Current tomatoes

This summer, we've run an experiment with growing everything from seed.  And because of issues with our previous seed company, we decided to take a two pronged approach.

We ordered heirloom seed from a couple of different companies and we tried some 'cheap' seed from places like Dollar General and Walmart.

I'm sure I'll sit down, after the summer is done and size up what I think about the different approach.  I will say that this summer has been far less expensive from a standpoint of the garden input and while there's been serious heat, which has taken it's toll, I've been impressed with a few of these plants.

By far, the favorite fun new little tomato is the 'current' tomato. 

You can see it's size compared to a penny.  The little tomatoes are not only quite tiny, but they're absolutely packed with the most delicious flavor I've ever eaten in tomato form.  Their texture is different than other small tomatoes as well and is quite firm.  When you bite into the current tomato, they absolutely explode with flavor.
For the first week that any were ripening, we had a terrible time getting any into the house, but instead , stood and snacked on them in the garden, still warm from the sun.

They're very good in salads and in sauces and make the very best fresh out of hand snacks.
The tiny tomato comes from a delicate but rangy plant that has borne up well under the vicious sun and heat indexes of more than 100 degrees F for several weeks now.

The tiny current tomato will join our garden plan for years to come as it's proven itself for us this year.
Edited to add.  These seed came from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.  Their website is www.rareseeds.com.

On becoming a mother

So I've been spending a lot of time awake at night, which is a bit unusual for me.

And I'll admit that a lot of that time is spent trying to refocus from the things that worry me, to regroup in the deep abiding trust that makes it easy to sleep deeply and soundly.

But last night, as I lay there and thought, I thought about the fact that today marks the day that, twenty six years ago, I became a mother.  We, as a couple, became parents.

While there are lots of moments that define a couple and a person, becoming a mother singularly meant more to me than any other of my life.

No long exclamations about the daughter who brought this to my life... simply to say that having her in my life was then and what still today makes the sun shine on each new day for me.  To hear her voice, to put my arms around her reminds me that my life is blessed beyond compare.

What I remember about that day were a couple of things...

The morning of her birth I picked green beans.  Truly, hugely pregnant, I did the squat and pick, heave my heavy belly up and squat and pick and repeat so forth on down the long rows of beans.  That morning, like today, was blistering hot.   So, the very last thing that we did together, as a pair, before her birth, was garden.

And then, I remember her eyes... at birth, even while still attached to her umbilical cord, she was perfectly silent, but her eyes were so huge and so expressive.  At the moment of birth, she looked so very deeply at her father and then at me, as if to say "I'm here to change your life"...

and so she did.

An hour...

This morning, I found an hour...

What happened was this... instead of my normal 5 am wakeup cold dog nose to my sleeping hand, Stormy slept until 6.

And when I did awake to her smiling face, doggy breath, I realized that for the first night in a while, I'd slept soundly and peacefully... awake and fresh for the morning.

So, instead of going back to bed and passing out until 7 something, when I'd need to rush to get the animals cared for before leaving for work...

... I found an hour.

An hour... for a brief, day brightening devotion...

... for a egg, fried in olive oil and a sliced tomato on a piece of toast...

...kitten snuggling, chicken feeding, garden plundering...

...bird watching, dog romping, porch sitting...

The extra hour gave me time to breathe, to choose to take a moment

to think.

I realize that I've been complaining about the heat... and the 'busy - ness',,,
and not looking near enough for the beauty in it all.

Oh, my... so good.

One flour tortilla...

One peach, diced...

...sprinkled with a little sugar...

...maybe cinnamon, if you like.

Fold the tortilla in half, chock full of peaches.

One teaspoon of butter in a little black iron skillet.

Flip it a couple of times, till it browns...

A peach sort of quesadilla, but without the cheese.

Updates and such...

No... we have not fallen off the face of the earth!

We've been adjusting to:

having TWO boys rambling around the place, again....

and a return, albeit temporarily, to work at the State Park...

...and a garden growing beautifully.

... a kitchen full of fruits and veggies...

...excessive heat...

... emergency eldercare... my mother in law broke her hip and needed a partial hip implant...

The days have been too short to get it all done.

Though there have been greater than average challenges this month,  Tommy and I have managed to escape  not once, but twice on lovely, day-long 'dates' that left us refreshed and sneaking in at midnight giggling like teenagers.  I'd forgotten the simple pleasure of spending time away from the cares of the day to day things in helping to counterbalance the 'heavier' things in life.

I promise that I'll catch you up on things...

promise!

The recipe for the best batter.

Right now, I'll go ahead and tell you that I KNOW that this is not the healthiest recipe that I'll ever share.

And it ranks right up there with strange things that work out very well....  recipes that you look at and say "what?!!!".

You know how sometimes you need a batter for things that you want to fry?

Like those first tender, sweet squash, or stuffed squash blossoms, or green tomatoes or okra or onion rings...
 I could go on.

This recipe makes onion rings that I promise you, are unrivaled.

And it doesn't require any special tricks or equipment.

It does require that you do NOT taste one as you're cooking,,, unless you're home alone and you expect to eat dinner while standing at the stove.  They're addictive and quite, quite yummy.  If that IS the plan for dinner, then go ahead... knock yourself out... you have my permission.

When I make onion rings, as I did this evening, I peel and slice up a couple of large white onions. Separate them into rings. Get some oil screaming hot!   Toss the onions into the batter. Use a fork to grab one and toss it into the oil.  Very quickly, it should sizzle and 'float' to the top.  Flip it once and let it turn a nice golden brown, then take it out to drain on a paper towel.

I don't have a deep fryer... I simply put a cup and a half or so of cooking oil into a saucepan.  I don't fry food often enough to use a deep fryer, and when I did have one, it required an awful lot of oil, that I had to store and reuse, and it made such a mess.  Better a saucepan and an occasional 'frying' event.

On to the recipe:

Batter for Frying

3/4 cup of plain flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt  (depending on what's being fried, I might make this 1/2 teaspoon of salt)
2 Tablespoons of corn starch
3/4 cup of water

Whisk all ingredients together.  Will make a very watery batter.  So watery and thin, in fact, it will not look like it's going to work,,, but go ahead and do it anyway... you'll see!  Dip your veggies, which have previously been prepared, into the batter, let the excess drip off and put it in the hot oil.  It should pop up off the bottom and start to float pretty quickly.  Turn the battered veggie and let it cook until it's a beautiful golden brown.

Drain on paper towels.    Try HARD not to eat one... really hard... and try to keep the boys/girls/spouses from starting in on the goodies before you get them on the table, because otherwise, you're gonna need to go cut up some more veggies and mix up some more batter....

... ask me how I know.

Graduation

So, the youngest one graduated from high school....  and except for the moment when his sister mentioned that this was the first time in 12 years that there wasn't one of my children playing "Pomp and Circumstance" in the band ensemble, I kept my chin up.

Luckily, there was a malfunction of the equipment that would have played the DVD of photos of all the graduates set to the sort of music that makes mothers dissolve into helpless puddles all over the gym.
So, I escaped  having to snort and sniffle my way through the last hour or so of the ceremony.

I've been a mom for a long, long time...25 years, to be exact, and I'll tell you, nothing feels quite as right as
realizing that the kids are going to be ok in life, regardless. Ten years ago, I was critically ill and there were days that it did not seem that I might see this day.  For this day, I am grateful.

Solid education, multiples of diplomas and degrees  represents several things.  It does represent the fact that their father and I have consistently demanded a high standard of achievement.  As a parent, I do believe that you have to require their best.  But more than anything, it represents kids who have been sturdy and capable in doing what was required of them, by their parents and their teachers, professors and mentors consistently and constantly for years.  It represent their understanding that hard work, day in and day out, pays off.  It represents that from the oldest to the youngest was a steady stream of excellent examples and support of each other... they've been each other's best cheerleaders.  It represents that they have been blessed with bright minds and healthy bodies and solid character to do the job at hand.

It represents a beginning...the taking in hand of all that they've learned and setting forth on life's journey, better prepared and ready and willing to work hard and undertake the tasks that they'll come up against in life.

For these young adults,,, my children,,, I have prayed every day, every single morning and night of their time on the planet, for their lives to be as God would plan.  I have prayed that their educational road will serve them in the lives that they are meant to lead.  I expect them to use their knowledge and their skills to the best of their abilities and I pray for them to have family and friends who love them and support them on their journeys, not just on the happy days, but when the days are long and hard and when the struggles come, as they certainly do. I pray that they always have each other to stand beside, shoulder to shoulder, arms around each other, love and support that only siblings can know.  I hope and pray that their closeness as siblings, continues through their lives of work and busy-ness.

I pray that their world of work and their spiritual journey are not far from each other, so that they may serve God and mankind as they were made to do.

I pray that I live to see their lives unfold and that they know how much their mother loves them every single day of the rest of their lives.