The Ugly Heirloom...

This is my ugly tomato.

It's an heirloom, but I don't know what kind. I think it's a 'lucky cross'. 'Lucky' because it tasted delicious with dinner tonight, and 'cross', because I'm not growing anything that should look like this! Pretty interesting...my daughter wants to save the seeds!

We had deli turkey, ham, and tomato with nice italian bread along with this delicious homemade soup my girls and I made. It turned out to be wedding soup with barley...delicious and filling ( I think it was filling due to the barley...I love barley!) All in all, we used quite a bit from our garden for this dinner. Zucchini, basil, oregano, onion, and parsley in the soup, and of course, the tomato and romaine lettuce on the sandwiches. The chicken and ground beef were local, so all in all, a pretty fresh meal!

Here's my daughter slicing our little piece of heaven! So good! Even the kids liked it. Eating the first tomato of the season is like...well, it's really nice!

We entered our ugly tomato into Relish Magazine's Ugly Tomato Contest!! Check it out at www.facebook.com/relishmagazine. Enter your ugly tomato picture there too. It's fun! I hope to have a few more entries to submit.

It's time to rest after eating our delicious dinner. Till next time, be happy!!

Lemonade Stand

Lemonade Stand

The following is brought to you by Summertime.

And the recipe for this golden deliciousness from the back pages of Woman's Day. Here's the recipe:

For 8 servings: in a small saucepan, combine 1 cup sugar and 1 cup water, bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer until the sugar dissolves. Let cool.

Cut about 10 lemons in half and squeeze juice using an old fashioned juicer, about 1 1/2 cups, (or just use the same amount of bottled lemon juice, but it looks nice to add a sliced lemon to the pitcher).

In large pitcher, combine lemon juice, cooled sugar syrup and about 4 cups of cold water (we just filled the pitcher with ice ~ the bagged kind you can buy at the store). Taste for tartness and adjust accordingly. Enjoy.

And thanks Woman's Day magazine. I love the 'ends well' section of the magazine. It gives little old fashioned tidbits to make things nice. Whether it's how to sew a hem on trousers, or making the best ever lemonade, it's nice.

The girls had a system going since we live on a sleepy street. For the suburbs, it's very quiet down here. One manned the stand in the driveway...

One at the top of the street holding the lemonade sign, and one runner to fill customer orders at the top of the hill. They were very psyched when the UPS driver stopped for some. And when 2 Russian speaking guys bought lemonade at the top of the hill, then drove down and bought 2 more at the driveway. They were harder working guys, some sort of construction, and looked tired and thirsty. With their heavy accents they thanked the girls for the delicious lemonade.

Our neighbor's were great to the girls too. I think they felt bad, knowing that not many people drive down our street, so they gave them very generous tips! Summertime is just awesome!!

Best in Show

Sometimes beauty doesn't come in the the usual packages. Sometimes it comes in a kind neighbor who makes the best pizzelles around! This is my neighbor Loretta. She's Italian, and knows her pizzelles. She makes the best, and always makes us some when she's baking. They are light and vanilla-ey. Very delicious. They never last long. My hubby is like a kid on Christmas when she walks out her door with that box of cookies.

My daughter loves them too. In fact, she just snagged an old pizzelle maker at our church flea market last week. She had to find the electrical cord that went to it though. She looked through boxes and tables and finally found it's match! She only needed to get Mrs. Loretta's recipe!

These are Loretta's pizzelles, and they are definatley 'Best in Show'. Half the box is gone by now, and they have only been in the house for about two hours. I wasn't kidding when I said they are good! She was kind enough to share the recipe and gave a quick baking lesson to my daughter, with the offer to help when she makes her first batch. See beauty, can be found in anything, anywhere.

Part of the baking lesson / advise is in the video below. Enjoy. It's nice to have nice neighbors who are good bakers!

Dinnertime...

I'm lucky to have this behind my backyard ~ woods. It not only gives privacy to the suburbs, but is the perfect habitat for some of my favorite things ~ birds.
It might look gross to some, but this American Robin has snagged dinner for some little baby waiting back at the nest. This guy kept this worm in it's beak for some time before finally flying off into the trees.
I finally caught a Northern Flicker, high in a dead locust tree. It was late afternoon, so the lighting wasn't right from where I was, but I got it! Eventually, I'll catch one in good lighting ~ their hard buggers to photograph because they hide well and seem to feed late in the day.

Pointing my hammock towards the west!

Peace, Love, and Cookies

This is what I saw when I walked out my back door this afternoon. Peace ~ Love ~ and Cookies!
I also saw some gorgeous flowers coming to life in my backyard. I love lilies, strong, and beautiful.
Razzle me Dazzle! These are the petunias my Mom loved to grow when I was a kid. Enough said, they are very beautiful. I love how two flowers on the same plant are so different. Just like kids!
I love the feathery look of astilbe! It makes me feel carefree, the perfect feeling for relaxing in the backyard.
Blue denim petunias. I ordered these from Burpee Seeds, and simply love them.
I love this picture. I have no idea how the camera gave the glowing aura to the petunias, but it works for me!

I have lots of work in the garden this year, here at the house, and out at the farm. I'll be posting progress of some of my projects. My backyard garden is becoming a garden room ~ another place to escape and relax, and some interesting themes are taking shape in the farm garden...A 'Princess and the Pea' garden bed, a couple of Three Sister's Garden beds, and my girls are creating a Salad Bowl Garden, and an All Flower Garden. I have a feeling it's going to be a very colorful summer!

Until later ~ peace, love, and cookies!