
Good afternoon, Fellow Foodies:
Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a great weekend.
I have a couple of things to report, one of which you may or may not have heard about. But first I’ll tell you about my latest Graze package:
It arrived Saturday, primarily because I did not go into their website and postpone the next delivery. Oh, well. What’s inside?
Here’s the close-up:
The Walnut-Vanilla Truffle was the first one I had–yesterday after doing some work in the garden. Today I had the Caramel Apple; and I’m quite sure it’s a repeat appearance. I’ll have the savory ones later.
I also did some planting–and here’s where the old Graze boxes come in:
Those are basil seeds–cross your fingers.
I have planted the lettuce and celery scraps into pots. The celery had started to root a little, which is why I planted it, but the lettuce, as you saw, had greens growing from the center. Only one of the four romaine stubs is poking through the soil, and I’ll show you that when it’s more visible. But it’s happening, and I am thrilled that I will be able to enjoy romaine lettuce more often. Now to get the tomatoes growing.
Now. . .over the weekend in the HeatCageKitchen, I conducted another experiment. This time, I attempted the newly-popular home-made version of Bulletproof Coffee. With coffee from Starbucks.
If you’ve not heard of Bulletproof coffee, well. . .I first heard about it in the Wall Street Journal a couple of years ago, called “butter coffee.” Then a number of my writer friends on Facebook started buying it and proclaiming to the heavens that it was the best thing ever. Nick Usborne at Coffee Detective tried it. . .he was not impressed. Then on May 20th, Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman posted that she was introduced to the concept. Ree loves it.
So I figured it was time for me to try it. And I was in The Fresh Market at the right time, too.
Many of my writer friends are *into* this, and insist that it makes them feel better, think better, and just zip around the place all day long. I say it’s the extra caffeine, which has its own issues, but they insist it’s not. They buy the coffee and “brain oil” off the website, whereas I only used coconut oil. Since I drink decaf, well, buying that expensive coffee is probably not going to do anything different. But I digress. Maybe the “brain oil” would be a good thing. That’s for another day.
I was feeling good yesterday because I finally got around to ordering a replacement lid and knobs for my 10-year-old Crock Pots. Yes, more karma of spare parts. . .but if they still work, fix them!
Ohhh. . .I just thought of how funny it would be to see the GER’s face if he ever tried it. He would give me that look. . .well, that he frequently gives me. Anyway. . . .
I was in The Fresh Market on Friday evening and saw one of the three ingredients:
I’ve seen the salted version, which is also good, but never the unsalted until now. I headed to another section and got ingredient #2:
I intended to get up early Saturday and enjoy this after a walk, then head over to LK’s house for a district chanting session. Well, I was pressed fro time, did walk, but not as early as I’d preferred. So let’s get started:
First, make your coffee as you normally would. In my case, I use the French Press. You’ll need between 8 and 12 ounces of hot coffee.
While the coffee brews, I add the coconut oil to the blender, 1 tablespoon, then get on with the butter. Since I like my coffee “blonde and sweet,” I added two tablespoons to the blender. Thankfully, the measurements are on the back of the wrapper:
Why Kerrygold? It’s butter made from the cream of grass-fed beef–an important component, since it doesn’t have the additives that American butter has. You just open the wrapper and slice it:
All that goes into the blender with the hot coffee you carefully pour in:
And turn on the ignition:
The hot coffee melts the butter and coconut oil, and the blender emulsifies and froths up the whole thing. Melted butter is just like putting milk in your coffee, and the coconut gives it a sweet taste. But not quite sweet enough for me.
Safety tip: DO NOT use one of those little blenders intended for smoothies. Make SURE your blender can handle hot liquids. Some can’t. I do know this one can, because the jar is glass and there is a removable part at the top. I use this blender for Pea Pesto Soup, and it was indeed made for anything. Even though this coffee was less volume than the soup, it’s still hot, and you must make sure your equipment is up to the job. If you have a Vitamix, or other professional-grade blender, you should be OK. But those little hand-held blenders, probably not. Read the instructions and check the appliance itself before you find yourself with a big, burning mess. Anyway. . . .
Since I was running out of time, I added it to my travel mug and took it with me.
Yes, as a matter of fact, I did put two packets of sweetener in my Bulletproof coffee, darnit. And then, it tasted pretty good. I can’t say it didn’t do me any more good than my regular foamy-milk cappuccino, though.
Results will vary, of course.
Safety tip #2: after drinking this coffee, you will not be able to outrun, or withstand, a speeding bullet. You are not going to be Superman. You will not actually *be* bulletproof, OK? This is true even if you are buying the expensive coffee and brain oil. It’s a euphemism for FEELING “bulletproof” and being able to take on the day. Carpe Diem and all that. Let the creator tell you more about it.
Verdict: not bad, but not every day.
If you’re looking for a different cup of coffee, and maybe not something with several words to describe to a barista, you might indeed enjoy Bulletproof coffee. And if you don’t, you can say you tried it. Once.
Enjoy!