Berries and Cream

With summer here, I thought maybe I'd give you a quick, healthy, usable recipe. Well, healthy if you use the honey - not the sugar! I know I completely neglect this site, but I'm going to TRY and do BETTER. I have about four recipes that I am just itching to get in here... but haven't had time to breathe lately. Yesterday Kaden had a root canal on his #9 front tooth and we've had house guests and things to do... I assure you that Kaden's root canal had nothing to do with the fact that it was a "sweet tooth". He has cement teeth like me... but apparently they chip on playground equipment while playing dodge ball. I never really understood the concept behind dodge ball, anyway... and it certainly isn't worth thousands of dollars worth of dentistry, eh? Just to get hit by a ball in the head? Children are crazy.

OK... The recipe!

Something sweet and simple for summer... something we discovered by chance a few weeks ago after a loving family member brought us a bag full of blackberries...

Berries and Cream

Ingredients:
berries (any kind - blackberries are what we used)
2 % milk (or whole milk)
Sugar (to taste)
Honey or Agave Nectar (optional or substitute)
Vanilla (just a bit)

Tools:
French Press
Spoon and bowl for eating

INSTRUCTIONS:
Here's the trick... take your cold milk and put it in the French Press. Pump the press until the milk is foaming and creamy. Pour it into a bowl and stir in the sugar, vanilla and honey if you want it. Taste as you go to see if you like the flavor. Start with small amounts until you get the milk to taste the way you want it. Blend in the berries, mix and eat!

I was so impressed with the way the French Press creams the milk! My husband is really excited that his French Press has found a purpose. He bought it and hated the way it made coffee, but now he uses it almost daily to foam milk for his morning espresso that he makes on the stove top.

Try it and let me know what you think!

Happy summer eating!


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Technorati Tags: Fruit, Summer, Snack, Dairy, Milk, Food, Berries, Recipes, Cream

Asparagus and Eggs with Mornay Sauce

I can't remember what magazine this came from, but it was well over 8 years ago when I found this recipe and I've been carrying it around forever. I finally made it last week and fell in love! With fresh veggies abounding in the grocery stores, this will be a wonderfully healthy complement to almost any meal. The sauce is so good you could drink it! If you have any lactose intolerant folks in your family, you might want to have them avoid this cheesy, creamy sauce. The rest of you can fight over it!

INGREDIENTS
1 bag frozen asparagus or 1.5 lbs. fresh
Mornay Sauce (below)
4 hard boiled eggs, cut in fourths

MORNAY SAUCE INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
dash of ground nutmeg (mmm! I love nutmeg!)
1 1/4 cups of 2% milk
3/4 cup grated Gruyeres cheese (this is the key element)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (use the expensive kind - it melts better)

INSTRUCTIONS
Lay your asparagus in a foil-lined baking dish and cover it with foil. Bake it for about 20 minutes on 400 degrees or until tender to your liking. Prepare Mornay sauce and boil your eggs as you wait.

Heat butter in saucepan over low heat until melted. Stir in your flour, nutmeg, and salt. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until smooth and bubbly. Remove from heat and stir in milk. heat to boiling over medium heat and whisk constantly. Boil and stir for a minute or two. Add cheeses; stir until melted. Sauce should thicken. May take more time depending on your stove and the type of flour you use.

Remove foil from asparagus and set aside after it is tender. Remove, cool, peel and slice boiled eggs and set aside.

Set oven to broil and let it heat while you prepare asparagus in baking dish. Arrange sliced eggs in and around asparagus. Pour sauce over eggs and asparagus, using every drop. Broil uncovered for 3 to 4 minutes so that cheese browns on top. Serve hot (don't forget the cutting knife for each dinner guest).


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Technorati Tags: Asparagus, Side Dish, Cooking, Veggies, Eat, Food, American, Recipes, Eggs

Blue Bell Ice Cream "Taste of the Country" Flavor Contest

This contest sounds like a real treat... especially if you love the home-made taste of Blue Bell Ice Cream from Brenham, Texas. [The cows think Brenham is heaven.] If you happen to be anywhere in the Blue Bell territory (a customer of theirs - see their map for specific details), you are qualified to enter the contest and design your own local flavor for Blue Bell.

In honor of the company’s 100th anniversary, Blue Bell Creameries kicked off a "Taste of the Country" flavor contest on January 1, 2007. The deadline for entry is not until April (postmarked by April 30th), so hurry and get your thinking caps on! They are asking customers to submit names of ice-cream flavors suggestive of their own state and local dessert traditions. This is one delicious contest that you don't want to miss! There will be 17 State winners and a Grand Prize winner! The winners will get a year's supply of ICE-CREAM... and the grand prize winner will enjoy a trip to Brenham for a factory tour... AND get to see their own flavor masterpiece packaged and sold by Blue Bell for a year! [Yipee! I want to go to Texas!]

For more information, entry forms and Blue Bell contest rules click here. Happy indulging...er, sampling and creating!


Buzz Words: contest, home, life, food, family, desert, ice-cream, kids, creative, yummy, America, win, flavor, children, fun, recipe, Spring, Southern

Dairy Sightings On the Net

Cow Abductions? Aliens who drink milk? Things couldn't be weirder at "Got Milk?" - so go and check it out when you have some time and available PC speakers!


Technorati Tags: Aliens, Food Blogs, Laugh, Milk, Bovine, Silly, Moo, Funny, Humor, Links, Fun, Cows, Dairy