Peas in Tomato Sauce

A lovely way to eat garden peas: in tomato sauce flavored with fresh snipped mint, garlic, and feta.  Here I used the final snow peas ("Mammoth Melting Sugar Peas") from our backyard garden.  And a quart of home canned tomatoes, simmered down.

We had a side of grilled zucchini, the summer's first for us.  My husband called it a zucchini filet.

Why Do We Go to Family Reunions?

1. We love to be connected.

2. People tell great stories if you get them going.  A funny story is always a treat, but if it's a funny story about a relative, especially one I don't know well, pieces of my life puzzle click together and I learn things about my mother, about myself, maybe about my children.

My grandmother had 9 siblings.  My mother had 26 first cousins growing up, not even counting her own 6 siblings in the horde.  I have a lot of extended family to keep straight!

3. If it's a potluck, the food is fantastic (and ethnic - more discoveries!).

4. Cousins make the best playmates.

5. Family is a gift, even when you have to rearrange work plans, drive several hours, and sleep in a lumpy bed to see them.  Family is a gift not to be cast aside lightly.  My heritage gives me strength and purpose. 

I had a great-uncle who read Psalm 91 to his assembled family before every journey; my parents said a quick prayer before turning the key on a road trip; but my little family has done nothing of the sort. 

Can you tell I'm inspired by my weekend family reunion?  I'd love to hear your thoughts, the reasons you treasure extended family time.

Chartreuse (Mint) Jelly

I suddenly realized this spring that I do have a lot of mint in my back yard - mountain mint, spearmint, and fuzzy mint.  And that I also have organic local lamb in the freezer.  Mint jelly is the classic accompaniment for roast lamb, so I made mint jelly.  I've had the eerily green commercial mint jelly before  - tasted like I was eating gum - but I really liked the spoon-licks of my homemade spearmint jelly.

I followed the directions on a box of Sure-Jell, essentially making a strong sweetened mint tea and thickening it with pectin.  Not too hard, even for a cook like me who prefers to make and eat freezer jam.

Apparently I am a canning newbie, however, because I had to dash down to the basement, scattering children, for more supplies not once, not twice, but three times with hot jelly on the stove.  Surprisingly, all the jars sealed!

I made this jelly now before the rush of summer produce.  And I'll probably wait for the fall apples to can applesauce, even though some of the summer apples make gorgeous sauce.  I'm trying to make canning manageable even with a part time job.

Lunch on a Hot Day

Soak dry garbanzo beans overnight in the slow cooker.  In the morning, take it outside and turn it on low, cooking them until they're soft (I just check on them as I run by doing housework - maybe 4 hours?).  Freeze in 1 and 2 cup containers so you can make hummus and tabbouleh, summer staples at our house.

Hummus on daily bread.  My hummus recipe includes cumin and tahini.  Sometimes we add a sprinkle of sumac too.

First cucumbers and last lettuce to go with it.

Popcorn.  Always popcorn when we have sandwiches for lunch.  And this time there was icy mint tea as well.

Genevieve Repurposes Stuff

First she made a vest for her brother from a sheet of newspaper and yarn.  My husband says it was as if she was bitten by the idea -   I was reminded of the time I, as a child, cut a hole in a fabric rectangle and put it over my Barbie's head.  Suddenly clothing construction was illuminated for me and I had a startling glimpse of the possibilities.  My Barbie wore many such tops and dresses after that, belted with ribbons and yarn.

Then Genevieve turned her burst of creativity to her drawer of hair things.  Lana and her doting mother, decked out in hair things.

Jasmine and her mother.  (My husband, newly educated by me and my drooling on etsy, pointed out that Genevieve has made herself a fascinator). 

Joey the pink bear and his mother.

She carefully loaded her bike and took her babies for a ride.

Play basket filled with babies on the back, dolly in the brake lines in front.

Again I am convinced that all children need is time, not toys. They will make their own.

Four Different Rhubarb Pies This Spring

Joy of Cooking Pie - just rhubarb with a double crust.  Simple, but I cut the sugar too much - the balance between tart and sweet is hard to find for rhubarb. 

Rhubarb Kuchen - like the peach kuchen from More with Less, only with a bit more sugar.  Still one of our favorite pies.

Jennifer Jo's Rhubarb Cream Pie (it was too hot to take pictures, if I recall)  This was my favorite of the rhubarb pies and I'll be making this again.  It was luscious.  It's very similar to a recipe in Simply in Season, only with more cream.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie - my husband's favorite and really not as fake-strawberry tasting as I feared. 

However, I still flinch at the idea of baking  strawberries. Surely there could be a way of making a thick rhubarb sauce on the stovetop, and then folding in fresh strawberries, putting it all in a baked tart crust and serving chilled.

(It was late in the day and he dropped a bite)

Any other rhubarb pies out there I'm missing?  Beeboppa, reeboppa, rhubarb pie. . .

Getting Into Water

A welcome thunderstorm late in a hot hot day.

 The rain barrels, unattractive, but so beautifully useful (compost on the left).  The water smells like rotten eggs to me, but it's free rainwater so I'm not complaining.

 In the $5 sprinkler with friends.

Down to the crick at the farm.

Linking up with Leila's pretty happy funny real.