Rise and Shine Parfait

Ryan took the lieutenant's exam on Thursday. He left at seven and I watched him go with the feeling of watching someone walk toward something they have prepared for completely and which still requires the doing, and the doing is its own thing, separate from the preparation. He came home at three and said it went well and ate lunch and took a nap, the deep sleep of someone who has burned through everything and needs to refill. I took the twins to the park. I let him sleep.

Results in three weeks. We are not talking about the results in advance, which is the correct policy, because there is nothing useful to say about them before they exist. He either passed or he did not and we will find out when they tell us and until then we live the days as they come, which is: summer, twins, cooking, the lake on good days, the slow cooker on bad days, the farmers market on Saturdays.

I have been thinking about fall. Not in a panicked way, in the planning way, the way that teachers think about next year the minute this year ends, which is immediately. I have a new class in September, twenty new students, one of whom I already know will need careful attention because his file came to me in June and I have read it twice. I have the whole summer to think about this and I intend to think about it and also to put it down and pick it back up, the way you do with work you love: you can leave it because it will be there when you return.

Gazpacho season has begun. Sunday I blended tomatoes, cucumber, red pepper, garlic, olive oil, sherry vinegar, salt. I strained it and put it in the refrigerator and we ate it cold for lunch all week. The twins ate small cups of it with moderate enthusiasm, which is enough. Owen asked what it was. I said cold tomato soup. He considered this. He said: okay. He ate it. This is Owen's entire relationship with new foods: categorize, accept or reject, move on. I love him for this.

The waiting period after an exam has its own texture—not quite tense, not quite relaxed, just present, day by day, which is where we live now. Summer mornings with the twins have a rhythm I want to protect: something easy, something they can help with, something that does not require me to think too hard before my first cup of coffee. This parfait has become that thing. It takes ten minutes, it feels like a treat, and Owen categorizes it as acceptable without any negotiation whatsoever, which in our house is a five-star review.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 0 minutes | Total Time: 10 minutes | Servings: 2

Ingredients

1 cup plain or vanilla Greek yogurt
1/2 cup granola
1/2 cup fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
1/2 cup fresh blueberries
1/4 cup fresh raspberries or blackberries
2 tablespoons honey
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)

Instructions

Prep the yogurt. If using plain Greek yogurt, stir in the vanilla extract and 1 tablespoon of the honey until combined. Taste and adjust sweetness as needed.
Layer the parfaits. In two tall glasses or wide bowls, spoon a layer of yogurt into the bottom of each, using about 1/4 of the total yogurt between the two.
Add granola. Divide half the granola between the two glasses, sprinkling it evenly over the yogurt layer.
Add fruit. Layer half the strawberries and blueberries over the granola in each glass.
Repeat the layers. Add a second layer of yogurt, then the remaining granola, then the remaining strawberries and blueberries. Top with raspberries or blackberries.
Finish and serve. Drizzle the remaining tablespoon of honey over the top of each parfait. Serve immediately so the granola stays crisp.

Nutrition (per serving)

Rise and Shine Parfait — The Week We Waited, and Ate Well