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I was embarrassed to see that I haven’t posted anything new for nearly 10 days.  It’s not as if there was a shortage of exciting things happening.  Between the kids being on summer vacation and the hot water leak under our house, I have been running ragged.

One of the more memorable events of my week included some time away from the kids…and an opportunity to have lunch with some other mommy bloggers.  We were invited to dine at Calafia, a restaurant in Palo Alto that is owned by Charlie Ayers, the former head chef at Google and author of Food 2.0.  Charlie and Deb (”Biggie”), the author of the popular blog Lunch In A Box, facilitated an interesting discussion about the challenges of making lunch for our kids. (I’ll write more about that part later, just be patient!)  The event was sponsored by Zespri, the organization that manages all of the kiwifruit growers in New Zealand.

We got to taste both green and gold varieties of kiwifruit.  The yellow fruit lacks the tartness of its green counterpart, and is bald, rather than fuzzy.  And because it is picked ripe, there is no waiting for it to soften before digging in.  My kids  loved the sweetness of the fruit almost as much as the fact that they could safely cut it open and spoon it out all by themselves.  As they filled up on the sweet fruit, I loved knowing that they were getting tons Vitamin C, Potassium, Fiber and Antioxidants in the process.

Thanks to Charlie for this fantastic kid-friendly recipe:

Almond Butter, Golden Kiwi and Strawberry Club

3 slices of nine grain bread
2 whole golden kiwi, sliced very thin
3 whole large strawberries sliced super thin
2 Tbs. orange blossom honey
1 cup super creamy almond butter

1. Toast bread; apply almond butter, followed by honey.
2. Apply slices of kiwi to bread, topped with slices of strawberry.  Repeat with the second slice of bread.
3. Top with remaining slice of bread.
4. Cut club into quarters, and secure in place with a toothpick.
5. Serve with a chilly glass of soy, rice, almond or cows milk.

Zespri wants your best kiwi recipes!  Enter Zespri’s Lunch 2.0 Bloggers’ Recipe Contest for a chance to win a copy of Charlie’s book Food 2.0 and a $2500 Grand Prize.  Hurry – the contest ends August 7th.