burying myself in words...

...on the written page.Sitting on a vintage glider, 

 propped up against a needlepoint pillow,

   reading a good book.

 Francine Rivers never disappoints, she writes books I find extremely enjoyable.

Even though we have been involved with Classical Conversations for the past two years, it is only this year I began reading this book written by Leigh Bortins, the founder of Classical Conversations. Some books are destined to be picked up for a refresher when you are on a particular course, whatever that course in your life might be, for me this happens to be the classical mode of teaching and learning. It puts the questions of," Exactly why am I teaching this?" to a better understanding and makes the path clearer, and therefore, not as difficult. I will try to remember this when daily Latin lessons overwhelm.

 And because I can not be found just reading one or two books, that is far too simple, these books are on my nightstand with appropriate bookmarkers of sales receipts, coupons or clothes tags. I do believe I need a good week at the beach to enable full days of reading.

I sincerely hope you are burying yourselves in some good reading this summer. I know some of you are.

a "spoonful" of sugar

Rose is having a few friends over tonight for a cookout. Seeing that this week has been a myriad of t-storms the cookout will more than likely move inside...sounds familiar.

We eat fairly healthy around here...for the most part. I have been preaching healthy eating habits for years and serving foods that are good for you. Notice I put that in italics because there are those around here that carry a different perspective on the word good. But I do not stuff food down your throats. I present it, even give adequate explanation when needed and leave it at that. You know the saying, "you can lead a horse to water but..."   Limiting the intake of sugar in our diets has been like a challenge course...probably up there with swimming the English Channel. Sugar in moderation is my mantra, and I have even convinced myself that Truvia in my morning's cup of coffee is rather good..or at least okay.

Because of the 12 teenagers coming this evening, cookies were baked; an all time favorite, chocolate chip. And sometimes you just have to add sugar, the masses are satisfied and I find dogmatism has no platform. I do cut back on the amounts of sugar though, and I do not think it is missed one little bit. Handfuls were taken and devoured.

cooling on these hot days of July....I like that!

more on fermented vegetables

Several of you appeared curious about fermented vegetables and wanted to know more; therefore, I thought I would expound and share the tiddly winks bit of information that I have learned. I find that I learn so much more by doing.

*It is delicious!
*It can be made with several recipes, all which are mainly made of raw cabbage, carrots, greens, peppers, brine and good probiotics.
*It becomes something you almost have a "craving for" several times throughout the day.

Here is a link that explains it all very well.

My first batch recipe:
2 heads of green cabbage
1 head of purple cabbage
6 carrots
2 red peppers
2 poblano peppers
1 bunch of kale

A brine was made of:
filtered water
1/2 green apple
4 stalks of celery
wakame (seaweed)
salt
culture starter (good bacteria)
a scoop of probiotics

I also added a small bunch of garlic chives and basil to a few jars. You do need to be aware of adding herbs or garlic though. A little goes a long way. Salt is also dependent on your taste and health awareness. I added about 2 teaspoons max.
I allowed it to set (ferment) for seven days before I tasted it. When you first open a jar the smell is strong, but not bad. Surprisingly, the taste is not strong at all.  I have been told you would know if a jar was "bad" by its smell.

I will make a few changes to my next batch, but nothing major. Another thing you might consider is to start your daily allowance with a small helping (1-2 teaspoons) to see how your body system reacts.  After all most of us are not use to such a super food on a daily basis and digestion  initially may be affected.Two to three tablespoons three times a day is an optimal amount. As I have mentioned before it is so tasty that it is a pleasure to eat it. I usually eat it as a snack on a corn tortilla chip several times a day. I have been told it is "magic" in that your body will not crave sweets any longer when you are on a regular diet of fermented raw vegetables.

embroidery in the corner

There has been something I have been wanting to share with you, a little something I have been working on these days. The embroidery bug bit hard back in the spring and when I discovered this free pattern I almost tripped over myself in the process of starting to stitch one. I have little wall space in the sun room, but still I thought using this design with the rug's colors could be definitely squeezed into a corner somewhere.

 It does not scream,"Look at me!" when one walks into the room. But it certainly has a gentle and pleasing presence to catch your eye, as it is framed and hanging in a corner in the sun room now.

Gracious Plenty

The days of July paraded in just as one would hope and have already provided for us mornings of berry picking, days of celebration and nights of fun.

 

Instead of eating outside on the fourth as planned, we moved all inside due to the heavy rainstorm that rushed in and spread the red, white and blue tablecloths on the dining room and plastic foldout tables for the twenty-one persons to eat.  Grilling the hamburgers presented itself as a small challenge for my husband until there was enough of a slack in the rain to roll the grill to the garage.  Due to the delay I decided to uncover the many side dishes on the kitchen table where several nibblers and hungry souls had arranged themselves. After all chips, salsa and sangria only hold for a spell.

Then the rains graciously stopped, cooling the night air and permitting us to go outside to spin sparklers and observe the colorful lights bursting in air.

Berry Cake

I have quite a bit to say these days, yet my visits here have not affirmed the sharing of my days and thoughts, but isn't summer grand? I have taken note though that food seems to be at the top of what I talk about here lately.

The season of blueberry picking has arrived just in time for the approaching July weekend. I knew I was destined to bake something with them, and a recipe in this month's Bon Appetit further inspired me.  Also, the sighting of this recipe last week in my blog reading. (You ladies do know I read your blogs?)

I used blueberries, but I plan to make one with blackberries soon. But it is equally delicious with the blueberries and since my husband has a certain prejudice against blackberries due to the seeds, his preferences highly influence me.

  

My best suggestion for you today is to head to the blueberry bushes, or your local market, and make one of these cakes.  I do not think you will regret it.

 I feel as if I can give the recipe I used because I did make a few changes to their original recipe and maybe you do not have a lovely daughter-in-law like Claire to give you a subscription to this magazine for Christmas, and you might just have some berries right now screaming to be made into a delicious  summertime  berry dessert.

 Berry Buttermilk Cake

1 1/2 sticks of butter, softened at room temperature

2 1/3 cups flour

2 1/2 to 3 cups fresh berries, at least until bottom of pan is covered

1 cup sugar, more if desired

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3 eggs, at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon almond extract

1 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Butter a springform pan, line the pan's bottom with parchment paper, butter and lightly flour.

Layer berries on the bottom and toss with 1/4 cup sugar (optional depending on your sugar taste buds, but I did for this cake)

Sift flour, baking powder, soda and salt.

Cream the butter and sugar in an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition Beat in the flavorings. Then add the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk in thirds beginning with the flour and ending with the flour, beating only until incoporated. Pour the batter over the berries.

Bake until lightly brown about 1 hour, check for doneness.

You can dust the cake with powderd sugar before serving.

Enjoy outside on the patio, or under a shade tree, or by the pool...you do not even need a fork or plate.

fresh herb storage

Most of my herb garden serendipitiously lays just outside my kitchen steps making it convenient for me to grab my kitchen shears, step outside and snip whatever herbs are needed when cooking.

 Throughout the day I will drink glass upon glass of water. I love to add a few fresh mint leaves and having fresh mint readily available on the counter is a time saver. The mint will last for several days in a glass of water but I am constantly refreshing my supply.

 Like all herbs, basil has its own unique stance in summertime foods. If you need to cut your basil back but you are not planning on using it right that moment, do not store it in the refrigerator. Instead place the fresh cut leaves in a glass of water and cover with a baggie, allowing it to rest on the kitchen counter out of direct sunlight. The water in the glass should be changed daily. Your basil will stay fresh and green for more than a week when stored in this way.  You might even have the added benefit of having your basil root if left long enough!

she kneads the dough

Lately the girls and I have rediscovered the art of making our own pizzas. No more salty pizza toppings filled with nitrates and preservatives for us, we have aspired on to higher and healthier pizzas of thin homemade crusts with the addition of natural toppings from where the tossing on of this and the placing of that makes for a delicious meal.

Due to Charlotte's discriminating taste buds half of the pizza absolutely must be cheese and pepperoni only, while Rose and I have discovered a most satisfying combination: olives, fresh tomatoes, feta cheese, basil and balsamic vinegar. The basil and vinegar are added to the hot pizza after it is removed from the oven.

I have plans to take my homemade pizza making frenzy to the grill very soon; fresh ingredients at my fingertips and a charcoal grill at my disposal, seems like the reasonable thing to do.

two weddings and...

This past weekend we attended the weddings of two of our good friends' sons. You can not even begin to imagine my extreme relief when it so happened that one wedding was held on Saturday afternoon while the other one was on Sunday evening. I know I would never have been able to make a decision of which wedding to attend if both would have chosen the same time to get married because both sets of parents are very special and both grooms are equally important to us too. I have prayed countless prayers for these young men over the years and to see the culmination of at least one of those prayers was priceless.

But it made for a very busy kind of weekend with Saturday's chores, grocery shopping, cooking, church,  and Fathers Day...all within forty-eight hours!

fermenting raw vegetables

Last Saturday I attended a workshop on learning how to prepare raw vegetables for fermentation. I must say my curiosity was kindled when I first heard about the process of preparing raw vegetables with the intention of having them ferment.This is something I had never tried before, but now I am learning all about the truly amazing health benefits of fermented vegetables. This morning I met at Tanya's yellow farmhouse and we began with the chopping and shredding of a variety of organic vegetables. Two necessary ingredients, the bacterial cultures and a jar of probiotics, had been purchased at the workshop.

A simple lunch of baked potatoes topped with butter, cheese and chives was served under the maple tree in the backyard.

 We were inexperienced enough to think we would have two batches done by lunchtime, however, it easily turned into a full day's work! But as Tanya helped me carry my portion of the fruits of our labor to the car, we agreed we were tired but feeling extremely good about our shared efforts.

 Oh, and while we were in the kitchen, Charlotte was busy making a fairy dwelling under a pecan tree with Tanya's older daughter.

 Now that evening has fallen and the lightening bugs are flittering here and there I am thinking today certainly was a day drunk with summer and its magic.

while I was away from here...

 I took a trip away with my husband.

We took it literally.

A beautiful spot in the Blue Ridge Mountains, if not a full day at least we squeaked in a good afternoon's worth here.

 As we drove down the graveled path," Oh, give me my camera." It was serene, green and picture perfect

 with the sight of the grapevines stretching here and yonder.

 The charming way in which the owner has filled the nooks and crannies is creative and fun. Welcoming you to come sit a spell, and if you are so inclined you can bird watch.

We dragged ourselves away. There were still more sights to see and things to enjoy on our weekend away.