Canning Cherries

I love country roads.  You just never know what kinds of goodies you'll find, hidden on those wooded bends, tucked in with the farms and streams.  The Hubs knows that if we see a farmstand on one of those country road drives, we're probably stopping.  And, trust me, he's usually glad that we do.

Such is how I came across all these fresh, sweet, delicious Michigan cherries.

CSA - Summer Week 2, Cucumber Salsa, and a Picnic Blog Hop

I swear, I may be one of the only people who gains weight in the summer.  Most people are watching what they eat, concerned with "swimsuit season" and such.  Meanwhile, I am stuffing my face with all the delicious fresh bounty that summer brings.  Between my garden, the CSA, and the local farmers markets and farm stands, I have plenty to work with!

The best is when I find a way to use a lot of different fresh foods together to make something delicious that I can share with others, like this creamy cucumber corn salsa, which is one of my favorite picnic snacks.

Lovely Lavender Lemonade

I love summer evenings, where you can still feel the heat of the day, but it's lost its edge, and you can just sit outside and enjoy being where you are.  There's nothing much better than kicking up my feet in my hammock and watching the kids play around.  Unless, of course, you add in a tasty cool drink.

Today I was inspired by the lavender in my yard.  Lavender lemonade sounds lovely, doesn't it?  Sweet, tart, and floral.  Ooh, and let's kick it up a notch by adding a little gin.  Wink wink.

Let's Get Poppin'!

There are some things that I don't think much about when I make them, because it's just so routine to me.  And every once in a while, someone is so impressed by one of those things that I have to stop and reevaluate the situation.  "Hold up...what did I just do?  Is it really that cool?  Why would that be?"

Stove-popped popcorn is one of those things.  It's just how I make popcorn.  But anytime I do it when someone else is over, they say something like, "Wow!  You pop your own?" or "My grandma used to make popcorn on the stove, and nothing else tastes as good.  Wish I could do that!".

Maple Coconut Oat Cookies

I'm sure I've mentioned before about how a lot of my childhood foods came out of cans and boxes, so I won't bore you with that again.  What I will say, is that it becomes problematic for me when it comes to comfort foods.

A Twist on Front Porch Gourmet's Rosemary Lavender Yeast Rolls

When Melissa from Front Porch Gourmet asked if anyone was up to do a little recipe swapping, I jumped at the opportunity!  She is one of those people that I can tell is as infatuated with food as I am, and she's always got yummy vittles up on her blog.  The one that caught my eye and my heart...and my stomach, and probably my stomach's heart too...was her recipe for Rosemary Lavender Yeast Rolls.  Yes, please!

Mint and Chocolate Blondies

Screw what botanists may say.  Mint is a weed.

I swear, it's taking over faster than I can keep up.  Right now, it's threatening my chard.  I need to arm my chard with swords and shields (and regular pulls of the mint).  The consistent rain mixed with gorgeous sun is great for all of the garden, but the mint has really been taking advantage lately.  So I've needed to find new way to get rid of...I mean, to use it.

Mint and chocolate were just made to go together, but for some reason, the thought of throwing mint into a brownie didn't really appeal to me. Not that I don't like mint brownies! I do, but usually the mint is done through extract, carrying through the brownie or in a frosting.  But then I started thing about a blondie.  The sweet, buttery base with bits of mint and chocolate chunks mixed through?  Yeah, that's the ticket!

Slow-Cooker Blueberry Pulled Pork

It's almost blueberry season again!

Which means that I can finally stop clinging onto the last of my frozen blueberries, because in a couple of weeks, we'll be out there picking fresh berries to refill my freezer stock!

One of my favorite "out of the box" recipes for pork is a blueberry sauced pork tenderloin that I make once in a while.  It's savory and unexpected, but there are a couple of things that I don't like about it.  It takes a while to prepare, and pork tenderloin isn't always affordable.  Luckily, I figured out a way to get all that fabulous flavor in an affordable, easy crockpot dish!