From the Blender: The Californian Smoothie

For as far back as I can remember, I've always been biased toward smoothies with a reddish hue. Maybe it's some Eve-esque subliminal thing, but whenever I see that ruby color, my brain reads it as: "you are about to drink something particularly enjoyable." So I figured, double the red berries, double the deliciousness, right?

Right! This smoothie involves both frozen strawberries and frozen raspberries, which lend a sweet, tangy note along with the all-important redness. Ever since our own Carolyn Cope declared that dates are the smoothie sweetening queen, I've been wanting to use them in a recipe, and this seemed like the perfect time to try them out. Dates always make me think of California, which in turn reminds me of avocados, so I went with them to add creaminess (and no, you really can't taste the avocadoy-ness —it's pretty much completely obscured by the berries). Almond milk was my liquid of choice, and with a quick hit of honey for sweetness, I had myself a rich, thick smoothie that would have made the Mamas and the Papas proud (and maybe these guys, too).