Simply in Season.....

"Simply in Season", I just love this cookbook....

Eggplant Cheese Pie..... a recipe I found in this incredible book that features new recipes and reflections on eating seasonal foods grown locally.

This was a very tough and challenging growing season on most of us gardeners.  We went through excessive heat and no rain or flooding.  The only survivor in my Edible Garden is the eggplant-plant.....and it surely is producing in abundance.  Now what will I prepare with it? 

I am always searching for new recipes, especially when the ingredients are growing fresh in my garden.  Sometimes I think that I will not live long enough to cook all the recipes that I have collected.  But, cooking is a passion of mine as is eating healthy, whole foods and gardening/growing plants for the ingredients makes it even more rewarding.  Therefore, growing an edible plant in my garden, finding a wonderful recipe to prepare with it and the reward of eating it, is a win-win situation for me.

I usually always have a stack of books that I take out of the library, yes I love books also.  Cook books are always included in these borrowed books from the library.  When I came across Simply in Season written by Mary Beth Lind and Cathleen Hockman-Wert, I knew this was one that needed to be added to my personal collection.  With this book, your imagination and appetite will be piqued with fresh herbs and spices, seasonal vegetables and fruits and ways of cooking them.  "Simply in Season" is a fun, easy cookbook that follows the cycle of the year. The recipes complement the seasons--from tomatoes in the summertime to persimmons in autumn. There's an emphasis on fruits and vegetables, so the cooking is quite healthy. The recipes are also user-friendly.  ( Eggplant Cheese Pie )

"This cookbook reflects a commitment to eat what is in season. Enjoy the flavors and gifts of this book." -- Graham Kerr (The Galloping Gourmet)

John Deere, more then just a tractor......

 When I asked my daughter Denise what she thought that her son would like for his birthday, she told me he likes computers and John Deere.  I quickly knew I was not getting a computer for David, and so my focus turned to John Deere.  In thinking about what I could get for him, I remembered seeing Dora the Explorer "character" fleece fabric in Jo Ann's, the fabric and craft store.  If John Deere was so popular, which was new to me, surely there would be fabric in that theme.  And I was right, there were 8 bolts of assorted John Deere themed fleece fabric.  I just had to select one.  I eliminated 2 really cute, but "nursery"  looking prints, not at all acceptable for an 8 year old big boy!

My idea was to make David a non-sew blanket, like the one that I got from Small Paws Rescue, when I adopted Charlie, one of my Bichon foster dogs.   By the way Charlie loves this blanket and somehow knows that it belongs to him.

By simply googling "no-sew fleece blanket, it was very easy to find instructions for making this type of blanket.  All you needed was a tape measure and a pair of scissors. I quickly tried to cut the fabric with about 4 scissors I had on hand, but none  would cut the fabric.  I then tried my kitchen sheers, from my set of WUSTHOF knives, which was a Christmas gift from an ex-boyfriend, many years ago.  Thank goodness they cut the fabric, so again, years later thank you Peter!  I use these knives all the time in food preparation, but never thought that I would use the kitchen sheers for a project like this.  And now I was ready to go........ cut knot, cut knot, cut knot and so on.

This is not the first themed blanket or comforter that I have made.  When my daughter Carrie was about 8 years old, she loved Holly Hobbie.  Everything was about the Holly Hobbie theme.  I made her a patchwork quilt, which she absolutely adored and showed off to everyone.  Until the day came that she decided that this was a "babies" blanket and she was too grown up to have it.  Then I who at one time was the hero for making this for her, became the mom who forced her to have this baby stuff.

David, I hope you love your birthday-John Deere blanket as much as your Aunt Carrie loved her Hollie Hobbie blanket.  When you get tired off it, just pack it up so that some day you can take it out and show it to your children.