Eat. . .

For the second time this summer my parents blessed us with a bunch of tomatoes from their garden. We made puree both times and tried two different ways of making pasta sauce (stove top and crock pot). Both were delicious with onion, garlic, and spices.

This book! Our friend Courtney has worked (is still working?) for Hoosier Mama Pie Company in downtown Chicago, and she graciously gifted me a couple of pies once. Ever since then we've been hooked. Every time we are even near downtown we pick up a pie and share it with friends and family. Alan surprise bought me this recipe book and I almost peed my pants! I've made two savory pies already, and they were mind-blowingly good. Also, her pate brisee recipe and instructions are by far the best I have ever, ever, EVER used. I achieved my most flaky and delicious crust ever by following her recommendations. (Also, I spotted your pictures in there Courtney! Looking good!)

Drink. . .

Iced tea. I love making it in big batches in the half gallon masons because they are tempered glass and have cup markings on the side, which makes the measuring really easy. Then I can just lid it and throw it in the fridge to have on hand (or in cup?)

Peach smoothies: frozen homegrown peaches, raw milk, ice, raw honey. Yum.

It was tea season again, briefly at least. The other day was cool enough for us to turn on the kettle. Mama was drinking Good Earth (my absolute favorite), and Indy and Alan were sipping the Wild Sweet Orange.

Be merry. . .

How could you not be merry with this little turtle mouth chillin on your living room floor?

Just the other day another blogger posted a picture of one of these moths, saying she had never seen it before and it reminded her of a cross between a hummingbird and a moth. Then I spotted one in our own yard, fluttering amongst the hosta blossoms, hovering and beating its wings rapidly just like a hummingbird! Turns out her description was apropos, considering this is the white-lined sphinx hummingbird moth. I called Alan out to look at it, and was saying to him how if we were still living in the apartment we just wouldn't have had an opportunity to see something like this, and it made me grateful all over again for a yard and flowers and the opportunity to spot something like a hummingbird moth right in my backyard.

(A view of the apple tree from the kitchen window)

Just like that, one week we were "in the peaches" and then they were gone. A sad day (though we're still munching through the gallon bag of frozen peach quarters in the freezer - Indy especially, who regularly asks for a "frozen peachy"), but fortunately the peaches bid their farewell just as the apples were tipping their hat hello.

They're knobby and a little bug-bitten, especially on the lower branches, but they taste really good. We have no idea about the variety - they're small and round with a balance of sweet and tart. Not as crisp as a Macintosh and not as sweet as a Red Delicious. Any apple experts out there?

Of course we have lots of plans (apple pie, hard cider), and plenty of apples (in fact we've already lost two branches to the weight!) but we'll see what we have time for. We'll still go apple picking this year - it's tradition, it's nice to get some other varieties of apples, and THERE ARE DONUTS (!!!), but it's still fun to have another edible thing back there to harvest and munch on.