I love instagram. It makes me all kinds of happy to see and post fun pictures. Snapshots tell mini stories that would otherwise go unnoticed. Or forgotten.

Posting on instagram is much easier than blogging. For example, I wanted to share my favorite new smoothie recipe with you. So I took a photo of my avocado coconut cream smoothie this morning. The photo is awful. It was still dark outside, the automatic flash went off, it’s out of focus, and the composition clearly reveals the photo was taken BC (before coffee).

Photos like this usually end up in my trash folder.

Because I love you. And I love this smoothie, I cheated and posted the recipe on instagram.

I used a new app called A Beautiful Mess. The app allows you to add quirky doodles and phrases to your photos before posting on instagram and other social media places. The app is super intuitive to use and adds a bit of whimsy to photos. In this case I was able to salvage a photo destined for the trash.

So, there you have it. A fun new app and a delicious smoothie recipe.

Do you have a favorite smoothie or know about a new app? Share!!!

Avocado Coconut Cream Smoothie

 

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Thick and creamy this nutrient dense smoothie tastes like dessert.

Author: Kristin Schell

Recipe type: Smoothie

Ingredients

• ½ avocado
• ½ – ¾ cup organic coconut milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 4-5 cubes of ice

Instructions

1. Blend ingredients until thick and creamy. You may need to adjust the amount of milk depending on the size of your avocado. If I need more liquid, I usually add a splash of water.

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Happy Monday, friends!

I want to be a bee keeper. It fits right in with my Wendell Berry inspired fantasies.

Of course this new passion for bees comes on the heels of our 52 Sunday Suppers cooking class where we took a field trip to our neighborhood apiary, Bee Weaver. Since 1888, the Weaver family has been making the world sweeter with their love and care of bees.

As a food lover, I appreciate honey. I cook with honey and the Littles love the sweet goodness drizzled on warm, buttered biscuits. Peanut butter and honey sandwiches have been a lunch box staple since pre-school. But in the busyness of life, I’ve never given much thought to the production of honey and how hard those tiny, stripped-bodied creatures must work to produce one of life’s sweetest inventions.

Laura Weaver was a gracious hostess and educated our group on the intricacies of bee keeping. Bees are fascinating creatures and I left our visit in awe of our God who truly out did himself when he created the bee.

Bee hives are led by the queen bee. The queen is truly the heart and soul of the hive and it’s her job to populate the entire colony. Worker bees, who are all females, do the heavy lifting protecting the hive, taking care of the queen, producing wax, creating the comb, and foraging flowers filling their pollen baskets before returning to the hive to produce the honey. The drone bee is the only male in the colony and there are relatively few in each hive. The sole job of the drone is to mate with the queen. However if they are lucky enough to mate with the queen, their fortune is short lived as drones die immediately after mating.

A fascinating little community. And, oh the honey they produce!

Straight from the honeycomb we tasted the sweetness of the bees labor. Then the class returned home to my kitchen where we created several honey inspired recipes. We learned to make Susie’s delicious Amish white bread and cinnamon honey butter, toasted life and bees with glasses of my honey ginger Prosecco, and dipped our pinkies into my favorite honey mustard dressing. We dove deep into conversation inspired by the awe we experienced by our encounter with the bees. And we celebrated the goodness of local love and the blessings of getting to know your neighbors. Did I mention Laura is my neighbor? Yep. We met on the lacrosse field.

This week’s menu is sweet. Inspired by bees. All made with honey.

Week 18 Menu

Amish White Bread

Cinnamon Honey Butter

Bee Good Vinaigrette tossed with fresh spinach, hard boiled egg, red onion & bacon

Honey Spiced Chicken

4.0 from 1 reviews

Bee Good Vinaigrette

 

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This oil free dressing is lip smacking good. Made with local honey from Bee Weaver apiary, I dubbed it Bee Good Vinaigrette. Any honey will do, I’m just a fan of local love.

Author: Kristin Schell

Recipe type: salad dressing

Ingredients

• ½ cup whole grain mustard
• ¼ cup local honey
• ¼ cup rice vinegar

Instructions

1. Add all ingredients to a glass jar. Shake with lid on until well combined. Toss with your favorite salad. Will store in refrigerator for a week.

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Have a sweet week friends!

Love,