Peach Banana Colada Smoothie

Christmas decorations are up. The house looks like a Puerto Rican explosion of red and gold, which is exactly how it should look because Christmas decorations should be visible from space and anyone who disagrees has never experienced a Delgado Christmas. I put the tree up on Saturday — artificial, because I am not killing a tree for decoration, this is Connecticut not a lumber yard — and I hung every ornament we have collected over twenty-eight years of marriage. There is the Baby First Christmas ornament from Miguel Jr. in 1990. There is the construction paper angel Rosa made in second grade. There is the miniature wooden coqui that David bought me in Bayamon when he was fifteen. There is the glitter star Sofia made when she was six that is falling apart but will hang on that tree until the tree itself disintegrates because that star is my daughter love made visible in glue and craft store glitter.

Eduardo put up the lights outside because that is his one decorating job and he does it without complaint because he knows that Christmas lights are non-negotiable and I will stand on the porch and supervise his placement and tell him when a strand is crooked, which it always is, and he will fix it without argument because December Eduardo is as committed to my Christmas vision as June Eduardo is to his grilling.

Parranda season has started. Parranda is the Puerto Rican tradition of showing up at people houses unannounced with instruments and singing and food, like caroling but louder and with better food. Last Tuesday, eight people from our church showed up at 9 PM with a guitar, maracas, and a guiro, and they sang aguinaldos in our living room for an hour while I scrambled to put out food because Carmen Delgado-Ortiz does not receive guests without feeding them. I heated pasteles. I made coquito on the spot — fifteen minutes, blender, coconut cream, condensed milk, rum. Everyone ate. Everyone sang. Sofia came downstairs in her pajamas and filmed the whole thing for her social media and the video got two hundred likes, which she was very excited about. I got two hundred compliments on my pasteles, which I was more excited about.

The parranda ended at 11 PM and Eduardo went to bed and I stood in my kitchen washing dishes and humming aguinaldos and thinking about Christmas in Bayamon — the music in the streets until 2 AM, the whole neighborhood singing, Abuela Consuelo making coquito in the kitchen while Papi played guitar badly and enthusiastically. Those are the Christmases that live in my blood, and every parranda in Hartford brings them back, every song, every sip of coquito. The island is far but the music makes it close.

That night, after the last guest left and Eduardo was already asleep and the guiro was quiet and the pasteles were gone, I stood in my kitchen thinking about Abuela Consuelo’s kitchen and that particular kind of joy that only comes when your house has been full of music. I wasn’t ready for the night to end — I never am after a parranda — so I did what I always do when I need to hold onto something: I went to the blender. This Peach Banana Colada Smoothie is not coquito, but the coconut cream is there, the tropical sweetness is there, and when you close your eyes it is close enough to make the island feel a little less far away.

Prep Time: 5 minutes | Cook Time: 0 minutes | Total Time: 5 minutes | Servings: 2

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups frozen peach slices
1 large ripe banana, sliced and frozen
3/4 cup coconut cream
1/2 cup pineapple juice
1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon honey, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup ice cubes
Toasted coconut flakes, for garnish (optional)

Instructions

Prep your blender. Make sure your peaches and banana are fully frozen before starting — this gives the smoothie its thick, creamy colada texture without watering it down with extra ice.
Combine the ingredients. Add the frozen peaches, frozen banana, coconut cream, pineapple juice, Greek yogurt, honey, and vanilla extract to a high-powered blender.
Add ice and blend. Drop in the ice cubes, then blend on high for 45 to 60 seconds, stopping once to scrape down the sides, until the mixture is completely smooth and no chunks remain.
Taste and adjust. Taste the smoothie and add a little more honey if you want it sweeter, or a splash more pineapple juice if you prefer a thinner consistency.
Pour and garnish. Divide between two tall glasses. Top with toasted coconut flakes if using, and serve immediately.

Nutrition (per serving)

Peach Banana Colada Smoothie — When the Parranda Leaves and the Kitchen is Quiet