Cook’s notes

This watermelon and yogurt cooler is a concoction of my daughter, Sam. I just took the photos. Sam did such a wonderful job with the presentation, layering the watermelon puree and yogurt in the glass and arranging a paper umbrella on top.

But I was in such a hurry to take photos before the ice melted, I didn’t notice that the umbrella had fallen to the floor (so sorry about that, sweetie). But with or without the umbrella, the watermelon and yogurt cooler was fantastic.

The amount of each ingredient is not specified because they are all adjustable depending on how small or large you want your glass of smoothie.

Oh, I know. A smoothie isn’t traditionally a layered drink. But I’m calling it a smoothie nonetheless because, by definition, a smoothie is a drink made with pureed fruit. At least, that was how it started.

Smoothies were introduced in America with the invention of the electric blender in the 1930s. Instead of manually liquefying fruits, the blender made the job easier, faster and less messy. But the word “smoothie” itself was not coined until the 1980s. By that time, a smoothie was understood to be a blender drink.

Today, the definition of a smoothie has expanded to include drinks with with pureed vegetables. There are even protein mixes that you can add to make a smoothie a more filling and, some claim, more nutritious. We don’t add mixes to our smoothies. We prefer ingredients in their natural state.