Watermelon!!

You can always find a watermelon on our counter when they are in season - we LOVE 'em!!  They do not grow well in the colder-Hayward-climate, so I buy them from Barronett Bob's or from Wheatfield Organics who truck the produce from Barronnet and the Menomonie area.

To start with , I made a refreshing Mint, Watermelon, Feta Cheese salad.  My running friend Sue shared some of her mint, so I whipped up this delicious salad.

Watermelon Mint Feta Salad

Watermelon Mint Feta Salad  Click on the blue link for Paula Dean's recipe.

This recipe is sooooooo fantastic that it's worth mentioning again.  This is from my running friend Stacey Raymond.  Delish!!

Stacey's Watermelon Blueberry Salad

Stacey's Watermelon Blueberry Salad

Bring 1/4 cup of sugar and 1/4 of water to a simmer in a saucepan.

Remove from heat, add 3 mint sprigs and steep for 10 minutes.

Discard mint and add zest and juice from 1 lemon and a pinch of salt.

Toss with 3 cups of cubed watermelon and 2 cups of blueberries.

Let stand 15 minutes. Top with chopped mint.

Hmmm, Hmmm, good!

I also made this great Watermelon Salsa again.  It sounds weird, but it tastes GREAT!!!  Oh, and it's soooo easy to cut little V's into the watermelon to make a decorative bowl.   The bowl looks impressive and when you are done you can throw it away.

Watermelon Salsa

Next up, I made this great, refreshing Watermelon Gazpacho.

Watermelon Gazpacho

Watermelon Gazpacho - click on the link for this great recipe.


My parents came up yesterday for my birthday, so we took a shopping trip to Cable then went to the cooking store and candy store in Hayward.  They also took us out to one of my favorite restaurants, The Angry Minnow.

From left to right:  Dad, Mom, Me, Greta and Gus

My tip of the day:

Keep your mint, cilantro, parsley or any other type of herb wrapped in paper towel and then add to a Ziploc bag.  My cilantro keeps for 3 weeks this way, but will go bad in 3 days if I don't wrap it in paper towel.  I then take a sharpie and mark the bag so I remember what I have wrapped up.  Works like a charm!!!

I'm starting to freeze some tomatoes and apples today (thanks Tracy Lundberg for the apples).  If the rain stops, the kids and are going to try to pick the rest of the blackberries (I think the skeets are better).  Tomorrow, I'm looking forward to picking corn for the winter months with Debi and the kids.

Here's my little ones at Tremblay's Candy Store in Hayward.  If you ever visit Hayward, you must visit this place.  They also have free samples of peanut brittle and peanut butter fudge - so yummy!

Gus and Greta at Tremblay's

Until next time,

Kristin

Summer Soups

This week I made four summer soups using locally available ingredients - DELISH!!!

The MOST delicious summer soup recipe I made this week was the traditional gazpacho soup.

Gazpacho Soup


Click on the link above for the soup recipe.   I used extra basil in my soup because my running friend Sue shared some of her stock, and I skipped the hard boiled egg, because it's hot in the house and I'm kinda' lazy.

I set up this card table today so the kids could work on puzzles since it's a rainy day.  I started to move the puzzle pieces, but I thought it was kind of fitting.   The soup is also photographed in my Grandma's fun bubble dishes.


Next up, I made a delicious Cucumber Avocado Soup

Cucumber Avocado Soup

• 1T. olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 quarter of a lemon, squeezed
• 1 large cucumber, sliced thinly
• 1c. water
• 1/2t. salt
• pinch cayenne
• 1 avocado
• 1/2c. skim milk

In a saucepan, saute the onion and garlic over medium high heat until soft.  Add the lemon juice and cucumber.  Saute for 4 more minutes.  Add the water, salt, and cayenne.  Bring the mixture to a boil and simmer for 8-10 minutes, or until the cucumbers are soft.  Add the avocado.  Using an immersion blender, puree the soup til smooth.  Stir in the milk over low heat until heated through.  Add to soup.  Chill for 1 hour.  Eat cold.  Serves 2.

 I garnished it with a mystery vegetable that I received from the CSA.  It's delicious, but I have NO idea what it is. 

I made a delicious Watermelon Gazpacho Soup for breakfast.  My presentation isn't great, but this was the best I could do.  The soup was AWESOME!!!

Watermelon Gazpacho Soup


Click on the link above for the recipe.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE beets, so I was excited to try Borscht (Beet Soup).  Unfortunately, I declare it an EPIC fail.  It tasted like beet water.  At least it looks pretty in my Grandma's bubble dishes and on my Aunt Lori's tablecloth.

Borscht Fail

If anyone has a good Borscht recipe, I'd love to try it again.

Blueberries will be up next (again)!  We LOVE blueberries!!

Until next time,

Kristin