Savoring Summer

Summer is still here, even if school has started!  I wrote this post about summer on July 25, 2011, but forgot to post!    

Swinging back and forth in the hammock, I soaked in summer.  Just after 8pm, I picked the garden.  As the summer garden ages, plant yields change.  I gathered a basket full of tomatoes, a few cucumbers, okra, a couple of squash, and banana peppers. 

I LOVE picking the garden!  Ben plants it; I reap what he sowed! 

After picking, I wasn’t quite ready to go inside.  I wanted to stay outside, linger just a little longer.  With eyes closed, I heard sounds of summer.  Crickets chirped, singing in harmony as night fell.  Mosquitoes trilled in my ears.  From across the yard, the hammer beat, beat, beat and the saw occasionally buzzed as Ben and Benjamin worked to finish the chicken coop.  They listened to the radio; occasionally, a familiar line or two from a country song drifted my way.  Georgia-Lee chatted and played dolls, pretending and making her Loving Family come to life with the unused boards and other building materials near the coop.  It had been a good day, starting with Sunday school and church, followed by lunch.  Early afternoon consisted of visiting grandma and cousins and later repotting plants.  A summer dinner of fish tacos and fresh homemade salsa while the sun went down allowed us time to go back outside.  Since the sun dipped below the horizon, temperatures were comfortable, even if the Alabama humidity was not.  Wanting to remember the contented feeling I felt, I savored summer for a few stolen moments in our hammock hidden in the trees.

Fresh Summer Salsa

1 c chopped Vidalia onion

3 c chopped fresh tomatoes, peeled

1 c chopped green bell peppers

1 clove garlic, minced

1 t salt

½ t black pepper

1/3 c chopped cilantro

1 or 2 jalapeno peppers, minced

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.  Stir to blend.  Keep refrigerated. 

This recipe comes from the 1993 Cooking on the Plains cookbook by my sorority at Auburn University, Kappa Alpha Theta.  We served fresh summer salsa over fish tacos – yum!

Too funny not to share!  Meet Squishy Squash (right), Cutie Cucumber (back left), and Gordy.