The Green Goddess and Raspberry Beer

This post is heavy on photos, light on text.  Please forgive?  Truth is I'm a bit zonked.  Had a tremendously productive weekend planting my garden.  The weather held out for a change, so all of the seeds and bedding plants are in!  Hooray!  Last year at this time the ground was super wet so things didn't get done until mid June.  Then we had a humongous hail storm early July which wiped out all of my tender crops, like lettuce and carrots and leeks, which were just tiny at that point.  So here's hoping that this season will be better!  So far Mother Nature is being very kind to me.  And today it's raining - couldn't ask for a better situation!

Before all of this crazy planting began (but after I managed to spread 100 pounds of cow manure throughout my garden plot) my dear friend Shan came over for a BBQ on Friday night.  Simple fare, with just grilled sausages on fresh buns with my Aunts' homemade beet relish, and a green salad, with this amazing Green Goddess dressing I had seen in "Everyday Food".  Avocados are one of my favourite things in the whole world.  And now that I know they can be made into a tangy yet cream salad dressing, well Hallelujah!  Add some fresh herbs and garlic, and this is good stuff.  I was eating it all weekend on various combinations of salads.  Some with salmon, others with chopped bacon and egg, and asparagus, which I picked up fresh at the farmer's market Saturday morning.  Amazing!  I still have a bundle in my fridge, which makes me think it's maybe time again to make these delicious appetizers.  Hmmmmmm. 

Shan and I had to wash this good food down with something cool and preferably boozy - cuz I'd had a crazy week, and so had she.  I  read about this concoction earlier and was intrigued.  Others were a bit fearful - you mix beer with raspberry punch what?  But it's only booze after all.  How bad can it be?  And this was not bad at all.  In fact, I kind of hate beer, but I LOVED this.  Adding the vodka and citrus slices and frozen raspberries was a good call.  My only gripe is that I had forgotten to make ice, but whatevs.  Next time I'll be more prepared.  We sat back, and enjoyed it in front of the first bonfire in the chimenea.  It was a good start to a really great weekend. 

Green Goddess Salad Dressing

1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup sour cream OR plain yogourt
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 avocado
1/4 cup fresh chives, chopped
1/4 cup fresh parsley
1 garlic clove
juice of one lemon
salt and pepper to taste

Put everything in a blender and blend until creamy.  I think this would be great with fresh dill too. 
Makes about 2 cups.  Adapted from Everyday Food.

Raspberry Beer

In a bowl or large pitcher, add:
1/2 cup vodka
1 can of frozen raspberry lemonade concentrate (if you can find it)  OR  frozen raspberry punch concentrate, thawed
3 cans (355ml) of beer, chilled
slices of 1 lemon and 1 lime
3/4 cup fresh or frozen raspberries

Serve over ice and garnish with mint. Makes enough for 6. Adapted from Southern Living.  
Let me know if you like it too!

And now a few pics from the weekend...

First tulip blooms

I bought ginger mint and lime basil from this herb vendor at the farmer's market.  Can't wait to use them!

My asparagus came from here.

First bonfire!