Tea blend

Maybe a bit late for posting this. But if your garden is fresh still there is time to pick leaves for a tea blend.

Last years blend were only made of black currant leaves and raspberry leaves but this year I added rose leaves both flower and bush and flowers from red clover.

The leaves are poured over a oven tray with a parchment paper on. Let the leaves dry in room temperature on an airy space. Store the leaves in a tin can (not airtight). This will be my brew in the darkest months of winter when I need a sip of summer memories.

C-vitamin rich black currant juice

Another fluid post. As I don't get many berries this recipe is excellent for bringing out the best and most of  the small amount. 

You get a ruby coloured drink when mixing 1:4.

200 black currant leaves

1 L black currant berries

1 organic lemon in slices

600g sugar

2 L

Bring the water to boil with the sugar added. Pour the hot fluid over the rest of the ingredients, cover with a lit and let it stay in a cold place for 3 days. Strain and store in the freezer.

Cooling slushie

I recently posted this refresher on my other blog. For you who don't read it I post it here as well because I can't recommend it enough to you. It is soo soothing at a hot day.
A watermelon slushie. It's so easy and refreshing.

Cut watermelon in cubes, throw in a plastic bag and put it in the freezer. I buy whole melons and freeze the excess. If the cubes are deep frozen, let them soften for about half an hour. Put them in a blender and mix until you get a smooth slushie. If you like add water or soda.

A taste of summer

We have reached that time of year when the season is somewhere between winter and spring. That time is very long here in sweden and can go on for abut two months. One day we have heavy snowstorm, another rain but we also have sunny days when the sun is warming our pale faces. 

This time of year cause every one to long for spring and green grass. 

Luckily, I have saved a bit of summer by drying black currant and raspberry leaves for tea. These leaves makes an excellent green tea.

Pour nearly boiling water over a heap of leaves and let them soak for a few minutes. You can easily pick the soaked leaves up with a spoon.

There you have it, a lovely and mild black currant flavoured green tea that fills you with a summer spirit.

Breakfast smoothie

This is my breakfast for today. A banana chokolate smoothie.

2 dl homemade youghurt

1tsp cacao powder

3 dried apricots (eco)

1 peeled banana

 Mix everything in the blender and drink. As I didn't put the apricot in water first there were some chunks left after mixing, but that gives just the smoothie another dimension.

The youghurt is homemade from milk with added bacteria from fit line. This batch were made just by taking 50 ml from the first batch added to the next. If you buy youghurt with living bacteria in the store you can do the same with that.

Todays Green smoothie

Todays green smoothie comes entirely from the garden. The apples are ripen and the rest, sallad, kale and sugarsnaps has been harvested for a while.

The ingredients on the tray gives two small bottles of green smoothie

Here's a little snapshot of the next years crop. Broad beans, blue peas, sugar snaps and grey peas. It is very easy to harvest and save peas and beans to sow.

Blood orange

I highly recommend you to buy fruits and vegetables depending of the season. Right now it's the season for buying the Italian blood oranges. They are sold cheap in nets right now.

These oranges are actually ordinary oranges. What makes them red in the meat and peel is the temperature differences between cold frosty late winter nights and warm days. The red colour is antocyanin an antioxidant  good for your immune system. So beat the winter flu with a glass of fresh pressed blood orange.