Kiwi Coolada

Warning, do not try this at home unless you are very hot and thirsty and dying for something cool, fruity and refreshing.

This could very well be the best Hot Summer Day fruit drink I have ever ingested. It makes perfect sense, with all the trimmings of a Pina Colada with the addition of the tangy Kiwi fruit makes for an extraordinary thirst quencher. Use fresh pineapple whenever possible, but any will do even from a can (Dole brand of course). Add a little cream of coconut, a few good shots of Midori and Bacardi Dark Rum, some ice into the blender...

You're gonna be licking the blender for more... so make plenty...

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Poached Pears

I love pears, I like them fresh, crispy and cool. I also like them poached, soft, tender and sweet. I've been looking at a lot of different recipes and wanted to try something different. I was tempted to do a simple wine based poaching, but I was afraid to do a red wine version, and white wine just seemed ordinary. So I decided to use a recipe that called for green tea.

I didn't go crazy here, but to be sure, there are quite a few green tea options. I just used what I had and brewed a strong pot for my poaching, because as a twist, I also added fresh squeezed orange juice along with a little zest and Seville Marmalade. Of course the other big deal is what kind of pear to use. I've seen recipes for virtually every kind of pear, but the most common seemed to be Bosc, with Anjous also being very popular. I happen to find some really nice looking Golden Taylor's which were very sweet and succulent. These pears are a little rounder in shape and don't have that narrowing at the top. They have a similar outter skin to bosc, no sheen and brownish yellow or gee golden colored. The bosc pear was a logical choice, and they are generally fairly sweet, they are firm and peel very nicely to enhance their lovely classic shape. I kept the stem on. So peel the pears to let the fruit absorb the liquid. I left a little bit of skin at the tip for aesthetic reasons. Unfortunately the Golden, did not have long stems but peeled nicely.

I cut the golden in half and cored it, while I cut the bottom of the bosc at an angle so it would stand up and cored it from the bottom. I added 3/4 cup of sugar to the brewed tea and about two tablespoons of marmalade. I squeezed the juice of one large orange and included some zest before adding the pears. I simmered the pears for about 30 minute making sure they stayed submerged and rotating them in the liquid. The golden is a bit softer and more porous than the bosc and consequently poached faster, I kept it in for about 25 minutes and they were nice and tender.

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Kiwi Lime Cream Pie

I have been searching for a easy but tasty cream cheese recipe that didn't involve baking. I think I found it, and it's as creamy and tasty as you can imagine, without a single egg. I used sugar to sweeten, but I suppose you could use a sugar substitute like Splenda. Otherwise, I kept the recipe to fat free cream cheese, non fat cool whip and lowfat yogurt. I cheated and added a little mascarpone cheese for creaminess.

Filling Ingredients

• 2 - 8 0z Packages no fat cream cheese
• 4 - oz of marscapone cheese
• 3 - limes for juice and zest
• 1 - 6 oz KeyLime Kiwi Low fat yogurt
• 2 - tablespoons coolwhip
• 1 - Packet Knox gelatin

Glaze:

• 3 - Tablespoons marmalade or apricot preserve
• 1/3 - cup water 1/4 - sugar - optional

Crust:
I used a ready made gram cracker crust, but make your own. This recipe is meant to be a bake free to save a little time...


Bring cream cheese to room temperature and simply mix yogurt, marscapone, lime juice and zest until smooth. I did it by hand but your mixer will be better hehehe... fold in the cool whip. Prepare the gelatin as directed and add to mixture, incorporate completely, pour in to the pie shell and place in the refrigerator to cool. In the meantime you can prepare the glaze, in a sauce pan, add the water, sugar and marmalade until smooth and simmer to a boil, remove from heat. Peel and slice the kiwi and whatever other fruit topping you want to use. After pie has cooled, top with the Kiwi and other toppings, brush the glaze over the fruit to prevent it from browning. When ready to serve or present, add whipped cream. Or you could use a stabilizer in your whipped cream to keep it stiff longer.

There you go... a low fat, Kiwi Lime Cream Cheese Pie.

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