Summer Time Favorites!

I love summer's fresh garden veggies and sweet, locally grown fruits. Each summer I grow my own tomatoes, peppers and herbs, and I can't wait for the first green tomatoes to show up on the vines. I admit I sometimes have a hard time allowing them to ripen to red, as fried green tomatoes are a favorite of mine. But I've also been known to pick a red tomato and eat it before I can get it back to the house. I love them!

We also look forward to seeing the Dennison's Farm strawberry cart every summer and can't wait for that first taste of those sweet berries! If you've never had a Dennison's strawberry, you've missed out on strawberry perfection! I'm trying my hand for the first time at strawberry jam. We have so many and love the taste so much that I'm anxious to preserve it so that we can have it all year long.

And the summer squash...oh my. What a treat! And fresh lettuce and green onions? I have two words for you...Wilted Salad. It's to die for! Couple it with hot, just-from-the-oven cornbread made from my grandmother's recipe, and it's heavenly.

I even bought some raw peanuts the other day so that I can boil a batch. This is something DearHusband just doesn't understand. But I wonder how someone can live in the south all his life and not appreciate boiled peanuts!?! Of course, he also doesn't like Wilted Salad...what a sacrilege! There's still hope for him, though...he WILL eat the green tomatoes and fried okra with me. Yum.

Yes, I do understand that most of what I've listed is not exactly in the "good-for-you" category when dunked in hot oil and fried. We don't do that EVERY DAY....but maybe two or three times per summer, and believe me....we treat those times like special HOLIDAYS!! ;-)

Summer in the South is delicious...whether fresh or fried!

Photography Credits:

Tomatoes -biscuitpower.com

Strawberries - jandic.com

Squash - hilgersmarket.com

Memorial Day 2009

Thank you to those who have sacrificed everything

so that we may live free.

Never forget.

Members of my family who have served in the Armed Forces:

Uncle Edmond L. Lesko, U.S. Navy (Vietnam War)

Grandfather Aleck Lesko, U.S. Army (WWII)

Great-Uncle Albert Lay, Jr., U.S. Navy (WWII)

Great-Uncle Roy E. Moore, U.S. Army (WWII, Korean War)

Great-Aunt Jeannette Lay, U.S. Navy (WWII)

Great-Uncle Glen Edward Lay, Jr. U.S. Marines

Great-Uncle Ronald L. Bruce, U.S. Army (Korean War)

A Mother's Love

"Afternoon Stroll"

by Pino

My mother has blessed my life in so many ways. Her unconditional love has sustained and comforted me in difficult times and been a joy to me in good times. Many of my fondest memories of my childhood are of time spent with my mother. How fortunate I have been to have my mother's neverending and caring love. Happy Mother's Day, Mom. I love you.

Wishes

I wish spring lasted longer.

I wish I had not grown up so fast.

I wish there were no such things as aphids.

I wish it wasn't considered childish to wade in mud puddles barefooted.

I wish my cats didn't like to chase squirrels.

I wish my parents could live closer to me.

I wish I was better at boiling eggs.

I wish white shirts never stained.

I wish my Grandmother could live forever.

I wish I could read 50 books a day and remember them all.

I wish I could travel the world and never get tired.

I wish I had a best girl friend.

I wish I was better at math.

I wish I didn't have a tendency to bite my nails.

I wish I had a hammock in the back yard again.

I wish I knew what the dogs were thinking when they look at me "that way."

I wish I could find a four leaf clover just once.

I wish I had another day to talk to my great grandmother.

I wish I could bury my feet in the sand on the beach right now.

I wish I could look at the sun with my eyes open and it didn't hurt.

I wish I had kept in better touch with old friends.

I wish I had seen Haley's Comet when I had the chance.

I wish I could look at life through the eyes of a child again.

I wish life was not so sort.