Friday Favorite: Coffee Milkshakes
I’m usually not much of one for cold coffee milkshakes, but these past few weeks I’ve been making our afternoon coffee in the form of a milkshake. They are tasty, delicious, and healthy – not to mention super quick.
How do I make them? Freeze ice cube tray with whole milk. Put 1 or 1.5 cups of cream into your blender pitcher. Add 2 Tablespoons of maple syrup and a dash of vanilla. Add a few ounces of strongly brewed coffee (we use a few shots of espresso). Put the blender pitcher in the freezer and while you’re at it a few glasses so they chill.
After about 30 minutes when the cream is good and chilled, add frozen milk cubes and blend for a few minutes. That’s all there is to it. It’s so delicious it’s hard to believe it’s good for you. All that healthy fat in the cream is chocked full of vitamin A and other goodness, the probiotics in the raw milk are good for your gut, there are minerals in the maple syrup and antioxidants in the coffee. Who knew something so tasty could be so healthy?
What’s your favorite frosty beverage?
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Friday Favorite: Bird Baths
A couple weeks ago we were at a local greenhouse and I spotted this lovely concrete birdbath. It’s quite a beauty, intricate, yet understated. I’ve always wanted a birdbath in my garden, they’re my favorite form of garden ornamentation.
Somehow, I have never had a birdbath and most likely won’t for quite a while. If you want a nice one they’re rather pricey, I think this one was $190. There are always so many other things that take up my garden budget long before I can even think about adding a birdbath to my garden. Perhaps I’ll find one under the Christmas tree some year.
Do you have a birdbath in your garden? What’s your favorite garden ornament?
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Friday Favorite: Greens
I have to admit, I used to be among the folks that didn’t like cooked greens. Fresh salads have always been welcome on my plate, but cooked greens were too slimy for me. That is, until I cooked them myself, in the proper way.
There really is nothing better than garden fresh greens, cooked the right way with butter and garlic. Earlier this week we enjoyed cooked mustard greens. They were so good I could have eaten a whole plate full. Since I grow mustard as a cover crop in the garden, there’s always a nice crop of it somewhere. It’s quite easy to mow off the top of the patch with a knife for a meal.
How did I make them? I harvested a couple pounds worth, boiled it in salted water for 5 minutes, dunked it in cold water to stop the cooking, then into a colander it went. After a bit of squeezing to remove most of the moisture, into a cast iron skillet it went which already contained minced garlic that had been fried to a golden grown in a few Tablespoons of butter. A quick stir to warm the greens and they’re done. Easy Peasy and so delicious.
Do you like cooked greens?
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Friday Favorite: Farm Stands
I have to admit, I’m a sucker for a farm stand. Whenever I see a sign like this, I slam on the brakes to see what they’ve got. Last Saturday, on my way between plant sales, I spotted this beautiful farm on a back road.
Lucky me, I scored a few bags of spinach and very spicy tiny leaved salad mix. Mr Chiots and I especially love seeing these when we’re out traveling. It certainly makes adding local vegetable to your plate much easier wherever you are.
I especially love little stands like this that work on the honor system. There’s something so comforting about knowing that there are still honest folks in the world and things like this still work.
Do you ever stop when you see signs like this while traveling?
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Friday Favorite: Boxwood
If you remember, two year ago I finally realized my garden dream of planting a boxwood hedge. Fast forward 8 months and we started looking to move to Maine. Lucky for us, the new owners of our house in Ohio told me I could take whatever plants I wanted. I spent an hour digging up all the boxwood and loaded them on our moving truck.
They were nestled snuggly in our main garden in early December and crossed my fingers hoping them survive.
They all survived the winter beautifully, though they did get a little wind burn (this means I need to plant wind breaks to protect that garden space). Now that it’s time to plant the main garden, I need to figure out where these beauties will wend up. Most likely, they’ll be put in a nursery area and be moved to their final resting place this fall or next spring.
Even though boxwood doesn’t bloom and isn’t show, there’s a definite classic beauty about it. There’s something so traditional and grounding in a long row of these beautiful shrubs.
What’s your favorite shrub?
