Memorial Weekend

Memorial Weekend is coming up. What are you going to do? Same 'ol, same 'ol?

Why not do something different this year. If you always go to the beach, then go to the mountains instead. If you always stay home and cook out, then go somewhere out of town and eat at a restaurant. If you're waiting for a family member to figure out a plan, you figure one out instead and go for it.

If you haven't figured it out yet . . . let me clue you in . . . life is short. Don't make it boring.

But on the other hand, I have to admit that boring is better than an accident and you find yourself hooked up to IV's and who-knows-what-else in the hospital. That's what my mother and I said one day when I was helping her after she had a heart attack which led to a triple by-pass. We thought about the days in the past that we thought were boring and thanked God for every single one!!!

We thanked God for being able to wake up in the morning with our chests uncracked and our hearts un-by-passed. We thanked Him for the time flying by slowly so we could enjoy every crawling moment. We thanked Him for home-cooked meals and not hospital cafeteria food, being able to breathe fresh air, being able to walk down a hall all by ourselves without an IV pole following us like a dog on a leash!

So even if you don't stir things up this Memorial Weekend and do something different, just enjoy doing what you normally do. Go ahead and lounge in your big chair in front of the TV with a sweet tea watching the cooking channel while someone else grills out on the deck. Enjoy the aroma of the hamburgers and hot dogs as they near their medium-rare goodness before they land on your plate next to your potato salad. Smile while you watch your children or grandchildren play with each other even if they do yell, “Mom . . .  Bobby's breathing on me! Tell him to stop!!”

Whatever you do this upcoming holiday weekend have fun and thank God for those who made it possible for you.

© nancy 5.23.2010

SUMMER GARDENS

Have you planted your summer crop yet? No?!

You think they wouldn't look great between your Black Eyed Susans and your Knock Out Roses?

Think again.

Everyone's doing it! It's the summer of “grow your own” produce. I saw baby plants lined up outside the grocery store this year just waiting to be adopted, tons more veggie plants stacked on racks at Lowe's all dressed up in pots ready to go somewhere in your yard, and a newly constructed square foot garden at my nearby church.

So get on the dirty bandwagon and catch the rake and hoe bug. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised when your healthy, yellow squash plant takes over your dying zinnias and produces beautiful flowers which drop off leaving tiny buds of yellow which will grow into a delight for your tummy. If you have a spot of earth that is barren, then go right now to your neighborhood plant store or Wal-Mart where you will find all kinds of delicious things to plant and eat later when the summer is hot. Wouldn't a ripened tomato plucked straight off the vine after soaking in the hot sun's rays all day long taste really good to you after you come home from work? You could put it in between that hamburger bun to saddle up next to the patty you grilled, and the juices could mingle to drip down your chin onto that white T-shirt you just put on. Or maybe you would like to pair it with a cucumber and a zuchinni that you also grew from a tiny plant. A little poppy seed dressing would taste great sprinkled over the salad along with a couple of strawberries and blueberries you may have to buy in the organic section of your grocery store.

Heck, last year I grew my own watermelon, and I wanted to grow my own pumpkins for Halloween but somewhere along the line I forgot to buy the little seed packet. Oh well, it's not too late for me to plant one or two so that they'll be ready for me to carve the word “Boo!” into them this October. I also grew eggplant which I have to tell you is the prettiest vegetable in the garden. It shines like it's been polished to within an inch of its purple life. It's truly gorgeous . . . a photographer's dream. Can you call an eggplant “sexy”? I took the picture above of mine.

At any rate . . .  here's a trick that I learned from my older sister. Plant some sweet basil next to your tomato plants so that when you go outside to pick one for your sandwich you can also snip off a few basil leaves and lay them out over your mayonnaise under the tomatoes. Talking about good!! Yum !!! My Dad likes to put basil leaves in his mayo jar and let it mingle in the fridg. Not a bad idea. A friend of mine incorporated it into his life and names it basilnaise.

And if you've never grown okra it's a treat to watch. It gets really tall and the okra grow vertically on the stalk. The leaves are big and the flowers that come out first aren't bad either. Last summer I would pick a tomato, some okra, and an eggplant and sautee them in a bit of olive oil. They all comingled in their combined juices and the tomato acidity broke down the eggplant and made it all sweet and the okra held them all together like a group hug. It can take less than fifteen minutes to have a dish that will melt in your mouth! It's your turn to try it!!

So get outside your garden box and plant some veggies this summer. Who knows . . .  you might be the next best thing in your neighborhood since Santa Claus when you come bearing fresh gifts from your garden to their plates!

© nancy 5.16.2010