GREEN BEANS!

We have green beans!

We are needing to weed the green beans, & you won't believe what our most prominent weed it right now.... volunteer tomato plants! We get so many every year. They have grown up right with the beans, & if you look close enough in this picture you can see them.

We just picked half a row of green beans this afternoon & this is what we have:

I wanted to fix them with our supper, & I knew exactly what I wanted to do. Something different...something I saw Claire do a while back. She ROASTED them. Here's the link to Claire's roasted green beans. (I didn't think to put onions in mine, I wish I would have done that.) We've grown green beans for years, & have had so many green beans, but I've never roasted them. And as much as we now love roasting cauliflower & asparagus in the oven, I just HAD to try roasting green beans.
We all liked them a lot! It made them different. We usually fix them the same or nearly the same way every time, which is in a pot with onions, potatoes, & some bacon grease (shhhh....don't tell).
Well this was different, & it was mighty good! Thanks Claire!!!

Roasted Green Beans
1-2 pounds fresh green beans
olive oil
salt & pepper

Wash the green beans & break off the stems. Pat dry. Place on cookie sheet & drizzle with olive oil. Salt liberally & add cracked pepper.
Place in 400 degree oven for 20-25 minutes, turning after 15 minutes.

I forgot to take a picture of my plate (way too anxious to dig in!) but here's the small amount of left over green beans we had with grilled pork chops that had been marinated in Dale's sauce. Thanks for that tip Ashley! We really loved Dale's on pork chops!
So it looks like we need to pick the one & a half rows of green beans in the next few days & get our first canning of the season underway. :)

My Dad

I'm missin' my dad. He went home to Jesus two years ago today. I canNOT believe it's been two years already. Yet at the same time, it seems like it's been SO long since I've seen him. And if I live as long as he did (into his eighties) and the Lord tarries, it'll be another 40 years or so until I see him again. This is my Daddy & me years ago (1967). :)
He was white headed even then!
I sure miss you Dad. I love you.

Wordless Wednesday

YUM-O!

Oh my goodness! Look what I won!
Thank you SO MUCH 5 Minutes for Mom!!!
Rachel Ray's cookbook, YUM-O The Family Cookbook!
I am really looking forward to receiving it!
THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

Garden Update

The Herb garden has been weeded!
Here it is from the front.

And here it is from the back. You can see that our 5 year old son has been helping me collect rocks (right out of the garden!) to put boarders around the different areas.
Here's the basil after it got weeded. I'm pleased with how many of the seeds came up!

Friday Felicities

Oh! Better late than never!

These things have made me happy:

• Daughter home from church camp.

• Flowers blooming.

• Being DONE weeding the herb garden.

• Homemade angel food cake.....mmmmmmmmm

• Finishing the last book of The Lord of the Rings! I feel like I've been on an epic adventure!

• Half-way through reading a funny novel (Miss Julia Speaks her Mind).

• Strawberries

• Watching 5 year old son try to hammer in a nail like Daddy.

Angel Food Cake

I made my first Angel Food Cake last week, from scratch!

I got a tube pan at a garage sale last summer for a quarter & I thought it was high time I fix an Angel Food Cake. I got out my old, trusty 1982 edition Betty Crocker Cookbook that I got for high school graduation from an aunt & uncle (in '84). It has a recipe for Angel Food Cake Deluxe on page 243.

The cake turned out great. Here it is after just being turned out of the tube pan:

And here it is topped with strawberries from our garden & whipped cream! YUM!

This cake did not last long!

Angel Food Cake Deluxe

1 C. cake flour
1 1/2 C. powdered sugar
1 1/2 C. egg whites (about 12)
1 1/2 t. cream of tartar
1 C. granulated sugar
1/4 t. salt
1 1/2 t. vanilla
1/2 t. almond extract

Heat oven to 375. Mix flour and powdered sugar & set aside. Beat egg whites & cream of tartar in large mixer bowl on medium speed until foamy. Beat in granulated sugar on high speed, 2 tablespoons at a time; continue beating until stiff and glossy. Add salt, vanilla, and almond extract with the last addition of sugar. Do not underbeat.
Sprinkle flour-powdered sugar mixture, 1/4 cup at a time, over meringue, folding in just until flour-sugar mixture disappears. Push batter into ungreased tube pan, 10X4 inches. Cut gently through batter with metal spatula to remove large air bubbles.
Bake until cracks feel dry and tip springs back when touched lightly, 30-35 minutes. Invert pan on a funnel ; let hang until cake is cold. Remove from pan. Spead top of cake with icing if desired.

I had some strawberries in the frig that I had added 1/2 C. sugar to so it had a nice strawberry sauce. This cake was DELICIOUS with the strawberries! And really, it wasn't difficult at all. I am sure going to make this again soon! I have to tell you what my biggest problem was, & that was the weather. I was making this cake last Friday. Our 17 year old daughter was going to come home from church camp that evening & I thought it would be nice to have a homemade Angel Food cake to surprise her with. As I was folding in the flour/sugar mixture I noticed the sky looked pretty dark. I quickly got the cake into the oven & got on-line to check our radar. Sure enough a good sized storm was headed our way, & at that moment it was hitting the church camp.
So I prayed, then I put out a prayer request to my on-line friends, & then snapped this picture from our front porch. This was actually a different day than the storm picture I posted yesterday for Wordless Wednesday. This picture was taken Friday, June 13, & that picture (WW) was taken on Father's Day afternoon. We've had a bunch of storms lately!

I'm happy to say there was no damage. And our electricity stayed on so the Angel Food Cake got baked until done! LOL
And a few hours later we had our daughter back home & we were eating Angel Food Cake with strawberries!

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

Jane's quirks

I've been tagged. My friend Dawn tagged me to spell out 6 quirks that I have. Here are the rules:
Link the person who tagged you.
Mention the rules in your blog.
Tell about six unspectacular quirks of yours.
Tag a new set of six bloggers by linking them
Six quirks about me....

1. Movie theater popcorn eaters drive me crazy. Because they are so engrossed in the movie that they do not realize that they are taking handfuls of popcorn & craming it all in their mouths & chewing with their mouths open & crunching LOUDER than the movie !(ok, that may not be a quirk, but something that makes me crazy...lol)

2. I have to sleep with the covers up to my chin whether it's winter or summer...but sometimes I stick my foot out.

3. I have to have the cord for the vacuum going over my shoulder while I'm vacuuming (it keeps it from getting tangled or run over by the vacuum).

4. I like to have a dish towel over my left shoulder while working in the kitchen.

5. I have to have tea cubes in my tea. You see, I love iced tea, but regular ice melts & waters down the tea & I can't stand watered down tea. So, I keep an ice cube tray in the freezer filled with tea.

6. I don't wear flip-flops (but in my younger days when I did wear them they were called, um...something else...LOL)

There! I did it! Hey, that was kind of hard coming up with all of those.
But it was fun. It was the very first time EVER that I have been 'tagged'. Cool.

And now I tag:
Lori
Just Me
Windy
Stacey
Dana
Claire
Becky

Garden Update

Wow, do I have some weeding to do in the herb garden! Dh tilled the garden on Thursday and we also spent almost every evening last week weeding. I still need to finish weeding the herb garden, the strawberries, cucumbers, & zucchini. Whew.
Here's the two pots of rosemary & my sage plant. It has about doubled in size.

Here's the parsley BEFORE I weeded. I had planted seeds but when I didn't think they were going to come up, I bought one plant & planted it right in the middle. The seeds finally did start coming up after 3 weeks, among the weeds:

And here's the parsley AFTER I got it weeded. It was really tedious as I couldn't use my little shovel to help me because it was too big & would pull up parsley right along with the weeds. But I did find that using a butter knife helped some. The ground had dried just enough that you needed a shovel or some kind of aid or the weed would break off instead of coming out by the root. The picture is a little dark, but there's a lot of little parsley plants coming up there! :)
Here's the cilantro BEFORE weeding.
Here's the after shot. The cilantro is doing really well!

Here is the thyme. It is right in the middle of the herb garden. In this picture I was only about half done weeding & had to stop because it was too dark & I couldn't tell the difference between weeds & thyme. Dawn, there is my weed bucket! :)

So here is the front side of the herb garden all weeded. The bottom right is the cilantro & the bottom left is the parsley. The rosemary & sage are just above the parsley, the thyme is in the middle, & the camomile is in a circle under the shepherd's hook that is holding the lemon balm.

And here's the back half that still needs work! The dill is in the bottom left corner, & I have got it weeded. It's really doing well too. Just above that is the basil, & it needs weeded badly! I also need to weed the little chive row. I planted two plants, & then a row of seeds. The seeds are just now coming up, among the weeds.

Hopefully this evening I can get the weeding in the herb patch done.

Now for the better pictures.

The broccoli is coming along. I am looking so forward to having fresh steamed broccoli!

Here's a picture of the corn coming right along. It won't be long now until it is taller than me!

Here are the tomato plants & the broccoli & cauliflower. You can just barely see the beets coming up in the next row.


Here's the north side of the garden. From this shot you can see the beets (barely), onion, beans, & peppers. We have pulled the last of the radishes & will be planting more.

So that's it for now.

It's time to fix supper & then get out there & finish weeding.

:)

Roasted Asparagus

We had never had asparagus before. Ever!
I am so glad I picked some up at the store thinking that I'd roast it like I did the cauliflower.
We all LOVED it.

Roasted Asparagus
1 bunch of asparagus
2 T. olive oil
salt
2 T. butter

Cut the tough ends off the asparagus. Drizzle with olive oil & salt. Stir to coat. Bake at 425 for 15-20 minutes, or until tender. After you remove the pan from the oven, put the butter in the corner of the pan. Once you've removed to asparagus to your serving dish, the butter should be melted. Drizzled it over the asparagus.
YUM!

Garden Update

Here's a nice picture of the garden taken yesterday. Not taken close up, it's a little deceptive. You can't really see how much work needs to be done. The beans look nice, you can see the onions look nice too, & the beets are just now coming up (we planted them late). The tomatoes are starting to grow, now that the weather has heated up. But we've also had a ton of rain. A TON! Gully washer after gully washer in the last week or so.
Here' s the result of the first one. It made some gullies between the end of the tomatoes & the corn. Fortunately it wasn't going through a row. It actually only disturbed a couple of corn plants. Notice how small the tomato plant looks. This picture was taken one week ago.We've had such a cool spring, which we've really enjoyed, but the plants haven't cared for that much. We were in the high 80's & low 90's this last week. Look at the tomato plants now! Wow, that's in ONE WEEK! (you can see the dates on the pictures)

Back to the gully...

Here's the same shot taken a week later, after two more gully washers & some big storms.

We've had a lot of stormy weather. The news said our county recorded 80 mph winds the night before this picture was taken. We had quite a few of the branches from the neighbor's poplar trees in the garden. Here's one, it looks like it's trying to block the gully. LOL

The HEAT and the RAIN has also brought on the weeds. It's just been too doggoned muddy to get in the garden & weed. Here you can see the corn coming up nicely amongst the weeds & gullies & the branches.

We took two bails of straw that we had and put them at the low spot on the garden to keep the dirt from washing away. It was washing away down that gully & filling up the fence! The problem happened because we didn't get in there & rake in the first gully. It was just way too muddy to get in there. Then we had another gully washer rain...then another, & then another!
Here you can see where our dirt was going to the fence.

Here's the broccoli & cauliflower row. We lost a broccoli plant. Something walked through our garden in the night & broke it. Makes me sad to lose a broccoli plant.

I think the cabbage looks good. Hope we can eat it before the bugs do!

And lastly, here's my poor herb garden. It has weeds & branches! The cilantro, thyme, & dill weed is doing great. The camomile is doing really good too. The basil if finally starting to come up, & sloooooowly so is the flat leaf parsley. Oh, the weeds...they're really thriving too.

As soon as I can get in there & weed I'll take those funny looking sticks out.

Here's a close up of the dill. It is really coming along. Back before the gully washers, when I would weed, I'd pick up rocks & put them between the sections. That's the basil next to the dill, & then the camomile, but you can't see the camomile because of the poplar branches.

So all in all it's coming along nicely. We have enjoyed our radishes & still have some more to pick & then we'll plant some more. We've also been enjoying green onions.

This week should be filled with evenings in the garden weeding.

Boy, do we have some work to do!

MP3 Bundle

Another great contest at 5 minutes for mom.

"The Insignia MP3 Fitness Bundle:
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Features a $10 Best Buy Digital Music Store download card to complete your perfect workout playlist
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Price: $99.99 "

I'd sure love to win this.

Friday Felicities

Bible Study

Ice cold tea

Finishing The Two Towers

Radish Sandwiches

Trying two new recipes tonight

FRIDAYS FRIDAYS FRIDAYS FRIDAYS!!!

Here's Becky's site to see more Friday Felicities.

Wordless Wednesday

Double rainbow, view from front porch! (ok, there's words, but it's not a complete sentence. lol)

RADISHES!

WE HAVE RADISHES! WHOOOOHOOOO!
Here's the radish row. We start havesting them by thinning them out. You have to pick some a little early in order to give the other radishes more room to grow. We did this on Saturday.

Here's the first handful!


And the youngin's wagon full.

All trimmed & washed & ready to EAT. These radishes are called "French Breakfast".

This is my favorite sandwich that my dad taught me to make years & years ago.
It's easy: bread, butter, radishes, salt. YUM.

Oh it was so GOOD!
Since Saturday, we have had two salads & both had lots of our own radishes in them. And I've had more than one radish sandwich. :)

Today the radishes needed thinned/harvested again. It's a good thing, because the ones from Saturday are gone!
My dh & 5 year old ds went out between rain showers today & picked again.
The result is this 3 lb. butter bowl full!
WOOOOOOOOT!

Win a Dyson!

Oh I'd love to win this! You can go to this blog called An Ordinary Life and enter to win this Dyson. Here is a discription of this Dyson from the site:

"Many of you already know about all of the wonderful featuresDyson offers, their new Dyson DC25 is just another incredible vacuum in the Dyson legacy. With the new Ball™ technologyand Quick-draw Telescope Reach™ wand this is one vacuum that's above the rest.It's so lightweight and has a washable lifetime HEPA filter the perfect vacuum for anyone with health conditions or allergies. The Dyson DC25 is truly in a class all its own. Traditional vacuums only moved from from side to side, not with the Dyson DC25. You can move any way you want never ever seen before in a vacuum.Many of you already know about all of the wonderful featuresDyson offers, their new Dyson DC25 is just another incredible vacuum in the Dyson legacy. With the new Ball™ technologyand Quick-draw Telescope Reach™ wand this is one vacuum that's above the rest.It's so lightweight and has a washable lifetime HEPA filter the perfect vacuum for anyone with health conditions or allergies. The Dyson DC25 is truly in a class all its own. Traditional vacuums only moved from from side to side, not with the Dyson DC25. You can move any way you want never ever seen before in a vacuum."

I REALLY want to win this!!!