90+ degrees

No air conditioner here so when it is 90+ degrees out, I try to cook outside, to keep from heating up the house.

Grilled peppers, corn and corn muffins



Keep the heat out of the kitchen salad

This is a great summer dish
using last years frozen corn and peppers and grilling them for extra flavor and adding black beans, scallions and lots of fresh cilantro. I used the stalks of chard, instead of store-bought celery, which adds a crunch to the salad. Also added sliced radishes, and a vinaigrette.




Pizza grilled
adds tons of flavor

 Cheers to the great outdoors, fresh flavors and hot summer days!

Raspberry, Rosemary, Lemons & Flowers

Raspberries ripen after the strawberries and before the blueberries.
Raspberries have a compound called: ellagitannin, which is a potent antioxidant, a health-protective compound with potent anti-cancer activity. Raspberries have double the antioxidants than strawberries.


The harvest of the raspberries begins with a refreshing tonic from Dr. Weil.
Rosemary Raspberry Lemonade. A beautiful refreshing drink infused with the flavor of rosemary.

the ingredients for the fusion of herbs,flowers and fruit.

Recipe: 

1 quart water, boiling
1/4 cup fresh rosemary leaves
2-3 lemons
1/4 cup sugar/honey/agave nectar
1 cup raspberries (fresh or frozen)
edible flowers

Make a rosemary infusion by pouring the boiling water over the fresh rosemary and let steep for ~ 20 minutes. Add the sweetener, cut-up lemons and ice. Garnish drinks with raspberries and flowers.
Use Basil blossoms, calendula, lavender, rose petals or nasturtiums.

a great healthy drink to begin the summer months

Besides the health benefits of the raspberries, the lemons, rosemary and even the flower petals
all provide protective compounds for us.  Enjoy.

Mulberries on Flag Day



Vincent Van Gogh painting called: mulberry tree

What does Flag Day, mulberries and my grandma have in common?  June 14th.
June 14th is Flag Day, my Grandmothers birthday and mulberries are ripe and falling off the tree.

My maternal grandmother, Flo (FDR), had a huge mulberry tree in her back yard, where we kids picked mulberries by the bowlful, added milk and lots of sugar and slurped away.
Remembering those barefoot summer days, we all got purple hands and purple feet picking the mulberries.

Pick'n mulberries on Flag day



Mulberries hanging on my huge tree

Here we go around the mulberry bush
the mulberry bush, the mulberry bush
here we go around the mulberry bush
so early in the morning.

Enjoy! 


Happy Birthday Grandma Flo on Flag Day  

The Garden is all Planted!

June 5th and we're all done planting the garden and the corn field.  Yeah.

Now its time to sit back and watch it grow.   ya right

Now we chop and hoe and chop and hoe.

First to plant was the lettuce and last to plant were the peppers.

The beginning of a bountiful garden.

Planted 4 rows of Early Sunglow corn from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange
www.southernexposure.com  a farm located near Monticello in Virginia.

Planted lots of heirloom seeds from lazy housewife beans to wild arugula.

Also planted lots of tall marigold, zinnia and cosmos, as these annuals are easy growers.

Happy growing.

Flowers always give you a smile:)

The same garden 60 days later.

Sow & Reap.


Reality is:

You reap what you
plow, disk, hill, sow, cultivate, fertilize,
chop, hoe, water
harvest, can & store.