Guest Refreshers

IN THIS CENTURY of settled countryside and domesticated animals, one of the few spine-tingling exploration adventures that remains is finding someone's house using hastily scribbled directions taken over the phone. You leap into the void, threading the maze of streets and landmarks step by step, proceeding to the next turn only as the former one is found. Did they perhaps forget to tell you about one turn? Will you be able to read your writing? (Is that word you wrote down "next" or "left"?)

For me, a little extra apprehension enters the picture when the goal is a visit to someone I have never met in person. It was a common experience when I used to have newspaper assignments, or when I traveled on vacation with a Servas directory (Servas is an international hospitality network) in hand. Now it mostly occurs while looking for good used farm equipment. But that apprehension is mixed with equal parts anticipation that this stop may bring new knowledge, a good laugh, or perhaps even a new friend.

To welcome a stranger into one's home is an act of trust, generosity, hospitality. To some degree in every culture it is a sacred act. And more often than not, people signal their welcome by offering something to drink. In Latin America it might be cornmeal cocoa; in Kenya, ginger tea; in the southern United States, a glass of iced tea. "Do you have time for a cup of coffee?" is a magic phrase in our culture. I have seen people who don't even like coffee sip reverently at a cup when it is offered in hospitality as the only choice.

Coffee need not be the only choice, however. Neither should iced tea and soft drinks be your only beverages this time of year. Offer your guests a frosty blender fruit drink and you will see wilted demeanors perk right up.

In many tropical countries a blender is a very sought-after kitchen appliance. In this country they tend to sit unused. If you have one, dust it off this summer. If you need one, your local Goodwill store probably has several for sale. With a blender, fresh fruits, frozen berries, juices, yogurt, and ice can all be used creatively to make a drink with mist to cool the face and flavor like summer distilled into a glass. Children especially will enjoy these drinks.

Fruit, while healthy and good tasting, can be expensive, so try other ingredients. Often my household relies on ordinary things such as milk, ice, egg, and vanilla when whipping up a mid-afternoon "milkshake" for refreshment--guests or no guests--under the big oak tree in the yard. With the creaminess coming from powdered milk and the flavor from vanilla, this shake is a fairly low-calorie, low-fat drink that leaves you feeling like you ate a meal!

But whatever you drink--whether hot or cold, tea or coffee, beer or fruit juice--serve it along with a listening ear and a willingness to take time for genuine, attentive hospitality.

Quick Vanilla Milkshake
· 4 cups ice, crushed or in cubes
· 2 cups milk
· 1/2 cup dried milk powder
· 2 tsp. vanilla extract
· 1/2 cup sugar
· 1 egg (Unless you have access to fresh eggs, you may want to omit the egg to reduce the risk of salmonella poisoning.)

Fill two-thirds of the blender canister with ice. Pour in milk and blend on high until uniformly slushy. Add milk powder, sugar, vanilla, and egg. Blend again briefly. You may adjust the consistency with more ice for a thicker shake, or more milk for a thinner one. Serves four.

Carey Burkett, former assistant to the editor of Sojourners, was an organic vegetable farmer in Hallettsville, Texas when this article appeared.