the recipe:

Orange Blueberry Smoothie for One

1 cup fresh squeezed Orange Juice, make it California orange juice if you can!
1/2 cup Low-Fat Plain Yogurt
1/4 cup Blueberries, frozen
1/2 of a frozen small Banana
2 teaspoons Flax seed meal
Lavender sprig (optional)

Place everything in a blender and whirl until smooth.  Add a nice long lavender flower for a stir stick, if you have it.

Each time I use this juicer it brings back memories of the orange groves in our area during the early 60's and 70's.  You could drive just about anywhere and find bags of oranges set out alongside the driveways of the homes with groves.  You would pull up, put a dollar or two depending on what the owner wanted for a large grocery bag full, in a jar. Generally it would be a dollar! Now this was for a huge bag, probably about the amount of oranges that I juiced today.  That would put your quart of fresh squeezed orange juice at about 25 cents.  Our area was first planted in 1893 with 50,000 fruit trees.  In the early 1900's grove owners formed the Citrus Union. The citrus was marketed under the Sunkist brand.

 

Nutritional analysis provided by NutriMirror

Spiced Lavender Scented Citrus Salad, for Dessert

So many people are stuck inside this week with the catastrophic snow storms that has hit across the country.  I wanted to bring you all a little sunshine from California with a delicious Citrus Fruit Salad.  Most supermarkets carry citrus fruits year round. I hope you can make it to the store soon so you can bring a little sunshine home with you and make this salad.  It is really a refreshing, light, dessert. Enjoy!

Spiced Lavender Scented Citrus Salad
(recipes makes 4 servings)

¼ cup sugar (I used turbinado raw sugar)

½ cup water

1 star anise

3 whole cloves

3 whole allspice

⅛ teaspoon dried red pepper flakes

Lavender leaves and flowers (optional)

3 cups assorted citrus fruit (I used pink grapefruit, grapefruit and navel oranges)

Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar.  Add the star anise, whole cloves, whole allspice, dried red pepper flakes and lavender leaves if available.  Boil for 2 minutes, watching carefully so as not to burn.  Remove from heat and let cool.

Peel the citrus fruit, removing all the pith and seeds.  Cut into bite-size pieces and place in a glass bowl; pour spiced syrup over all, stir to mix. Cover tightly and refrigerate for several hours.  Serve in a clear bowl to show off the pretty colors.  Garnish with fresh lavender flowers.

I served mine on a pretty butterfly plate that was a gift from a friend. Wishing for spring to come soon so I can make this again when the butterflies arrive.

Nutritional information provided by NutriMirror.com