"Jus Apulkat" (Avocado-Chocolate Smoothie)

Jus Apulkat means an avocado smoothie. Confusing as it may be to English speakers, in Indonesia jus (“juice”) means a smoothie and es (“iced”) means juice. So jus jeruk = an orange smoothie, and es jeruk = freshly squeezed orange juice with ice. This has tripped me up at least once, long after I should have known better.
Whatever you call it, this is a surprisingly good and filling chilled treat. I added my own twist with the whipped cream.

Ingredients
meat of 1 small avocado
about 2/3 cup water
4 - 5 tablespoons sugar
chocolate syrup

Method
Place the avocado in a blender with the water and sugar. Blend until completely smooth, adding small amounts of additional water as necessary to achieve a thick but drinkable texture.
To serve, squirt two or three lines of chocolate syrup down the sides of a tall glass. Pour in the avocado, then add another shot of chocolate syrup in the middle. Or, if like me today you can’t find the chocolate syrup, layer chocolate chips in with the avocado drink, parfait-style. (Yes that's what those black things are!) Serve with a long spoon.

Don’t knock it ‘till you’ve tried it!

Pretty Healthy Carrot Bread

This recipe is adapted, with many tweaks, from the Better Homes and Gardens Zucchini Bread recipe. It’s quick to prepare, and satisfied my sweet tooth many a day.

When in Indonesia, I keep bags of shredded carrots (each containing one cup) in my freezer. To thaw them, I remove the carrots while still frozen, put in a bowl, and thaw in a little apple juice.

Ingredients
1 ½ cups flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg (optional)
½ cup brown sugar or palm sugar
1 cup finely shredded carrots
¼ cup apple juice plus a few tablespoons cooking oil
1 egg
½ cup raisins (optional)

Method
Preheat oven 350 Fahrenheit, 180 Centigrade.
Grease bottom and ½ inch up the sides of an 8x4x2 inch loaf pan; set aside.
In a medium mixing bowl combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda and baking powder, and nutmeg.
In another medium mixing bowl, whisk egg. Beat in apple juice and oil. Add sugar and shredded carrots; mix well. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture (or vice versa); stir till just moistened. Stir in raisins.
Spoon into prepared pan. Bake until a wooden toothpick comes out clean, about 1 hour. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove loaf from pan. Cool completely on the rack. Makes 1 loaf (about 10 servings).