thoughtful consumption

I don’t think I’ve ever seen this much rain. I hope everyone’s doing okay. Looks like the farmers and CSA packers will have a couple of rough days getting this week’s orders ready. I know how drought affects what’s available. Guess we’ll see what too much rain does.

At this point, there are few bright spots to all the rain. So let me share one. We have a real creek running through our woods now! It’s usually a tiny rivulet that comes and goes. But today you can even hear it from the house. Yesterday afternoon, I took some pictures and posted them here. This was before the last 20 inches of rain and the major flooding. It was easier to be upbeat about the situation then.

Orange mint honey

What do you do at 3 in the morning because you can’t sleep from non-stop torrential rain, thunder, and lightning? Make orange mint honey and drink herbal tea!

For the honey, I followed Fran’s easy instructions from the online store: warm the honey with the mint leaves, cool, and store. I used 6 mint leaves to my 6 ounces of clover honey. The picture doesn’t show much, but the taste is great for tea.

Green beans

I’ve been making green beans by the handful for meals instead of all at once. It’s pretty easy.

1. Wash and snap enough beans for the meal.

This is enough for three because one of us still isn't crazy about green beans.

2. Put the beans in boiling water. Boil for 3 minutes after the water returns to a boil – maybe six minutes total. If you don’t let the beans boil long enough, they’re squeaky when you eat them. Still good, but squeaky.

3. Once the beans are done, plunge them into ice water to stop them from cooking and to preserve the pretty bright green bean color. Drain once they’re cool.

4. Melt a little butter in a skillet on medium-high (or use olive oil). Add anything that might flavor the butter. This week, I’ve used garlic, chopped sage and rosemary. Ginger, chopped tomatoes, and other herbs would be good, too. I tried lemon zest, but I think this is too soon to add it; all the lemon flavor disappears by the time the beans are done.

5. Toss the beans in the butter. Let them cook for a few minutes stirring occasionally so that the beans cook evenly. Add salt and pepper. (This is where I wish I’d added the lemon zest.) Taste after a few minutes to judge if they’re ready. At this point, the beans are completely cooked. It’s just a matter of how crunchy you like them.