Summertime



Good morning and come on in for a fresh cup of coffee. I know it is summer and it is hot as blue blazes but I have to sit in my air conditioned house and have several cups of coffee. It is my get-up-and-go, my nectar from the gods, and if I don't drink it I will get a terrible headache. The bottom line is that my granddaddy Burt gave it to me when I was little and an addiction was begun. So come on in and have some.

Another hot day but we had wonderful showers last night. God washed His earth and it is all fresh and new looking this morning. There is still water droplets clinging to the leaves and grass and when the sun shines on them they glisten like diamonds. It is magnificent to see God's handiwork.

I like this time of the year when all the fresh fruits and vegetables are available for us. We used to plant a huge garden and can and freeze all our own vegetables but because it is just the 2 of us we don't do that anymore. Now we look for locally grown vegetables and fruits and let them do all the hard work and we enjoy the results. It is wonderful to be living in a place where there are many farms and the produce is not too expensive and we like to support our local farmers.

Yesterday I had fresh peach slices, cantaloupe chunks, peach yogurt and cereal sprinkled on top for breakfast. It was so good and low in calories and no fat. I keep cantaloupe and watermelon cut up in the fridge to nibble on during the day and I have lost 3 pounds this week.

If you like watermelon as much as I do you, find a farmer selling them and buy one. Cut it in half and take a melon baller or large spoon and scoop out the melon and keep in a zip locked bag. If it is not seedless, take out the seeds as you scoop it out. The juice which is left in the melon is poured into a glass and I drink it. It is sooo good. We had this in Venezuela when I was on a mission trip and I found out what I had been missing for it is most refreshing.

Mama used to make watermelon rind preserves and pickles. If your watermelon has a thick rind, you cut it into slices, peel of the outer rind and cut up the inner part into chunks or slices. You add sugar and cook it down into preserves or you can make a sweet pickle. They are delicious but again, that is one of those things I used to do. Our mama would preserve, pickle, can or freeze anything that stood still for more than 10 minutes so we kept on the move. She was a wonderful cook and all these good preserves and pickles were appreciated by us especially on hot biscuits. I have put links on this for you to find recipes so try it.

There is only one problem with eating lots of watermelon - it is full of vitamin P. This is not too big of a problem for this guarantees you will have lots of exercise hurrying to get rid of it. I tried to say this delicately but if you don't get it, let me know and I will send you more information.

We are fortunate this year that a farmer planted a huge field of watermelon joining our yard. They are the round, red meat, seedless melons and he said we could what we wanted and we have wanted several and will want several more. When they pick them for market they only pick the "perfect" melons and leave thousands in the field and plow them under. Maybe we can help him get rid of some of them. In fact I am thinking about taking a truck load of them to our church food pantry next Monday. It bothers me to see food go to waste. Remember those children in China your mama told you about?


I urge you to find your local farmer's market or a farmer selling produce from the back of his truck and have some delicious food. In our local paper I have seen 3 farmers selling peas, tomatoes and corn for much less than you would pay in a supermarket and it will be so much better.

We have U-Pick or they will pick and now that I am "old" I let them pick for it's worth it not for me to have a chiropractor visit. I don't mind shelling or peeling but I do hate the picking. The back is just not what it used to be and I have been there and done that for years and years. It's time to let someone else do the picking.


I hope you all have a great day and I'm going to eat some peaches and cantaloupe for breakfast. Ya'll have a good day and come back to see me.

Nuff
said,

The Georgia Peach
*****************************************************

No comments: