Goldenrain Tree

I stumbled across these gorgeous pods while on a walk a couple of days ago. I literally stepped on them--they pop like bubble-wrap! I'd never seen this kind of tree before, so I brought home some of the pods to investigate. They're light and papery thin.

I did some online sleuthing and found that they're from the Goldenrain Tree. They turn orange and pink in autumn, so I'll have to visit the tree again then. Wikipedia says that the seeds are edible and can be roasted. Interesting.

Hungry?

CSA Day

What a cheery CSA box we got this week! It was filled with zephyr bi-color squash, a Middle Eastern squash (could be koosa, but I don't remember), golden and green zucchini, arrowhead cabbage, fennel, basil, pickling cucumbers, white cucumbers, purple carrots, cippolini onions, and orange carrots.

Here's a better view of the young arrowhead cabbages. I think they're so adorable with their pointy little tops. I've only seen round cabbages before, so I was quite surprised to see these.







A close up of the white cucumbers. I'm excited to try these and see how the taste compares to green cucumbers.





And lastly, here's another look at the purple carrots, which are gorgeous. They have such a beautiful color. Can you see that crazy one on the left? It has 3 different ends!


Our farmers' market has recipe for roasted cippolini onions. I'd like to try it, but we only got a few onions this week. So, maybe another time.

Another recipe I ran across lately is a Lemon Cucumber Tofu Salad from 101 Cookbooks. It sounds fresh, light, and cool, which is just perfect for summer. I think it would be good with a mix of the white and pickling cucumbers that we got this week. I'm pretty sure we actually got one lemon cucumber in the box as well, though our farmer didn't mention it. It's that big one on the left in the cucumber photo.

As always, our CSA is through Finger Picking Farms.* Hope you're eating well this week!

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*I think it's actually named Finger Pickin' Farms, but I keep writing "Finger Picking Farms" because that's what it's listed as on Local Harvest.

In progress: Magazine Rack

K in the workshop

As I mentioned in a post before, we went to Maysville over the weekend so that K could get some woodworking lessons from his dad. The project he picked out to work on was a magazine rack. K's a practical guy, and let me tell you, we have a LOT of magazines cluttering up our house. Our insane magazine collection stems from my inability to throw things away. Yes, I know, magazines can easily be recycled, but there are lots of magazines (like The New Yorker) with essays and articles that I'd like to reread, and even more magazines that would make excellent craft fodder. So, K wanted to make something to catch all of these periodicals.

He's still got to sand and varnish this piece, but I think it looks beautiful. He made it out of maple and is just going to put clear varnish on it because he likes the light color.

It folds up nice and neatly for easy storage and portability.

Excellent work and craftsmanship, K! I can't wait to see what he makes next.

It's a jungle out there

A little garden update:

Unruly garden

Teeny tiny watermelon

Jalapenos

Whoa, Black Krim tomatoes

Abraham Lincoln tomatoes

Things are wild and plentiful. July should be positively filled with ripe tomatoes.

I have no experience with watermelon, so I don't know how many we'll get. As you can see in the top photo, they've managed to escape the garden.

Maysville

Driving, near Lexington, Kentucky

Bourbon Drive-In, Paris, Kentucky

This past weekend we headed off to K's hometown, Maysville, Kentucky. We went to visit his parents so that K could get some woodworking lessons. K's dad is a proficient woodworker (as in, he's made just about everything wooden in their house--cabinets, deck, beds, stair rails, entertainment centers, shelves, and more). K's really lucky to have him as a teacher.

While K and his dad spent the weekend in the woodshop, his mom and I hit up the antiques districts--downtown and Old Washington. I've been enamored with downtown Maysville since I first visited when I was still in high school, and Old Washington boasts a road full of antique shops. It's very cute and old-fashioned.

Here are some of my favorite shots of the day, all of downtown:

Row houses on Market Street

Washington Opera House

Pretty building

Balconies

Lace window at the Moon River Bed & Breakfast

Yellow and blue details

Maysville Recreation Center

Moose

I was thrilled to discover some amazing watercolors at the Market Street Bookstore, which were painted by Barb Clarke of Maysville. She does gorgeous still lifes of flowers and wonderful scenes from around town. My favorite is the one she did of the row houses on Market Street (the photo I took of the same houses is above). Check out Barb's website for more information or if you happen to be in Maysville, stop by the bookstore to purchase an original or a print of her work.

We also stopped by the farmers' market. There were only 2 farms still selling, as it was late in the day, but they had plenty for us to buy. K's mom bought tons of vegetables, which we ate for dinner Saturday night. We had green beans, cabbage, green tomatoes, yellow squash, green onions, cucumbers, candy onions, and broccoli. Such a great dinner! (Thanks, Phyllis!) I bought some flowers and a jar of strawberry jam from an Amish farmer at the market. I can't wait to try the jam!

I hope you had a delightful weekend and be sure to enjoy the week ahead. The weather has cooled off a bit here, so I'm excited.

In Progress: Thank you notes and envelopes

Just a quick note to say the thank you notes are coming along, folks.

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Stamps are from Hobby Lobby--on sale. Score!

Fonts are from dafont.com, a great place for free fonts. I'm using traveling typewriter, trocadero, and home sweet home. Eclectic, I know.

Envelopes are made from the Free People catalog. This is one of the prettiest catalogs I've ever seen. I hoard them and use them in my craft projects.

Keeping My Cool

The Kentucky summer keeps trying to beat me. It brings the 90 degree weather and the super-humidity and thinks it will knock me down. The summer seems to know how to withhold its breezes, how to storm early in the morning and stop, so that by midday the ground is steaming. However, I've got some tricks up my sleeve (though I'm definitely not wearing any sleeves), and I'm determined to stay cool no matter what summer throws at me.

K and I are on year three of no air conditioning. The first two years we lived in Japan and now we're dealing with this summer in Kentucky business. We lived in Yamagata, Japan, where the weather is surprisingly similar to the Ohio River Valley. It's hot and muggy, though I think Kentucky is ever-so-slightly more humid. It was in Yamagata that we first started taking ice cold showers and freezing wet washcloths to use as ice packs. We each had our own fan and didn't often move from in front of them.

I've learned some new strategies this summer for keeping cool. My favorite drink for staying hydrated is ice water, but it becomes a special treat when you add some herbs. I just put a few leaves of fresh mint or lemon balm in the bottom of a glass, add a few ice cubes, and give it a good shake. I love how the glass gets all frosty and the scent of herbs wafts through the air. I fill the glass with water and drink for instant refreshment. Throughout the day, I just add more ice and water. The mint or lemon taste stays pretty strong.

Another way I've been surviving the heat is by eating cool, cool foods. Cold, glistening plums, for example. Not only are they sweet and chilled, they're also pretty. I love the dusty dark purple skin and the golden orange flesh. It's a great mid-afternoon treat.

I've also been making ice cream and sorbets as fast as I can. This sunshine yellow pineapple sorbet definitely cooled me down. It's another simple sorbet recipe. It's actually just pineapple, sugar, and water. What a perfect summer recipe!

The recipe comes from The Perfect Scoop. Here's my brief synopsis: Blend together 1 pineapple (peeled and cut into small pieces), 1 cup of sugar, and 1 cup of water.* Chill this mixture in the fridge for about an hour, then put it in your ice cream maker. Done!

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*This is actually the doubled version of the recipe.