By Week 439. Summer 2024. I am 41 years old and standing in my kitchen — the Bench house kitchen, the one that held cancer and divorce and cinnamon rolls — and the stove is on and something is cooking and the house smells like grilled food and garden herbs and this is my life. This is the life I built.
The garden is producing wildly, tomatoes by the pound, and I stood in it this week and thought about dirt and time and the way both of them turn nothing into something if you're patient enough.
Mason is 13 and navigating middle school with the quiet competence that has always been his way — focused, kind, certain of who he is in a way that took me thirty years to achieve.
Lily is 11 and riding horses with the fearlessness of someone who has never considered the possibility of falling.
I made grilled peach salad this week. The food continues. The food always continues. It is the thread that connects every week to every other week, every year to every other year, every version of me to every other version — the woman on the kitchen floor, the woman at the chemo recliner, the woman at the grill, the woman at the outdoor table under the string lights. All of them, connected by the food they made with their hands. All of them, me.
The garden gave us so much this week — more than we could eat at the table, more than I could carry in my arms — and after the grilled peach salad was gone and the string lights were still swaying and the kids were still outside, I wanted something cold and quiet to close out the evening. These Frozen Blueberry and Lavender Yogurt Pops felt exactly right: patient food, the kind that asks you to wait a few hours before it gives you anything, which felt appropriate for the week. I made them with Mason and Lily at the counter, and we talked about nothing in particular, and that was everything.
Frozen Blueberry and Lavender Yogurt Pops
Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 0 minutes | Total Time: 4 hours 15 minutes (includes freezing) | Servings: 8 pops
Ingredients
- 2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
- 2 cups plain whole-milk Greek yogurt
- 3 tablespoons honey, plus more to taste
- 1 teaspoon dried culinary lavender
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- Pinch of fine sea salt
Instructions
- Infuse the honey. Combine honey and dried lavender in a small saucepan over low heat. Warm gently for 3–4 minutes until fragrant, then remove from heat and let steep for 10 minutes. Strain out the lavender through a fine mesh sieve and allow the infused honey to cool slightly.
- Blend the blueberries. Add blueberries and lemon juice to a blender or food processor and pulse until mostly smooth. A few small chunks are fine for texture. Taste and add a touch more honey if the berries are tart.
- Mix the yogurt base. In a medium bowl, whisk together the Greek yogurt, lavender-infused honey, vanilla extract, and sea salt until smooth and well combined.
- Layer the pops. Spoon a layer of blueberry puree into the bottom of each popsicle mold (about 2 tablespoons), followed by a layer of yogurt mixture. Repeat, finishing with a swirl of blueberry on top. Use a thin skewer or toothpick to gently marble the layers if desired.
- Insert sticks and freeze. Place popsicle sticks into each mold and freeze for at least 4 hours, or overnight, until completely solid.
- Unmold and serve. Run warm water over the outside of the molds for 15–20 seconds to release each pop. Serve immediately and store any extras wrapped individually in the freezer for up to 2 weeks.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 95 | Protein: 5g | Fat: 2g | Carbs: 16g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 35mg