I slice my banana and lay the pieces on a small tray, then freeze them for at least 2 hours. My strawberries go straight into a freezer bag the day I buy them, so they’re always ready.

I add the white grape juice and pear juice to the blender before anything else. Liquid at the bottom helps the blades pull the frozen fruit down instead of grinding against a dry wall of ice.

I spoon the plain yogurt right on top of the juice. It sits in a layer above the liquid and blends into the base smoothly once the blender starts running.

I add the frozen strawberries, banana slices, and ice last, right on top. I don’t pack too much in at once, since an overloaded pitcher stalls my blender motor fast.

That’s the step where my first blender burned out, back in April. I’d dumped everything in before any liquid, and the motor never fully recovered.

I start the blender on low, then move up to high over several seconds. I blend for about 38 seconds, until there are no visible chunks left in the pitcher.

The mixture should look glossy and move in one steady swirl, not separate chunks. When it still looks grainy past 40 seconds, I stop and scrape the sides down first.

I always taste before pouring. When the batch feels too thick, a small splash of white grape juice and 5 more seconds of blending fixes it.

When it tastes flat, a small drizzle of honey fixes it fast. Ripe fruit usually means this step gets skipped completely.

I pour it into a tall glass the moment it’s done blending. This smoothie starts separating within about 12 minutes, so it’s best served cold and fresh, not left sitting on the counter.