Our afternoon outing was fun and successful!
We had a little time to kill so we ventured into the most amazing antique shop I’ve ever been in (mostly because they had tons and tons of stuff and it wasn’t all breakable!)
But I did recognize some family heirlooms I have already!
Blue Willow
And I have these! Both from my grandmother
I really wanted to buy these, but I resisted:
And these! The KERF colors 
When we got home around 4:30 I was very hungry for a snack.
I have bars that are YEARS old. I am such a bar hoarder. Do they even make Clif Nectar anymore!? The Dark Chocolate Walnut was (is) my favorite. Despite being a year past the "best by" date, it was still good.
Also had an Asian pear because I was thirsty!
Afternoon project: homemade greek yogurt. I often buy greek yogurt not just for the thickness, but because I think the FLAVOR is so much better than regular plain. But I had a coupon from the HSL for a tub of Stonyfield regular, so I jumped on it. We’re keeping half as it, and straining the other half to make some thickness goodness.
Big bowl + mesh colander + 2 paper towels
+ another layer and the container for weight = in the fridge overnight.
More thirst quenching – a mocktail around 6:30 of diet tonic
While we made dinner!
Dinner excitement:
Featuring homemade buns by Matt modeled after Great Harvest Dakota (but they are NEVER as good as true GH buns! No offense Matt!)
And local grass-fed beef burgers from Davis Creek Farm!
And of course…lots and lots of collards greens
Our burgers featured yellow tomato, ketchup, mustard, greens and pickle. So delish!
My all time favorite way to prepare collards:
- Tear leaves into pieces
- Rinse and spin dry
- Heat big pot and put in a little olive oil
- Add collards plus 1/8 cup water
- Stir
- Put lid on
- 2 minutes later, stir
- Add another 1/8 cup water if they are not wilting
- Put lid on
- Wait 3-4 minutes
- They’re done when they’re bright green and soft
- Drizzle on 1 tbsp maple syrup
- Season with salt and pepper and if you’re lucky, Garlic Gold Nuggets
Slightly sweet and savory!
After dinner = Mac. A. Roon.
I have determined that these Hail Merry Blondies tastes like sugar cookie dough!
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I updated the Running page with INJURIES and SHOES
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I have having trouble getting through American Wife. It’s just a bit slow, plot-wise. Must charge on!
{ 79 comments… read them below or add one }
Lol, to answer your question, No, they don’t make Clif Nectars anymore and haven’t for maybe 6 months. They were really good, though!
umm, are you past page 70ish?
YES and I really liked it until then…then it got boring when she grew up
That book was completely worth it for the ending.
I’m a bar hoarder too!
I need to try your collard recipe! I love em’ but never eat them.
Nite
I love Asian pears! They are so juicy and refreshing.
all those dishes look so cute!
Yeah, about the buns…I think it is a combination of the heat and the seasoned oven that makes bakery bread so great. His buns look good though (and no, I am not hitting on him). Have a great night!
homemade bread in general sounds amazing!
I’ve only tried raw collard greens and I did NOT enjoy them… Maybe I’ll have to try cooking them.
Thanks for the collards tip. They were new to me as an adult, but I really like them.
For just a moment, I thought you were making homemade yogurt from milk. I tried that last year and it was a total failure (likely due to not reaching the correct temperature) but I have been meaning to try again.
If milk grew on trees I would
I haven’t bought Greek Yogurt in over 2 years! I make it with a gallon of milk at a time and it now takes me practically no time at all! I heat the milk the evening before…add 1/4 cup-1/2 cup of yogurt from previous batch, and then “put it to bed”. 12 hours later (morning) i put it in a colander lined with a muslin cloth and stick it in the fridge…2 hours (or less) later I have 2 quarts of wonderful creamy Greek-ness! As much Greek yogurt as I eat, this has saved me money untold!!!
Love the antiques! I am a sucker for old dishware myself. I have all of my grandmother’s everyday dished that no one else wanted.
If those macaroons really taste like sugar cookie dough I would eat the whole package! I’m a cookie dough craving pregnant woman right now!
And I really need to try collard greens, but being a northern girl they are hard to find at the stores around here.
It’s SAFE for a pregnant woman too – no eggs!
will Matt share the recipe of that bread? it look amazing!!!
I’ve never had green collard because I don’t know how to prepare it, now I have no more excuse
Unfortunately, Matt can’t share any of his bread recipe. They are very influenced by Great Harvest’s recipes, which he knows by heart, that to share his would be to give away some of their secrets. It’s a downside of owning a bakery
I wish I lived close to you so I can buy fresh bread at your bakery
I trust Matt’s baking skill 
Making your own greek yogurt out of the plain is such a good idea! I definitely prefer greek plain to regular plain yogurt, so maybe i’ll have to try that with my coupons as well!
That’s awesome that you made your own greek yogurt!
hahaha i’m a bar hoarder, as well! i have some that i might even be afraid to open!
I have those plates too! (The second picture)
Those collards look amazing, I cook mine with bacon quite often but will try these, they look divine!
Oh, I’ve tried straining yogurt but it didn’t quite work out… I used coffee filters, and I never thought about pressing down on the top! Any tips?
Your own greek yogurt? Awesome!
I’ve never thought of using paper towel in lieu of cheesecloth for straining. Does it work well?
I love Asian pears. Such a treat!
i’m about to start american wife…well, when it comes in anyway. i can’t wait to start reading!
I have never prepared collards, but yours look so good. Although, there is nothing better than fries with a big juicy burger.
Your run page looks wonderful, thank you for spending so much time on your blog!
Beautiful dishes! And I love Asian pears!
I love poking around places like that – you never know what you’ll find! Those are such perfect colours for KE!
I made collard greens a few weeks ago for the first time and I loved them! I tore them and steamed them over the stove. Yum yum
I heart antique shops
Homemade Greek yogurt’s the best! I tried it not too long ago with already thick yogurt so it took much longer than usual to thicken up even more..but it was fabulous!
I LOVE antique shops! My hubby and I went antiquing on our wedding day hahhaha, I like to buy my jewelry there, it’s fun thinking about the woman who once wore it : )
Oh you had me at sugar cookie dough, sounds amazing.
I wish I could get homemade buns to come out half as good as Matt’s not-as-good-as-GH ones.
Jenn
those blue and green separate mugs you almost bought are SO pretty and cute. Love those colors.
Hope your greek yogurt turns out well!
Love the bouquet
I will have to try collards cooked this way, Ben likes them SUPER cooked and drowning in vinegar!
i’m relieved someone else eats bars past date and thinks they’re fine too. sometimes i think my taste buds are crazy!
Love antiquing!
You can always find something unique and special.
another really good way to eat collards is to cook them exactly the same way but drizzle vinegar and hot sauce on them for a more savory green!
Okay. I broke down and ordered one of the Hail Merry starter kits tonight because the macaroons look So. Good. Can’t wait to get them!
I have the American Wife on hold at the library. Hmmm maybe I’ll wait for a review of the book.
Do you ever make your own veggie broth from the scraps left behind? I use it all the time when cooking down greens…collards, kale, chard, etc. It adds a great depth of flavor! Obviously, it’s also great for cooking beans and grains. You guys seem to go through as many veggies as we do, and you can’t beat yummy, FREE broth for times when you won’t be using an entire carton of store-bought broth. Just a thought!
Great suggestion! I do this too.
thanks for the step by step collard green explanation. ill need to test them out!
A burger with home made buns…sounds like an awesome dinner to me.
I can’t wait to see how your homemade greek yogurt turns out – I’ve heard of that method but neverseen anyone do it before
the home made buns look awesome! i’m very jealous of you being married to a baker!!
Good looking burgers!
Those are Royal Copenhagen Christmas plates, right? It’s funny that you also find them there, with Danish text and all.
I have a few of them as well, found on the local antique markets here.
Aww…how is it possible to leave without buying all those gorgeous dishes? I always have the hardest time. They’re seriously like potato chips.
I didn’t like American Wife at the beginning, but once you get going, you will love it! At least I did.
I really can’t wait for the first green bride! I think you are on to a new bridal trend!
I do the same thing with fruit when I am a little hungry but more thirsty. I usually grab some watermelon or grapes because not only does it satisfy my slightly noticeable appetite, it quenches my thirst too.
I love cooking Kale the same way.
haha i don’t think they make that bar anymore but i could be wrong
those burgers look great!
I’m with you on American Wife. I loved it, but it did drag at times. I had to renew it at the library 3…yes 3 times!
I’m curious about this greek yogurt making process. I can’t wait to see how it turns out!
How long do you leave the yogurt that way? I’ve wanted to try making yogurt cheese before, which is basically the same process using cheesecloth, but I’m wondering if the Greek yogurt is finished sooner than the cheese.
I’d say overnight at least
I liked the adult part OK… though it seems like the book skips a lot of history before the last part. I don’t want to give away anything, so I’ll just say that all of a sudden, they end up in the White House. And then it wraps up really quickly.
Beautiful meal! Those burgers look good enough to make me want to eat red meat again, and don’t get me started on those collard greens, Yum~!
Due to your review of the blondie tasting like cookie dough, I’ve concluded that I need those suckers in my life NOW. Thanks for the tips on preparing collard greens, I never know what to do with them. A little drizzle of syrup sounds delicious!
I have seen lots of rave reviews for American Wife but I really just thought it was so-so. Oh well! I think I may have enjoyed Prep more.
I love blue willow patterned dishes! They’re so pretty.
Kath,
I cant believe you have cliff nectar bars left!! I was so in love with those things (yes, definitely the chocolate walnut) I actually wrote the company and begged them to keep making them when they announced the discontinuation . . . unfortunately I got no response.
Oh well, well hope you enjoy what”s left of yours!
Take Care,
Kellie
You went to Circa! And those mugs you almost got are classics by Russell Wright, I’ve admired them too.
I have a serving dish designed by him that I LOVE.
FYI – the liquid that drains out of the yogurt is all whey….there are some great things you can do with it. Check out the book Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon for a few ideas.
I couldn’t get into American Wife either…and I loved Prep.
are you of danish descendants? i saw the christmas platters and saw that the writing are in danish(im danish)
I’m not! I’m not quite sure how my family acquired the plates
I’ve been thinking of just breaking down and buying some Garlic Gold after reading about it on here. But it isn’t sold near me and I hate paying $5 to ship a $5 jar of something
I also don’t really want to spend the $ on the package deals they have b/c I’m just not sure I’d use them. Which do you (or any readers) find you use/enjoy more – the nuggets or the oil? When Kath posts Garlic Gold I’m never really sure which she means. Thanks 
Laura,
The Garlic Gold oil is unlike any other food product I’ve used for cooking. The nuggets are give -or-take.
Happy Big 3!!!
I love how your morning shifted gears… I say pancakes are worth it
Especially those ones…
GAH I don’t know why my comments got all messed up today!! Sorry for the comment pollution
I think you get the point about the pancakes already…!!
Aaannyway, I used to LOVE those Nectar bars too, and was wondering if they were still around! Looks like not so much… too bad! That flavor tasted like a brownie. Delicious.
I love that you are straining your own yogurt.
as someone new to the blogging world, it is really cool to see your progression from Blogspot, to world press, to your own platform.
Happy 3!
What kind of diet tonic do you buy? Is it sweetened artificially? I’m going to try your collards this week. I’ve never made them before!
Just regular Harris Teeter tonic. It’s nothing organic/pure.
I miss Clif Necter! I loved them!