I need look no farther than my brother to know that culinary innovation is not always welcome during the holidays. He turned ashen the year I made a pumpkin cheesecake, recoiled in horror when parsnips and rutabagas made their way into the mashed potatoes and could not be shaken from his malaise the year my mother and I stuffed the bird with dried cherry and pecan-flecked wild rice, instead of my grandmother's white bread and sage dressing. \n This year, he is spending the holiday at his mother-in-law's home. He loves her traditional Japanese cooking, which rivals that of the Food Network's "Iron Chefs." But when we last talked, he expressed his sense of loss at the anticipated absence of green Jell-o salad.\nHence, this is an un-Thanksgiving article, devoted to the humble souls everywhere who cherish their family's traditional holiday fare and do not want it mucked up with pumpkin sorbet, shaved beet and goat cheese salad and Tahitian-style Turkey.\nWhat follows instead is a recipe for the post-Thanksgiving muddle, when all that was eaten the day before is so confused in your memory, so transmuted and distorted, that you can only describe it synthetically. Your palate, partially paralyzed from the joyful celebration of infinite fudge and Chex mix, needs a revitalizing tonic before the commencement of the next act of Thanksgiving dining drama. It needs an intermezzo smoothie.\nExcuse yourself from your hosts or guests Friday morning or afternoon. Offer to run to the store to pick up some more cranberry sauce or caramel apple dip. Once at the supermarket, make a beeline to the produce section. Bag a lime, a small banana, two plump navel oranges and a ripe mango (smell it -- if it is soft to the touch and has a heady, tropical perfume, it is ripe). Cruise by the dairy section, picking up an 8-ounce container of vanilla yogurt as you pass. Curtail your shopping adventure with the purchase of a bag of mixed berries in the frozen foods section.\nOnce home, make for the blender. Cut the oranges in half; squeeze all the juice directly into the blender. Cut the lime in half. Put one of the halves aside for future use, then cut the remaining lime into pieces, peel and all; add this to the orange juice. Cut up three quarters of a cup of the mango and add it along with the yogurt, half of the banana, and cup of the mixed frozen berries. Blend like mad on the highest speed until smooth.\nLocate two of the prettiest glasses in the house and pour the smoothie inside each. Offer the second smoothie to the person who cooked the previous day's feast. If that person is you, bequeath the second smoothie to the head dishwasher. If you both cooked and cleaned up after the Thanksgiving feast, drink both of the smoothies, leave the blender in the sink and spend the rest of your day with your feet propped up. Happy Holidays.
INTERMEZZO SMOOTHIE
(A short, dramatic burst of fresh flavor between the main acts of your weekend of feasting) \nNote: This is a flexible recipe. The fruit and yogurt flavors can be varied to suit your tastes. Be sure to use at least some frozen fruit, which will make the smoothie thick and shake-like.
2 navel oranges\n1/2 of a small lime, cut into chunks (leave peel on)\n3/4 cup diced fresh mango\n1/2 of a small banana, cut into chunks (freezing banana will make smoothiethicker)\n1/2 cup frozen mixed berries, unthawed\n1 8-ounce container lowfat \nor nonfat vanilla yogurt\n1-2 tablespoons honey or sugar to taste (optional)
Cut oranges in half; juice the halves. Place the orange juice along with the remaining ingredients in a blender. Blend on high speed until smooth.\nPour into glasses and serve. Makes 2 servings.
