Vous êtes parfait

When Thatbrother and I were little we had a very special favorite dessert. I'm not really sure who invented and/or named it, but we called it a "parfait." Now I do know that no one in our family actually invented parfaits. Parfaits are a dessert made of layers of ice cream, gelatin, fruit, granola, etc. etc. etc. (anyone remember Jello 1-2-3s?)

Our parfaits were very different. Thatmom or Thatdad would give us an 8oz plastic cup and let us loose in the pantry. We'd layer crackers, pretzels, dried fruit, nuts, whatever we could find in that little cup. It was great for portion control and made us feel like we had artistic license over our food.

But now I'm a grown up, and have artistic license over all my food. So I don't need to let loose in the pantry. Although I do still love colorful layer of goodie atop colorful layer of goodie. And so I have returned to the parfait, but in its more traditional form. I've been using yogurt, which makes this a breakfast food, right? Even if it is dripping in caramel?

Carmel Apple Parfait
1 cup strawberry banana yogurt
1/2 cup diced apple
1 Tbsp caramel

1. Place 1/2 cup of yogurt in a glass and top with diced apples.
2. Pour remaining half cup of yogurt over apples and spoon caramel on top.


Papaya and Pineapple Parfait
1 cup vanilla yogurt
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup chopped pineapple
1/4 cup chopped papaya
2/3 cup maple granola

1. Mix yogurt and cinnamon together. Place 1/2 cup of yogurt in a glass. Top with half of the pineapple and papaya.
2. Top fruit with granola and remaining yogurt.
3. Layer remaining fruit and granola on top of the yogurt.