The following post is by editor Kara Fleck.
In 2012 one of the things I want to do with this space is to share more of my family’s traditions with you. I thought I would start with a very simple, but fun tradition: creating signature family recipes.
My whole family loves to play with our food! We spend quite a bit of time together in the kitchen, creating recipes, cooking together, and enjoying eating our experiments. From a young age, we involve our kids in the food preparation for the family, and we do our best to made it a fun experience.
We’ve developed a family tradition over the years of putting a signature spin on certain dishes, really making them our own according to our personal tastes and preferences.
Because you are so special to me, dear readers, and I’ve come to think of you like family, I am going to share with you our family’s top secret Purple Flurple recipe. What in the world is a Purple Flurple, you ask? A taste sensation!
Read on and see …
Our Signature Smoothie: the Purple Flurple
One of our favorite signature Fleck family recipes is a smoothie, the Purple Flurple (because is it purple and it was made by us, the Flecks. Get it? The Purple Flurple!)
This recipe is special because it contains everyone’s favorite fruits and it is my three year old’s favorite color. It is also super easy to make and doesn’t involve any tricky ingredients, exact measurements, or complex preparation.
To make a Purple Flurple Smoothie you need:
- a handful of blueberries (frozen)
- a handful of raspberries (frozen)
- a banana or two
- about a cup of orange juice
- two or three heaping spoonfuls of yogurt
Whirl it all together in a blender, pour into enough glasses to share with everyone, and enjoy! Sometimes we make Purple Flurple popsicles by freezing the mix in popsicle molds.
Put Your Own Spin on It
Smoothies are just the beginning. What about a family signature pizza, sandwich, cookie, or homemade ice cream flavor?
Get in the kitchen, experiment, and have fun creating kitchen concoctions together. Be sure to give them a name, too so that future generations will know their culinary heritage and the family tradition, and silliness, can be passed on.
Not taking things too seriously is a must!
Your family signature dish doesn’t have to be a recipe you’ve created from scratch. It can be something special about the presentation or an unexpected something extra that makes it your family’s personal signature dish. Grandpa Mike’s giant pancakes and Great-Grandma Jean’s grilled cheese with jam are a few that come to mind from our family.
The important thing is to have fun, play with your food, and enjoy your meals together!
Does your family have any signature recipes? Do you and your kids have an equivalent of the Purple Flurple? How do you play with your food? I’d love to hear about it!
About Kara
What a fun idea! I always felt like I had to come up with a completely new recipe from scratch, but I like your simple idea much better!
Amanda´s latest post: Mothering With a Heart of Peace
Our smoothie recipe is exactly like yours! And that white pitcher in your photo…I have one just like it from my Grandmother’s house. Fun post.
Lori, I love that the brilliant minds at your house came up with the same “secret” recipe as the brilliant minds at our house
LOL
Kara @SimpleKids.net´s latest post: Family Traditions: Create a Signature Family Recipe (plus our secret Purple Flurple Smoothie recipe)
Our recipe is exactly the same as yours too! And we have also been making popsicles out of it which always seems amazing to me… in this cold, cold weather, my girls still love popsicles!
Stacey´s latest post: Artful Parent Post
I know! My kids are the same way. A nice, frozen popsicle on a cold Winter’s day
At least none of the smoothie goodness goes to waste this way, right?
Kara @SimpleKids.net´s latest post: Family Traditions: Create a Signature Family Recipe (plus our secret Purple Flurple Smoothie recipe)
What a fun post with adorable happy faces! And a delicious recipe to boot. Thanks, Kara!
Aimee @ Simple Bites´s latest post: Coconut Ginger Chicken & Vegetables (Slow-Cooker Challenge)
Thanks, friend
I think “recipe” is a generous term for throwing everything in the blender and giving it a whirl, but we do love our smoothies at this house.
xo
Kara @SimpleKids.net´s latest post: Family Traditions: Create a Signature Family Recipe (plus our secret Purple Flurple Smoothie recipe)
“Crana-Banana-PeanutButterama-Sandwich”: Peel a banana and slice it lengthwise. Spread peanut butter on one long half. Dot with dried cranberries. Top with the other half of the banana. Enjoy. Yum!
This recipe came into being in our family about 1o years ago but my 5 & 7 year old sons have severe peanut allergies so we now eat “Crana-Banana-Sunbutter-ama Sandwiches”.
That sounds really good!
I love that your family faced a challenge yet adapted the recipe so the fun tradition can live on. That is awesome
Kara @SimpleKids.net´s latest post: Family Traditions: Create a Signature Family Recipe (plus our secret Purple Flurple Smoothie recipe)
I have been making a chicken casserole for years. (although I haven’t made it as much since the kids moved out) It is a creamy chicken casserole but the trademark part of it is the crushed potato chips on top. Hence the name Potato Chip Chicken Casserole. May need to make this for the next family gathering!
Bernice
Successful Woman’s Resource Center´s latest post: 40 tips to simplify your life
That reminds me of a family tradition on my husband’s side: porcupines, which are basically meatballs with rice. My father-in-law and his 12 brothers and sisters grew up on them and love them. To this day, if someone brings porcupines to a family gathering they all go crazy for them
It really is the simple things, isn’t it? Those happy experiences stay with us our whole lives.
Kara @SimpleKids.net´s latest post: Family Traditions: Create a Signature Family Recipe (plus our secret Purple Flurple Smoothie recipe)
I love this idea of having a signature family recipe. I think we have many! Some we’ve made up together like Silly Dogs, Bird’s Nest and Mexi Bowls (that’s what happens when your mom has a food blog!), and others have been recipes in our family for generations like our spaghetti sauce, gumbo and a few holiday treats. These are definitely our comfort foods because they’re so familiar and good.
Like you…we have a family favorite smoothie that my son loves to make. He named it too – Patrick’s Best Berry Banana Smoothie.
http://www.feedourfamilies.com/2010/07/patricks-best-berry-banana-smoothie.html
Gina´s latest post: Starting The Day Right With Breakfast
We make smoothies very similar to this, I guess it’s time to start naming ours and we’ll start with bringing the Purple Flurple to the Bennett household!!
Nicole {Simple Organic}´s latest post: Weekend Links