Farmers Market

One of the blessings of living in the central California valley is that we are in the middle of agriculture country. Orchards, row crops, dairies, poultry farms surround us. There are farm stands all over the place.  In my town there is a farmers' market that is open two days a week; Thursdays and Saturdays.

The market is on the street behind my office so I usually meander over on Thursday mornings and grab a few things.  My favorite time to go is Saturday.  There is more variety.  The market opens at 7 and I like to go soon after; it's not so crowded and there is an ample supply of farm goodies. Local musicians perform, the smell of kettle corn fills the air. It's not unusual to run into friends and family.

There is no comparison between fresh-from-the-farm produce and buying produce in the stores. We are so fortunate to enjoy nature's bounty in such a convenient venue!

My purchases!

A Sporty Car & Tea!

We have a family friend, Jackie.  She became my husband's client in 1981 but, over the years, it has progressed to much more.  She has become family. She has joined us for holidays, weddings, and showers over the years, as well as numerous meals and trips. She will be 91 next month, is in declining health both mentally and physically.  My husband is her trustee and we arrange for her caretaking and handle all her financial affairs.

Jackie is a retired school teacher and has traveled to many places during her summer vacations.  In 1965 she spent the entire summer in Europe. While in Germany she bought a brand new Mercedes 2-door convertible.  She drove it the entire summer, traveling throughout Germany, France, England, Switzerland and all points in-between.  Her original plan was to sell the car when it was time to come home. However, it only cost $200 to ship it home so that is what she did. She has driven the car to work, trips to the coast and mountains. The car is 50 years old and only has 80,000 miles on it! Due to her declining health she hasn't been able to drive the car in a while and it sat in her garage neglected.  Every now and then she would make comments that we should get the car fixed.  Over the last few years, my husband has been overseeing some repairs and it now runs like a champ!  New tires were bought for it and we scheduled a road trip so that Jackie could make another journey in her beloved car.

She loves tea so we sauntered off to Columbia State Park where we visited Kate's Teahouse (if you've not been, you need to go, just a darling place!) Her caretaker and I followed behind in a second car as Jackie and my husband led the way. When we got to the tea house Jackie had a smile on her face, from ear to ear.  It was precious!

We enjoyed a nice tea.  Our first course was an apricot scone with Devonshire cream, lemon curd and strawberry jam.  We had quiche and fruit for the main portion of the tea.  I opted for a lemon bar for dessert, Jackie had a macaroon.  Everything was amazing! She didn't leave a crumb and even asked for scones to go.  She hasn't ate like this in ages! 

Alas, the Mercedes has no air conditioning so Jackie rode home with me as our temps are now sweltering.  She told me about some of her adventures in the car, things she used to do when she was younger.  The closer we got home, the quieter she got.  It was a busy few hours and I'm sure she was looking forward to a nap!

It was fun helping her relive her younger days in the little turquoise car she loves so much!

Three-Berry Pocket Pies

A pocket pie, or turnover, is a small pie easily eaten with the hands; no need for a plate and fork.  They are great for lunches, picnics or anyplace you want to take a pie but not all the dishes and utensils!  Just like a regular-sized pie they can be sweet or savory, your imagination is the only limit.

Last year I bought this little pie mold. Until now it's sat in the drawer waiting to be used. My three granddaughters had their dance recital last Saturday.  It was held at an amphitheater in a local park so it's a very conducive setting for a picnic dinner. It was the perfect opportunity to try the pie mold. 

To save time I made a three-berry pie filling the day before.  The day of the recital I made the pie dough and baked the mini pies. The pie mold worked fantastic, I can see myself using this again and again!

One side of the pie mold is used to cut a circle of pie dough.  I ended up getting 3 circles per disc of dough (9-inch).  (As I had a group to feed I made enough dough to make 12 pies). The other side of the pie mold is what forms the turnover shape.  I lightly floured it and placed the circle of dough on it.  I added a few teaspoons of pie filling.  Then, using the handles on the mold, I squeezed it shut and the end result was a perfect little pie with crimped edges! I love little gadgets like this! My family was quite worried by how much I was enjoying this process but they enjoyed the pies!

Three-Berry Pie Filling

4 cups mixed berries, fresh or frozen (I used blueberries, boysenberries and raspberries)
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup corn starch
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon butter

Combine cornstarch and water; set aside.

Combine berries and sugar in large pot, stir well.  Add cornstarch mixture.  Bring mixture to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened.  Remove from heat and add butter.  Let mixture cool before using. 

To make pocket pies, add 2-3 teaspoons filling to each pie round. Press mold together per instructions. Cut vents. Place on parchment-lined baking sheet.  If desired, glaze with a beaten egg and sprinkle with sugar.  Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes, until browned and filling is bubbly.


Oh, how I love fresh berries in the summer!




Ready for pie!



Grilled Cilantro Lime Shrimp Kebabs

 We've been spending most of our evenings in the backyard, planting, weeding, marveling at how fast the plants are growing (our tomatoes are taking over!), and relaxing.  Grilling dinner just seems an automatic when we're already out there. These kebabs went together quickly and took no time to cook, a great meal on a night when I was wanting to spend my time doing other things! Some nights I would rather play in the dirt than in the kitchen!

Grilled Cilantro Lime Shrimp Kebabs

1 pound raw shrimp, peeled and deveined (I used a 12-15 per pound variety)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
3 large limes
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

In a medium bowl, juice one lime.  Add shrimp, garlic, salt, cumin, and cilantro.  Stir to combine. (At this point, you can let the shrimp marinate for a short time, the lime will begin to cook the shrimp if you let them marinate too long).

Slice remaining limes very thinly into rounds. Beginning and ending with shrimp, thread the shrimp and (folded) lime slices onto skewers (if using wooden skewers soak them in water for 30 minutes).

Heat the grill on medium heat and spray the grates with cooking spray or wipe down with oil.  Grill the shrimp, turning occasionally, until shrimp is opaque throughout about 2-3 minutes on each side.  Squeeze additional lime juice on them before serving, if desired.

As the shrimp had Mexican flavor we served the kebabs with grilled corn and black beans.  A very yummy and delicious dinner that was low-cal and nutritious, too!

Color in the Garden!

My Hubbers & I have been spending a lot of time working in our backyard lately. I tend to keep up with the flower beds but when I have a project on my mind he steps in to lend a hand and some muscle. He's great at that!  One of those projects was adding color to the fence areas.  We live in town, fences separate us from the neighbors' properties.  All nice and good, but fences are pretty ugly, dull brown. So I bought some spray paint and put my man to work, painting a few trellises and an obelisk. Before they were all shades of brown or black and they just blended in with the fence.  Now they stand out and are a nice complement to the colorful flowers.

Our backyard basically has four sections with the swimming pool dominating the space in the center.  On the right of the pool we have a small grass area (soon to be reduced as we are adding a brick patio and arbor later this year) and flower beds, behind the pool is a smaller flower bed and there is a brick walkway and flower bed along the east side of the house. Today I'll share with you the flower beds around the grass area.

I like to do the majority of my plantings with perennials so that I'm not replanting every season. However, many of my perennials were getting old or died over the winter so this spring I have done a lot of pulling out of old plants and planting new.  While I wait for them to grow, I supplemented with some annuals. This is the coneflower (Echinacea) area.  Normally it would be a few feet tall by now and blooming.  Don't know if we'll get any blooms this year or not! Soon to be growing on the newly-painted blue trellis is a black-eyed Susan vine.  The shoots are just starting to peek out of the ground! It will bloom in late summer until the first frost of winter.

In the back of this area are hollyhocks.  They are a biennial plant so we won't have any blooms this year. Next spring we will have stalks of colorful flowers. Gardening does require a little bit of patience, but the results are worth it!

Each year I grow a small patch of sunflowers; this year I planted a mammoth variety, the flowers will be huge. They are growing rapidly and will probably get as tall as our brick-faced wood-fired (pizza) oven.  I don't tear them out until late fall, letting the flower heads dry so the birds can feast on the seeds.

The butterflies love the zinnias and they are beginning to bloom.  Soon, we will have butterflies fluttering all over them and landing in the shallow bird bath for a dip of water.

Speaking of butterflies, I'm attempting to attract more Monarchs to the yard.  They need milkweed to feed on and form their chrysalis.  This plant is the only one that survived the winter but I planted more seeds so hope to have more emerging soon. I've purchased a Monarch butterfly kit for my granddaughter, we will feed the larvae, watch it turn into a caterpillar, chrysalis and, finally, a butterfly.  We will release them in the garden.  She loves to work in the garden with me and is excited to grow butterflies!

This beauty is a mandevilla vine.  It's a tropical plant so it may not survive the winter, we will try to protect it.  We have one in our front courtyard that we enjoy so decided to introduce one to the backyard.

The morning glory is starting it's upward climb on the obelisk.  It reseeds itself each year so I just wait for the leaves to start popping up in the spring.  They reseed everywhere so I do admit to having to pull them from the most unlikely places!

I love to attract birds to our yard, we have an abundance of hummingbirds, finches, doves, sparrows, and bluejays. Most of the plants we have were planted to attract the birds but we do feed them, too, with various feeders throughout all parts of the yard. They love this little water fountain and can be seen drinking or bathing from it throughout the day.

I love to have things of architectural interest in my gardens, I think they add a lot of character to the areas. I have birdhouses, cement figurines, watering cans, wine barrels and benches as a few examples. A geranium grows in an old pot that was my Grandma's.

 

 

Keeping up our yard takes time and effort but I find it very relaxing.  My career involves sitting at a desk, being on a computer and dealing with clients all day long.  It's very therapeutic to turn off the brain and do physical labor in the dirt. I also find it relaxing to kick back in a chair, with a glass of something refreshing to drink, a book or stitching project and just enjoy what nature and I have created!

I am linking up with Inspire Me Tuesday!