A Quick Seasonal Meal

You know what it's like to have nothing prepared for dinner? One of those days when the day was fuller than you expected, your budget tighter than you'd like and you didn't make it to the store because that felt like one expense and one trip too many?

I do.

At this time of year with so many fresh garden vegetables and herbs, I assume that something will come to mind. 

And then it doesn't.

Here's one meal I made last week, that was really tasty and a big hit, with little planning, from seasonal food I had on hand.

It involved:

• Fresh tomatoes
• Onions
• Garlic
• Rosemary
• Thyme
• Olive oil
• Salt and Pepper
• Pasta

I cut the vegetables into wedges, sprinkled herbs on top, drizzled olive oil over all and roasted it at 400 degrees until the tomatoes and onions looked soft and smelled good. 

et voila, dinner is served!

Clean up was easy too. One pot, One pan.

Thank you summer for all the tasty goodness!

Thank you Lorrie for bringing over some of your tomato trove!

Read more about meal planning here.

What vegetables would you roast like this? Share your ideas for quick meals or roasted vegetables in the comments below.

A Story for Summer :: The Wild Rose

With temperature's in the 90's it looks like summer is really "a -coming and winter has gone away-o!" At least for this week. We're in the season of the Flower Queen, and she has remained undaunted by the cold as her flower children blossom.

The wild roses are just beginning to bloom, the white in full bloom and the rose not quite yet to open.

Here's a sweet story to tell for summer. It's appropriate for children of all ages, including the wee littles. It's about Mother Nature and a wild rose. It's easy to imagine the larks and humming-birds coming to visit. For the young child, the world is alive and the notion that Mother Nature might talk to her flower children is quite natural, that's what mothers do!

The Moss Rose
~ by Leonore E. Mulets
(with a few adaptations by me)

Once upon a time a little pink wild rose bloomed by the wayside. To all who passed her way she threw out a delicate perfume and nodded in kindly welcome.

The larks and the humming-birds all loved the pink wild rose. The baby grasses and the violets snuggled up at her feet in safety. To all she was kind and sweet and helpful.

One day Mother Nature passed that way. She saw the gentle wild rose sending out her helpful cheer to all. Mother Nature was pleased.

She stopped a moment on her way to speak to the simple flower. She praised the wild rose for her sweetness and her beauty and her kindness. At last she promised her her choice of all the beautiful things that were in the store of Nature.

The pink wild rose blushed quite scarlet at the praise. For a moment she stopped to think.

"I should like," said the wild rose, blushing more and more, "I should like to have a cloak from the most beautiful thing you can think of."

Mother Nature looked down at her feet. She stooped. She arose and threw about the blushing pink rose a mantle of the softest, greenest, most beautiful moss.

Mother Nature passed on her way.

The sweet rose by the roadside drew her mantle of moss closely about her and allowed it to trail down the stem. She was very happy. She was never again to be called the simple wild rose, but in her heart she knew that her beautiful mossy mantle would only help her in spreading sweetness and kindness and beauty and the perfume of happiness through Mother Nature's world.

With a snip, snap, snout, my tale's told out!

::

June's eCourse is Love ~ the Heart of Discipline. Learn more about it and sign up here.

Revolution, Independence and a Finger Play

The presidential primaries have sparked many a conversation around our dinner table over the past year, especially so, with our own Senator Bernie Sanders running as a candidate, rousing people and stirring up enthusiasm for the political process.

We've been watching the debates, following the caucuses and primaries, talking about what is working and what does not seem to be working with the government and in the world, what is important for the country, as well as who is best able to lead the country, and what is our responsibility in these times of uncertainty and change. 

There's the question of what is a patriot today. 

And there's Brexit, the United Kingdom's vote to leave the European Union. 

You know, basic dinner table conversation. 

Do you think that people in times past had such an acute awareness of change in the world? It feels like we are in a time of great intensity and rapid change on a grand scale, on so many levels.

Revolution, change and what one is willing to do to make the world a better place seems a very fitting topic for this Fourth of July weekend. 

We're not quite at the topic of the Age of Revolution on our homeschooling journey, although we're close to it, and that is evident in the conversations around here with a teenager and a twenty something.

For the little ones, I thought you might like this little finger play called Ten Little Firecrackers.  I recorded it for you.

~ begin by holding up ten fingers and placing one down with each count down, making gestures with the fingers to go along with the verse as in standing in a line, walking very straight...

IN JULY.

BY A. S. WEBBER.

10

Ten little fire crackers

Standing in a line,

One thought he’d light a match

Then——

There were nine.

9

Nine little fire crackers

Walking very straight,

One caught an engine spark

Then——

There were eight.

8

Eight little fire crackers

Trying to spell “LEAVEN,”

One went too near the gas,

Then——

There were seven.

7

Seven little fire crackers

Cutting up tricks,

One played with lighted punk

Then——

There were six.

 6                                                                                       6

Six little fire crackers

Glad they were alive,

One went to have a smoke

Then

There were five.

5

Five little fire crackers

Wishing there were more,

One went to find a friend

Then

There were four.

4

Four little fire crackers

Merry as could be,

One played upon the hearth

Then

There were three.

3

Three little fire crackers

Puzzled what to do,

One started the kitchen fire

Then

There were two.

2

Two little fire crackers

Looking for some fun,

One met a little boy

Then

There was one.

1

One little fire cracker

Sat down to cry,

’Tis such a risky thing

To live

In July."

How are things going around your dinner table this July?

Hello Summer!

Summer came with great momentum this year and now we are fully in it, days thick with warmth and humidity while the table is sweet with the fruits of summer.

Thunderstorms and sun showers have become regular visitors.

The warmth of spring was so slow to arrive, awaiting we were, in March and April, with crocuses and daffodils eventually pushing through and blossoming, weeks later than usual this. Once they blossomed, it was as if the flood gates were opened and the water poured out and keeps on pouring.

The forsythia followed, then the lilacs followed by the day lilies. The irises followed. Then the chives blossomed, providing pink bids for vinegar. More intense flavor with garlic scapes and radishes followed by baby carrots and lettuces. Then came the strawberries, which we “shared” with the rabbits.

The bee balm is uncharacteristically late in its blossoming. The little plants were eaten up by “our" fat furry woodchuck who loves to eat the black eyed susies. This is the first year he, or she, whatever it is, with no babies to be seen this year, it may be a "he"… This is the first time a woodchuck has eaten the bee balm.

This morning the fat woodchuck devoured a cabbage before our eyes, bold little fellow. He has been trying to get at the hens or their food. Any suggestions for ridding ourselves of this fat furry creature that does not involve bodily harm to it?

We see fireflies flitting around at night. The rain opens up in big ways too. The lower vegetable garden has flooded twice this summer, that is except for the potatoes. It hasn’t flooded like this since Hurricane Irene swept through these parts.

The herbs have been very happy this year. The nettles came and they are taller than ever. The valerian is going to seed. I worried about the oregano succumbing to the cold of winter, as it had a slow awakening. Now we have a full bed of baby oregano. The lemon balm and catnip are everywhere and happy. Saint John’s Wort has made its appearance in a few spots. There’s mugwort and motherwort too.

How’s your summer been?

The Expansive Nature of Summer

From this

to this

Sort of like parenting, in how we expand beyond what we thought was possible, no?

Summer Manifesto

While the official arrival of summer is not until the solstice on June 21st, the feeling of summer, the smell of summer and the mood of summer is in the air. No mistaking it, blossoms everywhere. The sweet scent of lilacs, honeysuckle and apple blossoms have filled the night air. Fireflies flitting and providing sparks of light the night air. Flowers cascade over the edges of pots on the doorstep. The warmth of the sun brings vital heat and leaves behind its golden glistening on the skin and hair. The lake beckons. The soft and moist soil of spring becomes more fixed and firm as the blossoms come and go, the bees visit, the butterflies appear and herald in with great majesty the first fruits of summer, sweet strawberries, as delicious freshly picked from the mother plant, warm from the sun's rays, as they are in shortcake and cream. Sweet summer.

 

::::

With this feeling freshness and new beginnings in the air, 

I write a Manifesto for Summer, as a source of  inspiration and gratitude for the goodness of summer.

A Manifesto for Summer

:: Savor the longer days and shorter nights.

:: Be outdoors as often as possible.

:: Create spaces for being outdoors, a table for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Cosy places to lounge and  

   read. Spots in the garden for tea.

:: Find dappled light for mid day and hot days.

:: Build camp fires. Toast marshmallows and hot dogs. Make s'mores.

:: Go for a walk each night under the stars.

:: Follow the moon's path through the sky.

:: Sleep outside.

:: Cook outside. Over fire.

:: Go barefoot whenever possible.

:: Tend the garden.

:: Snip flowers for the table. And other unexpected places.

:: Run under the sprinkler.

:: Play flashlight tag.

:: Make fruit pops with yoghurt, fresh fruit and juice.

:: Make ice cream with fresh cream and strawberries.

:: Stop at lemonade stands.

:: Go swimming whenever possible.

:: Have sand between the toes.

:: Pack lunch and go for a hike.

:: Gather with friends around the fire. Sing. Tell stories. Eat good food.

:: Get organized for preserves: jams and jellies, pickles, herbs, spices, tomatoes, chutney

So there it is. I've been rejoicing in the lightness of spring, in the dampness and smell of the dirt, in the new beginnings, in the green perennial friends who return each year and rise from the earth to unfurl new leaves, burst buds into blossoms and provide us with leaves to steep for tea and leaves to spice up the cooking pot and pan, in the songs and squawking of the baby birds in the nests outside my windows, in the chives for potatoes and eggs, in blossoms for the table. Spring uplifts us and invites us to relax, slow down and savor summer.

How will you slow down and savor summer this year?