By July 2034. Forty-seven years old. The birthday was the full gathering again—Kai and Sarah, Hannah and Thomas and Wren, Caleb and River, Lily and Ben, Madison and her partner, a few of the vocational center colleagues, some of the current cohort students who'd become part of the wider circle. About thirty people on the land in the July heat with the garden at peak and the persimmons just beginning to color at their earliest.
Kai made the peach cake, as he'd been doing for a couple of years. It was good. He'd made it his own without changing it, which is the correct way to inherit a recipe. Sarah made a strawberry drink from Patricia's tradition—the fermented kind, slightly tart—and it went with the peach cake in a combination nobody had planned but everyone appreciated.
River gave a speech again—this had become his birthday tradition, apparently. It was longer than last year's and better organized. He said: I've been farming the demonstration beds for a year and a half and the soil is measurably better than when I started. He said: I didn't do that alone, I did it with everyone who showed me what a living soil looked like. He said: Jesse is forty-seven and the land is as alive as it's ever been and I think those two things are connected. He sat down. Caleb leaned over and whispered something to him. River grinned.
Forty-seven. River measuring the living soil. The land at its best. Enough.
That combination of Kai’s peach cake and Sarah’s strawberry drink — nobody planned it, but it was exactly right, the way the best things at a gathering always are. When I think about what to bring to a table full of people on a July afternoon, I keep coming back to something that lets the fruit do the talking. These berry breakfast parfaits have that same quality: layered, unhurried, bright with whatever the season is offering, and easy enough that the cook can actually be present for the speeches.
Berry Breakfast Parfaits
Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 0 minutes | Total Time: 10 minutes | Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 2 cups vanilla Greek yogurt
- 1 cup fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
- 1 cup fresh blueberries
- 1/2 cup fresh raspberries
- 1 cup granola
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
- Fresh mint leaves, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Prepare the berries. Rinse all berries gently and pat dry. Slice the strawberries and set aside. If using very large blueberries, you can halve them, but small ones are fine whole.
- Stir the yogurt. In a small bowl, stir together the Greek yogurt and vanilla extract if using. Taste and adjust sweetness with a small drizzle of honey if desired.
- Layer the parfaits. In four glasses or jars, spoon a layer of yogurt into the bottom (about 1/4 cup each). Add a layer of mixed berries, then a layer of granola. Repeat the layers — yogurt, berries, granola — until the glasses are filled.
- Finish with honey. Drizzle each parfait with honey. Top with a few extra berries and a sprig of fresh mint if you like.
- Serve immediately. These are best eaten right away so the granola stays crunchy. If making ahead, keep the granola separate and add just before serving.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 280 | Protein: 12g | Fat: 6g | Carbs: 44g | Fiber: 5g | Sodium: 85mg