Cool Sips for Hot Days (or, How to Drink More Water)

I have a hard time drinking the recommended 8 glasses of water a day. Or at least I did until I started making this drink:

All you do is take fresh mint (which I have growing in abundance in my garden):

Put the mint in a container filled with water, and add in some lemon juice.

Give it a little shake, and there you go. The great thing about this "recipe" is that you can totally make it to your taste. Put as much or as little lemon juice in as you want; decide how many mint leaves you'd like in it.

The longer it sits, the more the flavor comes out (especially the mint). So if you really want to taste the flavors, I recommend keeping two of these going at one time. One to drink from, and one that's steeping. ;)

Drink up, and enjoy being healthy!

(And to make your water-drinking experience extra fun, print out these cute water-drinking checklists from How About Orange. I keep mine on the fridge).

{this moment} - ferrets love chai tea, too

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

- SouleMama

Two Pony Gardens

On Friday evening we drove out of the Cities and down a narrow dirt road to a wonderful farm -

- called Two Pony Gardens.

Some dear friends of ours are moving to Oregon at the end of this month, and we've been trying to see them as much as possible before they go. They knew about this organic farm that has monthly pizza nights, and invited us to go.

At the farm they have beautiful gardens:

And they have cats,

and dogs,

and chickens,

a bunny,

and bees!

The inside of the farmhouse is amazing. I fell in love with the kitchen:

as well as the back porch (it has beds that are swings! Can it get better than that?!)

And the pizzas? Absolutely the best I've ever eaten.

The pizza oven.

Fresh mozzarella, tomato, basil, and parmesan pizza.

Arugula, fig, chevre, caramelized onion, and sausage pizza.

It was a wonderful night out; I can't wait for the next one!

PS The necklace I wore that night is from here.

{this moment} - a table for two

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

- SouleMama

In My Kitchen

:: Enjoying the peonies from my garden...

:: And the rhubarb, as well.

:: Making (and drinking) iced tea. (And enjoying the set of glasses and the pitcher that my guy picked up for me at my favorite vintage store. Love.)

:: Laughing at the kitty who managed to find the one bare spot in the pantry to hang out.

:: Baking (and eating) lots of loaves of chocolate chip banana bread.

:: Making (and drinking) a chai tea mix (in one of my new pyrex mugs!).

Last weekend was the June swap - some of the chai tea concentrate and banana bread went there with me. I'll be back to show you what I swapped for!

(See here and here for the May swap).

{this moment} - kitty kisses

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

- SouleMama

{this moment} - stovetop s'mores

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

- SouleMama

MPLS Swappers: The Food

After my post about my first time participating in the MPLS Swappers event, I said I would be back to show you the food I came home with. Here it is!

First up, I traded for a dozen fresh eggs from backyard chickens. These make me so happy!

Next, homemade rhubarb sauce from rhubarb picked in the garden the day before the event.

Yum!

Homemade sauerkraut with caraway seeds. I love sauerkraut so much, so I was really excited to get this.

And ginger syrup, packaged beautifully in a cool glass bottle. (This is the only one that I haven't used yet).

I traded the four jars of jam that I had brought for the four things above. But at the last minute, right as we were all packing up, another swapper asked if I would be willing to trade the sample jar of raspberry jam that I had brought with me for these pretzel sticks she had made.

I was more than happy to make the trade! These dipped pretzels were so good - milk chocolate on half of them, and the other half had white chocolate with dried cranberries and mango - a really delicious combo! These did not last around the house too long, I can tell you that.

Also as I was leaving, one of the hostesses asked if I would like to take a bag of seasoned popcorn along with me. She had made them for us to snack on during the swap, and there was some leftover. It was really good!

The following day, breakfast consisted of scrambled eggs on toast:

And rhubarb sauce on bread:

This sauce is so good, that some of it I just ate straight up with a spoon.

Another recent breakfast - french toast with rhubarb sauce:

And dinner the night after the swap? Grilled brats with homemade sauerkraut, plus some of the last of the dilly beans and salsa that I canned last summer. Oh, and Schell's Dark - a Minnesota beer (and hands-down my all time favorite beer from anywhere).

These meals have made me so happy. I have loved getting to eat all these delicious homemade treats, and have loved tasting the bounty from others' gardens and talents. Thank you to all of you who swapped with me. I am so looking forward to the June swap!