Karen's Dangling Conversation

Liz's watermelon hasn't been picked yet.......I think it will be a good one! I hope you had fun following along as we had a friendly garden competition.  I really think my kids and their gardens out shined anything I did in the garden this year.  We are picking the last of the produce. This was Mackay's little crenshaw melon and even though the snails had had their way with it we cut it in half and enjoyed it! (not the snail part silly the other half was just fine with no snail slime) Amanda's prized Casaba was the best melon by far! It made a wonderful fruit salad. Don't they just looked T-H-R-I-L-L-E-D? A lovely garden array! Fresh out of the garden cantaloupe, yum! Liz's green beans were amazing! So this brings us to the question of which kid won the Garden Wars contest?  Grand prize was set at $100.00!  Honestly I just couldn't decide.  Here's the thing:  they all did a great job planning and planting their gar...

This recipe has been one of my favorites this summer.  I think it is the best soup and the best spaghetti sauce ever!  It takes all of about 5 minutes to make it. Garden Fresh Tomato Basil Soup 2-3 large tomatoes, fresh from the garden Fresh Basil 2 Tbsp Olive Oil Celtic Salt Fresh ground pepper Wash and core tomatoes and put in a blender (Blend-tec or Vitamix) add several large leaves of basil and two pinches of salt.  Blend until smooth.  With blender running add the olive oil.  Now blend until it warms up and you can serve it straight from the blender.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  This can be served as a soup but it is also wonderful on spaghetti squash and pasta.  Enjoy! Just showing you these are not he most beautiful tomatoes. And certainly not the most beautiful basil .....but with a little luck and some blending They make a beautiful soup!

I was making my usual cup of tea this morning and I thought you might enjoy having this recipe.  It's not really a recipe but since I enjoy seeing a step by step with pictures I thought I would do that for you.  So you can enjoy a cup of herbal tea with me today.  Normally we use dried tea, loose or in little tea bags but I thought I would try just cutting some herbs from the garden and see how it tasted.  I used the  mint growing right outside my back door in a pot.  (You should always grow your mint in a pot....otherwise it takes over the world in short order.) Pick your mint and put the leaves in a mason jar, bruising them a little. I also add loose raspberry leaf tea it's very healing Stick all that in a jar Heat the water just until it is about to boil.  Pour into the jar and cover with a lid.  Let it steep for about 20 minutes. Strain it into your favorite tea cup. Add honey if you like...love this one I get at the he...

My sister and I took a trip home to Seattle to visit Mom and Carol and check up on how things are going now that the cancer treatments have begun.  We are happy to report that all is well!  Everyone seemed good and happy and thriving.  Such good news.  I also learned that "Cancer" is a word not a sentence .  This from a giant poster at the hospital while we were with Mom for her radiation appointment.  Ha, ha, I had to laugh....good point. So we arrived on friday morning and went over to visit with Mommy.  She was doing fine just reading and wasn't expecting us until Saturday.  We had a nice afternoon chatting and poking around the apartment complex, which is great by the way, I almost wished that I could live there.  Just out the back door of Mom's apartment it looks like this: And further down the path they have square foot gardens that the residents can rent and use for vegetable gardens.  Lots of tomatoes and herbs and lettuce gr...