Fruit Soups for Breakfast! Idaho

By Susan C. Hall

If your heirs apparent are a bit indifferent to regular breakfast fare, why not entice them with something totally different? A bowl or cup of chilled fruit soup.

A Southern gentleman I know said, "Soup--at breakfast or any other meal--is NOT soup unless it is HOT." But Real Families usually enjoy trying something different.

Here is a recipe for delicious creamy peach soup--actually there are four recipes here, differing mostly in their degree of difficulty. If you have the time, the one made with fresh peaches is the best. The next recipe substitutes in frozen peaches, which cuts waaay down on preparation time. The third variation is made with canned peaches, and easiest of all is the fourth--it uses peach pie filling.

These recipes call for the mixture to be pureed, and of course, a blender or food processor is the ticket for doing this. However, it is possible to substitute an old-fashioned food mill, and your littlest kitchen helpers might enjoy "cranking" the handle and watching the goop ooze out from below. However, it takes a while, so unless you have several helpers eager to take their turn at turning, I wouldn't recommend it--unless you want to do most of the turning yourself. In a reviewing family in California, Patrick (8) enjoyed simply watching the peaches puree in the food processor. That fascinated Christine (5) in New York, too.

RECIPE #1

What You Need:

8 to 10 peaches (about three cups)

A big pot of boiling water

A big bowl of ice water

1 1/2 cups cold water

1 cup plain yogurt (or sour cream)

1 tablespoon honey

Dash of lemon juice to taste

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon real vanilla extract

What to Do:

Put the peaches in the hot water for about a minute or so, then remove them and plunge them at once into the ice water. This will allow the peels to come off easily (sort of) and it also helps convince the pit that it should come out. Then cut the peaches into chunks. The children can help with this as a butter knife cuts the peach flesh quite easily. Tricia S. said, "The fresh peaches broke into halves neatly when I took out the pits and I just tossed the halves into the blender."

Puree half of the peaches along with half the water, half the yogurt, the honey, and the lemon juice. Pour it into a bowl. Puree the rest of the peaches along with the remaining yogurt and water and spices. Pour this into the bowl, mix well, and chill (at least an hour).

Several Real Families tried this recipe, but unfortunately found the peaches in their areas past their prime. The resulting soup was disappointing. However, Nick and Tricia S. in Ohio were able to find marvelous ones in their fruit market. So check out the state of the peach in your area because this is definitely the best of the four recipes.

RECIPE #2

Most frozen peach packages contain about three cups which makes them a perfect substitute. Simply use them and follow the recipe above.

RECIPE #3

What You Need:

2 big cans of peaches (about 29 ounces each)

1 3/4 cups peach juice and cold water

1 tablespoon cornstarch

Dash of lemon juice to taste

1 cup sour cream (or plain yogurt)

1 dash of cinnamon and another of nutmeg

What to Do:

Drain the peaches and reserve the liquid. Combine this liquid with enough water to make 1 3/4 cups. Puree the peaches with part of this liquid. Combine the remaining liquid with the cornstarch and cook until it thickens. Stir in lemon juice. Add the pureed peaches and sour cream, mix well and chill.

One Real Family mom didn't have any lemon juice so she used lemonade concentrate and was pleased with the results.

RECIPE #4

What You Need:

1 can peach pie filling (about 20 ounces more or less)

4 cups ice water

1 cup yogurt (or sour cream)

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Dash of lemon juice to taste

What to Do:

Puree the pie filling with half of the water and the seasonings. Pour into a bowl, stir in the yogurt along with the remaining water, and chill.

Notes:

Apricots can be substituted for fresh peaches The seasonings are a matter of taste. Some prefer ground cloves instead of nutmeg. Play around with the seasonings till you and your helpers like the results. Cut calories by substituting fat-free yogurt for sour cream. Peach pits are toxic so toss them out. Responses to the idea of chilled fruit soup for breakfast were rather mixed. Many Real Family members loved it--others turned thumbs down. Sydney (age 5) in Calfiornia said it looked like "gross baby food," but she enjoyed eating it as did her dad. Her brother Patrick (age 8) found it too sweet for breakfast and is going to stick with cereal. Other suggestions included serving the soup over ice cream or using it to make actual milkshakes. The LaClairs spooned theirs over slices of angel-food cake.

An Iowa mom said, "It's too chilly in the mornings here for cold soup for breakfast so I'm going to use mine as an afternoon pick-me-up. I think it would be great for an after-school treat along with a big sugar or ginger cookie."

"My mother-in-law is in the hospital and I'm going to take some to her," an upstate New York mom decided.

"Fresh peaches--at the end of the season--can taste like cardboard so I tried a second time, using the canned recipe. I put the canned peaches in the blender along with the yogurt and threw in some frozen raspberries. It tasted great, and I decided not to use the spices," said a teacher from upper New York State (The Iowa mom also likes this combo and used raspberry yogurt.)

For more information, go to Realfamiliesrealfun.com.