just picked

Our first edibles, other than chives, from our garden this year! The evening is warm and the sun is coming out at loooooong last, so I puttered around for a few minutes outside after supper. I'm thinking about making a few things this rhubarb season. My mother-in-law's Rhubarb Custard Pie is perfection. A rhubarb cake would be lovely. And so would some rhubarb lavender jam. After my lavender peach jam and lavender honey success, and since I loooove Sledding Hill's lavender products so much, I think I'll be making this soon. YOM.

Still thinking about food (when am I not?), I have a quick and delicious smoothie combination for you. Our third CSA basket pick-up is tomorrow, and I know that we'll be getting more spinach. We had some last week as well, and it was still in the fridge tonight after supper. Adam can't eat spinach, so it was up to the boys and I to gobble it up. I don't mind it raw in a salad, although it's not my favourite thing in the world, and I am not a fan of sauteed greens. I will eat them, but I find it difficult to enjoy them. I think it's a texture thing. Anyway, last summer, I figured out that for me, the best way to eat spinach is fresh and in a smoothie. There's no texture to get past, and whatever else you add masks the spinach flavour. And you still get all of the great healthy benefits. I tossed the spinach (2 cups or so) in the blender with a big splash of orange juice, and about 2/3 of a cup of frozen blueberries. That's it - and it was delicious! Not spinachy at all, and the boys both loved it.

Books. I love books and had three inter-library loans to pick up today. (I must have the highest number of inter-library loan requests in our town.) I even skipped a little bit on my way out of the library, I'm so looking forward to reading them. Home Dairy by Ashley English is looking especially fantastic. But this book and this one aren't available through my library. I don't suppose anyone wants to send me a copy? How gorgeous does the Herbfarm Cookbook look?

Speaking of herbs, here's a little bee balm that I picked up last week.

Up there with food and books, butter is another love of my life. It is the easiest thing in the world to make, especially if you have a stand mixer. There's a great little (pretty!) video tutorial over here that shows exactly how the cream changes as it's in the process of becoming butter, and how to knead herbs and such in, to make compound butters. I think I need a cow. Better yet, a neighbour with a cow.

I hope that you've had a Ruby Tuesday.