you all know that i’m a coffee drinker, but my sweet hubbers is more like a coffee connoisseur. for his birthday this year, he asked for some jamaican blue mountain coffee, a particular kind of coffee that is only grown on one mountain in the entire world. currently, it’s market value is about $50 per pound, so i thought ok, i can splurge on that, just this once (i think i bought this one). boy was THAT a mistake!! it was the best.coffee.ever. i wasn’t sure how we would go back to normal life after we finished the bag. back to bitter, dry or oily beans. i cringed at the thought. well after we finished our bag of pure bliss, we made it through a bag of some kind of ultra underwhelming beans and then to my surprise, found something surprisingly delicious. after visiting milwaukee wisconsin for a bike race, my mister brought home some nerve tonic coffee from the anodyne coffee roasting company located there. and i am very impressed! it works wonderfully in our espresso machine and is smooth, light and very possibly my new favorite. it will at least suffice until we are wealthy enough to live on jamaican blue mountain coffee (which will happen.. let’s see.. never).

do you have a favorite coffee? anything you would highly recommend?

{photo credits: today is national coffee day, g’morning sleepy head, afternoon.break, coffee print, morning of a retired fireman} 

wrap up: {anodyne coffee} {blue mountain} {coffee} {espresso} {roast}

happy friday, lovelies! before i get into today’s last post i just wanted to mention a few things! first i hope each of you have a very lovely long weekend filled with sunshine and happiness.  i’ll be taking monday off for memorial day but will plan to see you back here on tuesday. :) we’ve also got family coming into town for the next week (our first visitors, yeah!), so though i will still be regularly posting, i’ve lined up a few guest posts as well to help lighten my load. i know you will really enjoy them!

now on to one of my the most useful (and delicious) recipes!

last week i had the pleasure of meeting kathy, a new friend who shared this recipe with me for mojo de ajo, and it’s amazing! i’ve always minced  my own fresh garlic for meals, but i’ve got to admit.. when it comes down to doing it (which is nearly every meal) i always think it’s a bummer. like, great, now my fingers will smell like garlic for the rest of the night. i’ll also have to clean up the papery shells AND the mincer.

what this recipe allows you to do is roast garlic and keep it in your fridge for up to 3 months. that way, every time your recipe calls for some fresh garlic, all you have to do is dip some out! yeah!

i pretty much followed this recipe exactly, but i did make a few changes. i’ll share with you my version, but feel free to refer back to the original.

ingredients:

- 4 large heads garlic
- 1.5 cups of olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

directions:

preheat the oven to 325˚f.  break apart the heads of garlic, i find it easiest to mash each clove with the side of a knife and my fist to help remove the papery shell.  place the garlic in an 8×8 size pan and pour the olive oil over it (the cloves should be mostly covered). add the salt and stir lightly.

bake for about 45 to 55 minutes, or until the garlic has lightly browned. remove and add the lemon juice, and lightly stir again. return to oven for another 20 minutes.

when finished, mash with a large fork (or the bottom of a mason jar) until the garlic is lightly minced. pour into a container and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 months. enjoy every time your meal calls for fresh garlic!

wrap up: {garlic} {mincer} {mojo de ajo} {roast}

when i’m at the market, i try to pick at least one thing that i have no idea what to do with.  my last adventure? fennel.  fennel has always been a bit of a mystery to me, but i’m happy to report that not only is it easy to fix, it’s absolutely delicious too!

by roasting the bulbs, you bring out all the yummy flavors of the earthy, licorice fennel.  if you slice it thin enough, it even gets a little crunchy.  yum yum yum!  do you have any tricks to fixing fennel?

download the roasted fennel recipe here!

wrap up: {bulb} {fennel} {recipe} {roast}