Today, I shared summer meals with my favorite people. Sitting at the dining room table or outside on a picnic blanket, enjoying each other's faces and stories (or babbling!) - this is my favorite place to be in the summertime.
:: Strawberries and blueberries and raspberries - oh my! - piled high atop granola and yogurt for breakfast.
:: Mangoes so juicy that their sweet slices slip from the grasp of baby, toddler and adult fingers alike.
:: Green smoothies* with kale and chard plucked moments earlier. "Mama, I want some more smoothie, please!" (Um... YES!)
:: The last of our sharp Wisconsin cheddar brought home from our summer vacation.
:: New red potatoes smothered in chunky pesto made from our garden's early season basil.
:: Crisp, clean lemon cucumbers and our first three plum tomatoes made a salad.
:: Sweet cherries in the Cherry Chomper (endless entertainment for all four of us).
:: A big bowl of shelled edamame ("mamies").
:: Fresh Mint Chip Frozen Yogurt. Mint from the garden, producing the closest thing to BerryLine that I've tasted in the last 3 years. Takes me back to memories of hot summer nights strolling Mass Ave in Cambridge. Ahhh...
:: A cup of Lemon Verbena tea (my favorite, most under-utilized herb to grow) to sip and listen to the cicadas.
August. Summer at its excruciating peak. Too hot to handle were it not for the glorious things happening in the garden and thus, on my plate!!!
*I've started to do more of this in light of the massive amount of greens we have in the garden. I'm happy to report that the hype is true: they are quite delicious and uber nutritious. (Plus, it's fun when they're bright-Kryptonite-green.) My recipe today: 1C water, 2 ice cubes, 1 frozen banana, 7 huge leaves of kale, and 1 mango. Blend into oblivion. It's really refreshing and the best part is that Christopher and Colin love them, too.
