This past weekend, Matt and I took a little road trip to the Ace Hotel in Palm Springs (more on that later). I took the day off from work on Friday, which I feel like I never do, and we woke up nice and early to get on the road by 6:30 am. It’s a long drive to Palm Springs from San Francisco (about eight and a half hours) but we didn’t mind. We chatted the whole way in the car, about Turntable Kitchen and relationships, work and play, vacations and weddings. I don’t mind car time so much, when I have company. Especially great company like my husband.
One of the reasons we decided to go to the Ace was because we wanted a weekend away, but we didn’t want to go somewhere where we’d feel compelled to do a lot, especially in light of my recent post about being overwhelmed. The trip was everything I had hoped for and more and on the drive home, we even made a spontaneous stop at Pizzeria Mozza in Los Angeles for lunch! I tried really, really hard not to check my emails, which, worked out…sorta. I still ended up checking my email once or twice, just to make sure the world hadn’t fallen apart. And I’ve been really into Instagram lately, so I felt compelled to share some pics, and then couldn’t help but check comments and likes. And then of course, once I shared stuff to Twitter and Facebook, I knew I had to go there as well. But, despite the fact that I was more connected on our trip than I had originally planned on being, I still felt pretty ‘disconnected.’
There’s nothing that will make you feel disconnected and on vacation like eating tropical fruit. When we went to Hawaii, I ate papaya every morning for breakfast, which is funny because even though papaya is readily available for me to purchase where I live, I never think to buy it unless I’m on vacation. In Colombia, we bought sliced tropical fruit on the street from fruit vendors that would hack up watermelons, mangos and a range of South American treats right in front of you. There is one tropical fruit that I have been buying and eating more and more of and that fruit is the mango.
It can be a bit of a pain to cut up (some tips can be found here) but it is SO worth the effort. After stumbling across this recipe for sliced tropical fruits and lime sugar in Martha Stewart, I’ve made this several times. The zing of the lime zest in the sugar, paired with the mango, reminds me of Mexican sweets, which tend to create a beautiful balance between sweet, spicy, and salty. The recipe is totally flexible so you can use whatever tropical fruit you have access to. And the lime sugar will last you for a week.
Even though the recipe was intended to be a healthy dessert, I actually chose to serve it for breakfast, alongside some plain yogurt and these delicious blueberry buttermilk muffins.
Sliced Mango with Sugared Lime Zest
adapted from Martha Stewart
*serves four
freshly grated zest from 2 small limes or 1 large
1/4 cup of sugar
pinch of salt
2 mangos
1. Combine the lime zest, sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse for about 30-45 seconds. Transfer the mixture to a small serving bowl.
2. Peel the mango and toss the pit. Slice the mango flesh into long spears and place on a serving platter.
3. Sprinkle the mango spears with some of the sugared lime zest and serve with the rest of the citrus sugar, alongside some plain yogurt. Enjoy for breakfast or dessert!
Musical Pairings: AM & Shawn Lee – Celestial Electric + Sliced Mango with Sugared Lime Zest
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