plum perfect: the plum coconut snoball, reconsidered

thirsty thursday
notes from maggie's farm

I love plum.

my 'pretty in plum' Pinterest inspiration boards

The gorgeous dusty jeweled reds and purples of plum.  

Plum to eat, plum to wear, plum to carry, plum to peruse...

http://pinterest.com/frommaggiesfarm/pretty-in-plum/

..Plum to collect, plum to ooh and aaah over, plum to covet...

I've had plum fill whole sections of my closet.  I've had plum bathrooms.  I have plum dishes.  Really, I still need more plum.  

My wardrobe is neutral, now.  Lot's of black, as that is what blondes do when they're trying to be frugal. Black, and pearls. But mostly, whatever linen comes in--that's my color.  And jeans.  Every shade of 'jeans'. I'm not sure what happened to all my plum-lovely clothes.  I've lost a little stylish 'umph' in the transition from (not really that) hip urbanite to farm (really older than a) girl.  I think plum might help me bridge the gap.

Currently, my home is in palest shades of yellow, with a powdery robin's egg blue in the bedroom. I had but few days to get these walls from a soul-numbing tan to anything but before we moved in, and what you see is what I got. It was, I suppose, the particular color mood I found myself in those days. I'm not sure what happened to my plum accents.  

I'm going to pull some more plum out.  I'm just warning y'all--time to get back to much more plum!  

I've gotten two plum trees to install. I'm going to plant more plum-colored flowers in the garden.  (Thank you, eggplant.  You've gotten things off to a nice start.)  I'm thinking I'll make (or buy, if I spy a great deal) some stylish purple throw pillows, maybe a lap blanket, to amp up the plum factor among the powder blues, greys, olive greens and yellows.  A plum pedicure, a plum scarf or two, a perfectly-plum leather handbag.  Maybe I'll go absolutely crazy and buy a pair of shoes that aren't black.  I've definitely got my eyes open for a big plum silk flower for my new hat.  

Y'all, it's time to get a little bit of my color mojo back.  I'm about to go plum crazy.  

So, it was this not-enough-plum mood that found me on the last day of our surprise-we're-going-to-new-orleans-for-our-anniversary whirlwind vacay.  It is completely and utterly not like us.  It was anything but pragmatic.  It was exactly what we needed.  Whatever mojo you may have misplaced, The Big Easy is the perfect place to find it.  And find it, we did.  Several mojos were recovered.  And, it was on Plum Street, where I remembered the mojo I didn't even realize was lost.

Plum.

On our last stop before heading out, there it was. On Plum Street. At Williams' Plum Street Sno Ball stand. (notice that even Williams' Sno Ball stand is flexible on the spelling, differing on the sign, above, and the signs inside, below.)

And I had...........a plum and coconut snoball.

And it was a fine day.

Now, can I have a sugary treat like that every day?  No.  I couldn't even if I was lucky enough to live on Plum Street.

But could I come close, without the inherent diabetic coma I'd find myself in the midst of if I indulged too often? Well, maybe.

Back at home, this is what I came up with--

That glass with the ice?  That's plum.  My 'special mother' handed down to me her gorgeous purple Fostoria she collected
from her days as a young buyer for Sakowitz.  They are a treasure.  And indestructible, I might add.

It's a plum coconut snoball, reconsidered. Reconsidered in a way that might be a tad healthier (just a tad) and more accessible here on the farm.  I substituted my plum preserves, (which, incidentally, just won a blue ribbon at the county fair, thankyouverymuch.) diluted with water, for the corn syrup-based snoball stand favorites.  I substituted canned coconut milk for the coconut syrup.  Likely not much of a difference in calories, but a might healthier in terms of unprocessed ingredients, and the absence of high fructose corn syrup.

This is, also, just an occasional treat.  But when I get a hankering, it might just be the thing I need to start getting a little more plum back in my life.

Williams' Plum Street Snowball stand, is, for our money, the best in New Orleans.

A few other plummy treats you (and I) might enjoy--
Plum Smash, Plum Cocktail, Fizzy Plum Bellini, or a Plum Basil Gin Fizz,
Plum Syrup or, even, Plum Good Syrup,
Sugar Plum Punch, Plum Juices, and, Plum Liqueur.