Baby Frogs

My mother and father-in-law are here for a doctor appointment. They recently went camping with friends from their church, at beautiful Delintment Lake, pictured above. Also recently, our grandson and their great-grandson William just posted a blog about all the toads and frogs they have captured this season for their terrarium. While they were camping at Delintment, Mom spotted hundreds, if not thousands, of baby frogs along the shoreline. She said you couldn't put your foot down without stepping on one. Of course she thought right away of Sam, Will, Ben and Cal, and wished they could be there to see it. Since West Virginia is a fair distance away, of course that is not possible. So she did the next best thing and took a photo to share. So, I am sharing it for them and with you.

Just one of the thousands, making it's way from the water up to the shore, in great- grandpa's hands. Isn't he or she cute??

Summer's Bounty

I'm enjoying the bounty of the season on my table these days. The flowers in the middle are actually from my husband. On the sides are Queen Anne's Lace that the children brought to me. I picked up some local plums and pears at the Farmer's Market and they beautify the table as they sit and wait to ripen. A very bountiful time of year.

I visited the Farmer's Market again today. I was able to get my first local peaches. Happy day. I've been getting rhubarb there whenever I can. It's nice to be able to get the things I can't grow myself at the moment. I love gardening about as much as I love cooking. Not surprisingly, I'm most excited about growing vegetables, fruits and herbs. For now, I have just herbs in my own garden. At my friend's house, where there's plenty of space, we have together grown potatoes, onions, cabbages and some other things. Tomatoes will be coming. I fill in with the Farmer's Market. We're eating our fill of sauteed swiss chard, fresh green beans, beets, etc., all grown locally. Delicious. What's growing where you are?

Summer Grilling

RECIPE OF THE WEEK: GRILLED PORK CHOPSI wrote about these pork chops last year, but didn't include the recipe, so I decided after grilling to do it now. Julie gave me this recipe last year, and it is a really good one. I usually brown my pork chops then put them in the oven for tenderness. But in the summer grilling is better when you don't want to turn on your oven. This recipe still turns out fairly tender (better than plain grilled chops) and really tasty.

Grilled Pork Chops

4 Pork Chops Bone-in or Boneless (I only use two chops and a little less brine)

Dissolve 6 Tablespoons of salt and 6 Tablespoons of sugar in 3 quarts cold water. Divide the solution between two gallon zip-lock bags and add two chops to each bag. Seal and soak for at least one hour, or up to overnight. When ready to grill, remove chops and discard liquid. Pat the chops dry with a paper towel. Rub on the spice rub on both sides of chops and salt.

Spice Rub

1/2 Tablespoon Cumin 1/2 Tablespoon of Curry

1/4 Tablespoon Chili Powder Freshly ground Pepper

1/4 Tablespoon Garlic Powder

Preheat the grill. Sear the pork chops on the hot grill for 2-3 minutes per side. Leave 1 burner medium-high, turn the other two to low, put the lid down and cook the chops 7-9 minutes, or until the chops are at 135 degrees. Remove the chops to a platter and cover. Let them sit and rest for 5 minutes, then serve and enjoy!

Here are the chops all brined and spiced up before grilling. I hope you try this, because it's easy and really good.

As most of you know, Julie has no camera right now and is taking a short break. I have my granddaughter Kendall here for the week, and tomorrow we are heading off to Crescent Lake for our Church Family Camp. We have been busy so far this week with painting projects. We are painting our shed and trim out back, and a wooden bench out front. Kendall loves to paint, and to do projects. In between that we are shopping and getting treats like Cold Stone Ice Cream. It's so much fun having her here. Next week I'll post some photos of our projects. Have a great week-end.

Recipe of the Week: Homemade Ranch Dressing

It's time for another recipe! My camera is broken, but I happen to have a picture of my homemade ranch dressing, so it made the choice pretty easy for me this week.My friend Jocelyn made this and I asked her for the recipe. Like the first recipe I posted, this is actually a dry mix that you make and store and add the wet ingredients when you're ready. I haven't tried very hard, but I've never found a bottle of ranch dressing at the supermarket that has become my favorite. When my friend, Jocelyn, served this homemade version, it tasted so fresh and I loved that I could mix it up anytime I wanted some. So this has become my recent favorite. It makes certain raw vegetables a lot more appealing. :)

Ranch Salad Dressing Mix

(makes 12 batches)

2/3 cup dried parsley flakes

1/4 cup finely crushed saltine crackers

1/3 cup minced onion

3 T. garlic salt

2 T. onion salt

1 T. garlic powder

1 T. onion powder

1 T. dried dill weed

1/4 tsp. pepper

In a medium mixing bowl, combine all ingredients and mix well. Store in an airtight container.

To make dressing: Combine 1 T. of mix, 1 cup of mayonnaise and 1 cup of buttermilk.

I have mayonnaise and buttermilk on hand all of the time, so I love how easy it is for me to have dressing in a flash. I hope some of you will enjoy it too. :)

A wonderful use for the old bottles

I got six of the old bottles together of various colors, and filled each with water. Then I raided our daisy bushes for a single daisy for each. I added in a pretty pink rose in the center and I am loving it.
The first photo shows the light in the glass bottles better, but I also took this one with the shade pulled to better see the flowers. Hard to get a photo that really shows how pretty this is.

That old purple flask is really a stunner! The neck is so narrow I could hardly get in the rose stem. It is old glass and hand shaped I think. A new way to appreciate my flowers and the old bottles.

Millie and Macy

We visited my parents graves on 'Decoration Day', when Julie and her family and Joy and her family were all here to join JoAnn, the insurance man and myself. The graveyard is so beautiful that week-end with all the American flags, veterans flags from the various branches of military service, as well as fresh and silk flowers. We decorated their graves with a pretty bouquet of blue silk flowers to last a little longer than fresh. The girls just had to see if those pretty flowers smelled sweet! My parents would have loved to see the precious scene beside their graves.

County Fair Time

Saturday afternoon and evening we took Doris and enjoyed our local Fair. We looked at all the animals, including rabbits, poultry, sheep, pigs, cattle and horses. Maybe a few extras thrown in.
We watched our local rodeo, featuring cowboys from Oregon, Washington and western Idaho. The insurance man was happy with a big bag of Kettle Corn.

We enjoyed 'fair food' which is always a treat. We even found a shady spot on a few rocks by the canal that runs through the fairgrounds, to eat.

I always enjoy looking at all the photography, the flowers and veggies, and the sewing and crafts. This year a new category was added, place settings. I photographed a few of my favorites. The one above won best of show. There are two place mats, a charger under the brown and white china, and several lace doily additions. I noticed that there had to be a hand-made menu at each setting.

The place mats were actually very large (larger than usual), and just hemmed material. This setting was really pretty without being quite as elaborate as the last one. Since the fair opened on Wednesday, the roses were already gone by the time I took this photo.

This ones for you Mom! Set by a cow-lover for sure. Very cheery and cute. There were all varieties of place settings, and it motivated me to come home and add some beauty to our everyday meals.