Garden goodies

We are not super gardeners or anything, but we do like trying to grow a garden and get some fresh produce. And doesn't it always taste better when you know you grew it? I am no "foodie" but I do like things that taste good, and we did make some delicious food with what we grew. We tried cucumbers this year, and boy the plants went crazy. I don't really like cucumbers, but we wanted to make pickles, so we tried it out. Well....those weren't the best, but not too bad for the first try. The dill pickles came out a little less crunchy than we would have liked, but taste good. Then Joe tried to make whole bread and butter pickles, which didn't work out so well. The sliced bread and butter came out good, but I guess all that sugar is not meant for whole pickles. Oh well.

But what did come out delicious, were things we made with the fresh tomatoes and basil. With the basil, we made my brother Josh's sausage and pink sauce pasta, with lots of basil. Yummy. Also made some pesto which turned out good. Next the tomatoes. First up, homemade tomato soup. Have you ever tried making your own tomato soup? We use a recipe by Emeril, and it is scrumptious. (here's the link http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/tomato-soup-with-baby-grilled-cheese-sandwiches-recipe/index.html) As Joe put it, "How can Campbell's tomato soup and this even be called the same thing?" I highly recommend it. Next, spaghetti sauce. While my mom and dad were here, I got my mom to help me make sauce from the tomatoes we had picked and were saving until she got here. Add some fresh basil and parsley, and a few other things, and it is awesome. I am only sorry it didn't make more. And last, but not least, Three Cheese Tomato Basil Pizza. My own creation, it goes like this: pizza crust, a little bit of sauce, fresh sliced tomatoes, lay on some fresh basil leaves, slices of mozzarella cheese, crumbled feta cheese sprinkled over, and a little bit of smoked gouda layed on top. Bake it and eat it up! Delish!

So the garden was pretty good this year, I am just sorry I couldn't get my green beans to grow. I planted them twice, but they just didn't survive the heavy rain I guess. Try again next year. What do you all have success growing?

One year later

Happy birthday to Alice! I can't believe she is one already. She is a lot of fun and it has been a good year. Here is the birthday girl:

Also, Simon started pre-school this week. Here he is ready for his first day. His teacher, Miss Stacey, seems like a lot of fun. So far, he has come home each day exhausted! He gets to ride the bus to school, then I pick him up when he is done. He is getting to be such a big boy!

The other day, Alice woke up with bed-head. She actually has enough hair, so I had to capture the evidence.

And arguably the best part of summer:

That's right. Peaches. This is a peach glacee pie I made. Delicious!