thistle

Does anyone remember that just a month ago we were being drenched w/ enormous amounts of water? Now, it's been 101 for the last 3 days-what's with the excessive weather conditions? Right now, I'm occasionally venturing out in my yard, plus tending a neighbor's yard (she's on vacation), -the only good part of that is pulling off ripe tomatoes as I water. I'm now calling myself, 'Sprinkler Wench'. Despite the heat, I've been grilling out every night on my tiny IKEA charcoal grill, steak & chicken & fish-I'm getting a little better with charcoal grilling-entirely unorthodox, I use a combo of match-lite briquettes & hardwood charcoal. Tonight, I'm going a little over the top, w/ strip steaks, snapper filets, & mangoes & nectarines, wrapped in prosciutto, ( ( & a green salad, w/ all the tomatoes)....

Figs-I have Conadria, Celeste, Sandy's Strawberry Verte, Violette, & 2 Mystery figs (unlabelled)-all are thriving & fruiting.The folks at Paradise ship EXTREMELY well (I ordered last year, too) & when I ordered back in the spring, told me they'd be at Green Springs Garden later that spring for a market, offered to bring my plants up, so I could save on shipping & get bigger plants. When I arrived, hot & sweaty after a long soccer morning, I saw 2 gorgeous figs, w/ a SOLD tag & my name on them! I also picked up a dwarf Cavendish banana & the Sungold tomato plant that has been my star performer this summer. I'm trying to figure out a day trip down to VABeach to pick up more figs before they close up shop. Another of my favorite nursery discoveries of the year is Della Conway of J & D's Backyard Nursery (J & D's Backyard Nursery )for Japanese maples, I've purchased several beautiful trees from her, & if I can find room, will continue to get more...

Wow, what a way to go, if you're an apricot tree!-I bet you really enjoyed its last harvest, I think ripe apricots fresh from the tree have got to be one of life's greatest treats. I just found out that the nursery I've purchased all my fig trees from (for the last 2 years), Paradise Nursery, in VA Beach, will be closing up shop next year. I have 6 figs now, hope I can get a few more from them before they close. I have a great admiration for folks in the nursery & plant business, it's difficult, not always financially successful, you have to LOVE plants & try to be a good businessperson, I hope someone will buy their business & keep us in figs...!

My tomato plants (all 7 of them) are also underperforming, only one has had a decent crop, that's the Sungold, about 6' tall, lots of tiny tomatoes that taste great-but the other ones-Phah! Only one tiny tomato off of a Black Krim that now looks almost dead. I think they get plenty of sun, they're planted in Earthboxes, w/ an organic mix of Espoma plant food,seaweed, lime, they get regular water, but they don't look too good-only thing in my garden that looks vigorous is the Vietnamese coriander, almost too much so, it doesn't quite sub for regular coriander...I have a few other herbs that are thriving, purple basil, rue, tarragon, thyme, & purple fennel that I grow strictly for the foliage next to my roses...I'm looking forward to the fall gardening season, maybe I will be happier with my plants...(lots of bees, though, I have alot of agastaches, which are thriving)

I'm going to abstain on the melons, cause I don't like them (I LOVE apricots, but I can't grow them here), I have lots of figs, but I'm still on the fence with them-they just don't taste like Fig Newtons. I will second the Sungold tomatoes, that's the only one growing for me this summer, it's at least 7' high, & I've been picking a handful everyday for a couple of weeks. That's it for me-my 'Tasty Jade' cucumber is misshapen, but I have harvested a few 'Biker Billy' jalapenos, I'm waiting for the habaneros to ripen. I have lots of herbs- for the veggies I buy at the store & market-maybe next year, my garden will be better...

I saw Northern Exposure on Main, but not Continental Divide-lots of interesting looking places, but the kids just wanted Mexican & ice cream-the Hershey place on the corner. My son loved camp, but we're a long way from thinking about graduation dinner-I went to Chapel Hill, my DH attended the Citadel. Hmm-Chapel Hill, Charleston, Charlottesville-all appear to be pretty good food towns-do we see a connection?-besides humidity & mosquitoes?...

Hey, hoo-hoo to you -it IS a lovely university town, perhaps a touch more insular than Chapel Hill, which has a bit of intercollegiate rivalry going on w/ Duke & NC State (well, not so much). After picking up our guy, we ate at Guadalajara (the one on Fontaine Ave.), delicious again, then the kids occupied the hotel pool until closing. It was a nice drive down from NOVA, I thought Orange looked like a nice small town, too. I'd like to go back for the wool festival/sheepdog trials in the fall...

edited for double post

I took my son down this weekend for camp, as we were leaving, I asked his counselor for a good Mexican restaurant. He recommended 'Guadalajara' & after a few wrong turns, we found it. My 7 yr. old daughter & I enjoyed a delicious dinner, a bit over salted, but the salsa was spicy, they kept our drinks filled (she had Hawaiian punch, I had a lime margarita & water), & the chile rellenos were great. Since I got 'misdirected', shall we say, I got to see lots of C-ville, the White spot, bagel places-it's a nice college town, reminds me of Chapel Hill, a bit....

Thank you, Barbara, I am quite looking forward to his safe return myself-this is his 2nd trip, I wish that I knew it would be his last...

Gee, I can't believe it's still raining, off & on... I had an appointment w/ a roofer today, to discuss my leak, which he called & rescheduled. Tomorrow, I will go out & mow the lawn, which has flourished with this rainfall -my tomatoes are almost 6' high. My neighbors had a big, noisy 4th of July party (we had thunderstorms & loss of power), my son, who's 10, goes off for his first sleep-away camp this Sunday, & my husband will be home in 2 weeks (he's been in Iraq)-it's been a interesting summer...

How's everyone weathering the flood of '06? I'm glad I don't have too much commuting to do, south part of Rt. 1 was detoured yesterday, some roads around here are closed due to flooding. The rain is STILL coming down, I have a leak in my sunroom porch roof, but no sense calling a roofer now, we just put a bucket under it. Only some small parts of my yard are flooded, think I might go out tomorrow & try to rake out the drainage ditches in the park behind my house, so it drains better. I guess most of my plants are enjoying the extra water, it's nice not to have to drag the sprinklers around, lots of trees & branches down, my neighbors had a tree service in on Sunday, they have a HUGE tree in the back, 60', with some broken limbs. I thought they were going to remove the whole thing, but they just trimmed the broken bits. Any storm tales?

Mmm, harvested my first few tomatoes the other day, Sungold, a cherry type. I also have Black Krim, Mortgage Lifter, Lemon Boy, Brandywine, Purple Cherokee, & a bunch of Sweet 100s, none of which look as healthy as the Sungold. I fell for the hype & got some Earthboxes to plant them in, but received them a little late, so we'll see how they do.... I only have hot peppers, not partial to bell, 4 Biker Billy jalapenos (loaded w/ peppers!), 6 little habanero, & a Kung Pao. Also a Tasty Jade asian cucumber, vietnamese cilantro (which doesn't bolt like the regular stuff), basil, thyme, tarragon, chocolate mint, all mixed in the flower beds (except for the mint, which is contained). Also, my great joy, figs-just because they're so cool-looking!-all from Paradise Nursery in VA Beach, who are just the nicest folks-Celeste, Sandy's Strawberry Verte, 2 mystery, Violette di Negronne, & Conadria. All my plants are loving this rain, hope everyone has a great growing season....

Very simple!-white chocolate pretzels- microwave white chocolate chips, stir in small pretzels-when packaged nicely, appropriate for mailcarriers, teachers, anyone-these are delicious!....I was invited (this evening) over to my neighbor's for an Indian dinner- I was not prepared, but I'll bring some orange-cardamom cookies from TJ's (they come in a nice birchwood box) & a small orchid...I'm not as organized as I'd like to be these days....guacamole is great! will be bringing it to my work lunch on Wed. (along with bean dip)-I like green onions, lime, salt, & a touch of salsa fresca....

Well, one of the dishes I brought to T'giving was appreciated-black bean jalapeno dip & the other was superfluous-roasted new potatoes, w/ asparagus, cherry tomatoes, & kalamata olives. I spent Thanksgiving with my husband's family (who are as dear to me as my own, my husband is deployed in Iraq), I reused the roasted veg in a vegetable soup, w/ mixed beans, ham scraps, & butter braised scallions-good for lunch, with a salad. My kids are still playing with aunts, uncles, grandparents, & extended family-I'm a lucky person-hope everyone had an equally wonderful T'giving!...Linda

I was in my grocery store the other day (Sat.) & saw stuff they had never had before-fresh figs & lychees -of course, I didn't buy them, because I couldn't think of what to do with them, so when I returned today, they weren't there! Got a couple of white nectarines, but it's small consolation. I was wondering if the figs & lychees (should they reappear) would be good infused with a nice dark rum or some vodka, maybe with some spices? or does that sound too odd?

Late lunch also, after picking up the kids at summer school-in our quest to find a good Chinese place close by, my son suggested we try Hunan East, at the south end of Rt. 1 (Sacramento Shopping Center), close to Ft. Belvoir. After being stuck in traffic, after a school bus crash!, we went down & ordered fried dumplings (my son's benchmark), Hunan Shrimp, & Cashew Chicken-after a decent wait (they warned us the fried dumplings would be at least 20 minutes), we carried everything home & dove in-this will definitely be a takeout place, fried rice was PLAIN-no veg, just the way the kids like it, nice large portions, hunan shrimp not as hot as China Garden (over near Kingstown library), but still good-we've been feeling kind of left out, as we haven't found too many good take-out places where we've moved (south end of Rt. 1, close to Ft. Belvoir-good location for BRAC, but not much in the way of restaurants, wish I had the cash to finance one)...Thistle

For those with military connections, whole, unadulterated tri-tip, 4.95/lb., at the Ft. Belvoir commissary...

My favorite food-related gift was my late grandmother's vintage 4.5 qt. avocado green Kitchenaid mixer-she was a woman ahead of her time, I also have a copy of 'Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. 1', given to my Mom while I was still a child & a few other great old cookbooks, that were hers. I have that same 10" Kai Shun, my only regret is it's too heavy for my knife magnet strips. A few years ago, I got 'into' knives in a big way, have a variety of Spyderco kitchen knives, the 'Homemaker' & a neat sashimi knife, as well as my all time favorite, the K05, a 4" serrated blade. I love this knife, use it daily, & when it turned up missing after a family party about a month ago, I had to immediately order another one, as well as the K04, a 6" serrated blade. I also have a couple of custom knives, a Ray Rogers spalted juniper handle, & a carbon steel blade from an NC knifemaker with a dogwood handle. It's such a pleasure to prep with cool knives-now I just need to pick up some more of those cheap plastic cutting boards (I use them on top of my wooden boards).