Silent Saturday at the Beach

Happy Beach Days!

Relaxing on the Lake

About a month ago, I visited some church friends for dinner and movie night. We had the best time. Their house is right on a lake and we took their speedboat out for a sunset cruise.

What fun!

Getting ready to depart.

Her very cute dog Zorro went along for the ride.

YAH! Horrifying picture of me.

You try taking your picture while you are speeding along.

Not easy!

The sun was setting as we left.

Laurie and Stella.

Some of the bridges and old train tracks we went under.

Purply sunset.

The weather was getting overcast and we felt a few raindrops.

But if you drive fast enough you can out run them.

All of these boats were parked and listening to a band that was playing on the deck of one of the houses for their summer concert series. How cool.

Beautiful lake.

This brown house on the right had a drive up boat dock under their house. It was like a carport for your car. Except for a boat. Their master bedroom was on the front of the house and was wide open for everyone to view inside.

No curtains. That's a little too fishbowl for me.

The gardens around this house were spectacular.

It had a huge flock of Canadian Geese on the lawn.

I'm guessing the gardener doesn't like cleaning up after them.

This is that same brown house. See the peak to the right.

Master Bedroom. Weird.

Or maybe it was the left windows. I can't remember.

The house was like 8000 square feet.

More gorgeous lake.

I was so relaxed.

The sunset changed minute to minute.

First is was orangy, then changed to purply.

A crayola box would never be able to capture this.

Or this.

Or this.

What has been your moment of peace this summer?

Guess What I've Been Doing?

Terrible pictures from my cell phone but my camera is cranky.

197 Tomatoes, 47 cucumbers, 8 more Zucchini, 2 Pumpkins, and buckets of Basil and Fennel.

That's my kitchen table.
I'd like to thank my children for helping with the harvest.
I'm sure there will be more Tomatoes tomorrow.
Much love and thanks to my husband who peeled,
seeded, diced and cooked tomatoes.
I think he did it so he could eat dinner at the table.
We had BLT's.

I Gave Birth to a Tomato

It's true. I gave birth to a Tomato.

Look at the size of this baby.

It weighed 2.7 pounds!

Then I ate it.

See?

It was so pretty.

But I had to do it.

The kids have been helping so much in the garden this year. They have picked off the Tomato hornworms.....and fed them to the chickens. They have helped plant and harvest the vegetables for us. They have watered, weeded and pruned.

The tomatoes have been great this year. So much better than last year when we lost our whole group due to blight. Not this year!

Yesterday I made Basil-Tomato Tart.

You can find the recipe here on an old blog post.

http://homeschoolgardener.blogspot.com/2009/08/tomato-basil-tart.html

I used Roma and Japanese Black Tomatoes....which are my new favorite because they are so sweet and juicy. You have to cut the guts out and dry them a bit. Guts..that's what Tae calls the inside of the tomatoes.

The beefsteak tomatoes got put in the dehydrator then packed in olive oil for use in pasta and other recipes. Beefsteaks do not work well in the tart because of the water content. You need meaty tomatoes for this dish.

Some Mozzarella goes into a prebaked pie shell and then you like up the tomatoes all pretty like this. Then marvel at your talent.

Mix up some Mayonaise, lots of chopped basil, garlic and fresh parmesan.

Then...lick the spoon. No really.

This is so ridiculously yummy.

Slather the mayo mixture all over your creation of arranged tomatoes and cheese.

Get right to the edges of the crust.

Then...lick the spoon again.

Bake till it's all bubbly and gooey.

Cool for about 10 minutes before you slice or you will have soup instead of tart. Trust me, I know this from experience. The cheese is what holds it together and it needs time to cool before cutting. The wait is just torture. Serve with a side salad of simple greens.

Lots of tomatoes on my window sill.

Ignore the sink full of dishes.

Ohhhh and we made Brushetta too.

It's Patrick's favorite food.

Tomatoes, olive oil, basil, and some garlic.

We like ours with a little goat cheese.

This is part of the harvest from the garden.

Yes, just part of it.

Homemade bread from my Breadmaker.

Larry bought me this new book.

I Can Can by Better Homes and Gardens.

Love it.

It has simple directions for canning and preserving.

And this lovely recipe for a tomato cocktail

but seems to missing the key ingredient of Vodka.

I'll have to write to tell them about that.

Garlic-Dilly beans. I want to make these.

My mother used to make these when I was a girl. We were never allowed to throw out Watermelon rind. I think hers were candied though and not pickled.

Don't they look yummy?

Our first pumpkin ripened early this year.

It's on the smallish side.

Three jars of homemade Ketchup.

The kids have planted all the seeds for the fall crops and we'll get those in soon.

Carrots, lettuce, spinach, beans and basil (for the inside herb pot).

What are you growing?