"Ah, summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it." ~Russel Baker

It's the time of year where as much as I love a hot breakfast, sometimes I just want something refreshing and cool to the tongue.  Tom & Wendy Lynde from the Braeside Inn Bed & Breakfast sent me this recipe for a Cranachan Smoothie. It's a Scottish recipe, which I think is appropriate since I'll be working on a video for Scottish themed book by Karen Hawkins next week. Only, after doing some research, I have to ask Tom & Wendy, "where's the whiskey?"

The Braeside Inn is located near Gatlenburg, Tennessee, in the town of Sevierville.  It's an area known for the great outdoors with hiking and white water rafting in the Great Smokey Mountains.  If you have some time to doodle on the the web, their site is pretty fun ... just a friggin huge url ... but still fun ...

InspirationComesEasyIfYouKnowWhereToLook.com

Named a Best of BedandBreakfast.com Award Winner for Best Food, 2009-2010, I was thankful this recipe was simple enough that I could make it at 4:30 am for one of my morning marathon training runs if I needed to.  Here's the scoop ...

You only need four ingredients.  Add them to a blender.  You're done.  Easy peasy, huh?  To demonstrate ... here is a "before" and "after" picture ...

Now, to be truly authentic Cranchan ... it should have raspberries ... and whiskey.

This is a breakfast-ized version (i.e. no alcohol) with berries that were in season at my local grocer.

Cranachan Smoothie

From the Braeside Inn, Sevierville, TN

This traditional Scottish dish makes a wonderful alternative for a first course breakfast fruit. Just a spoonful or so of rolled oats gives substance to this tangy, invigorating starter.

Makes 4 medium glasses:

1 ½ tbsp medium rolled oats

1-cup raspberries or frozen mixed berries

1-2 tsp honey

3 tbsp plain low fat yogurt

1) Place the rolled oats in a heatproof glass cup measure. Add ½ cup boiling water and leave to stand for about 10 minutes.

2) Put the soaked oats in a food processor or blender and add the berries. If using the raspberries reserve several berries per glass for garnish. A slice of Kiwi fruit or sprig of fresh mint can be substituted for the berries.

3) Add the honey and about 2 tbsp of the yogurt to the food processor or blender. Purée the ingredients until smooth, scraping down the side processor or blender midway through if necessary.

4) Pour the smoothie into glasses, swirl in the remaining yogurt and top with garnish.

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But this is a much better way to enjoy fruit in the morning. It's kind of like a smoothie, except this is meant for a leisurely morning savored slowly, seated at a breakfast table and sipped with a spoon instead of a straw.

At the Bloomsbury Inn, this is the first course in a three part breakfast.  Yes, their morning includes an appetizer, entree and dessert.  Isn't that divine?  Though this is the first course, it could certainly be dessert for me.

Kathleen, Innkeeper at the Bloomsbury, said that she finds it to be a challenge to find new, exciting, unique fruit options.  (I need to send her a link to my hot pink fruit breakfast!  That one wasn't just unique, it was funky!) Her cold fruit soup recipe is definitely a fun and different way of adding fruit to your morning meal.

Let's get started with cooking.  Or in this case, I should say mixing.  I think you'll be pleasantly surprised with how simple this is to put together.

Notice that I picked "fat free" yogurt, "light" whipped cream and "lite" peaches and placed them right next to the "heavy" whipping cream.

Ha!

The recipe Kathleen gave me leaves the option open for choosing the fruit.  From berries to mango and even honeydew.  But I decided to have a peachy morning since it's the state fruit for South Carolina.

Unfortunately, peaches are not in season at the moment, so I used canned.  But you better believe I'm going to try this recipe again in the spring with some fresh peaches.

Next the sugar ... or how my Carolina relatives would say ... "shugah."

Next, a couple of dollops of yogurt.  The recipe calls for 6 ounces.  I had a big 'ole tub of it ... but figured that 6 ounces was equivalent to about 6 spoonfuls.  If you use vanilla bean yogurt, the extract is optional and probably not necessary unless you want a stronger vanilla flavor.

A dash of cinnamon.

Blend. Chill.

Serve and enjoy!

Bloomsbury Cold Fruit Soup

from the Bloomsbury Inn, Camden South Carolina

Total preparation time: 15 minutes, plus chilling time
Serves: 6-8

Ingredients:

2 cups fruit (peach, cantaloupe, honeydew, mango…any one of these works well…fresh is better, but canned or frozen will work when well drained)

½ cup sugar (sugar to taste depending upon natural sweetness of fruit)

1  (6 oz) vanilla bean yogurt

1 tsp vanilla extract if you use plain yogurt (extract flavor based upon fruit:  vanilla, cinnamon, rum)

¼ cup heavy cream (add cream to determine consistency desired)

1 tsp cinnamon (optional)

Directions:

If you are using fresh fruit, carefully clean, peal, and place in the blender.  Add all remaining ingredient and blend until smooth. Chill for at least 8 hours.  Garish with whipping cream, candied/sweet-flavored nuts, fresh mint or whole fruit slices.  Serve very cold.

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