fresh from the market

"Fresh from the market"-really what does this really mean? I wonder this especially when I'm looking in the produce section of the grocery store. I am so glad now that I will be saying these words with confidence since the farmer's market is here. I love going to the farmers market seeing all the produce, flowers, homemade breads, pastries, spring rolls, kettle popcorn, crafts and just other plain goodness. This week at the market I purchased some herb seedlings, honey, radishes, cherry tomatoes, romaine lettuce, kettle popcorn (of course that was the kids request) and some asparagus. Asparagus is so lovely isn't it? I love it blanched so that it still has some crunch. For part of tonight's dinner I made asparagus salad. All the veggies went well together-a nice spring/summer salad.



recipe:
*two bunches of fresh asparagus
*4-6 small radishes quartered or sliced
*one cucumber sliced or course chopped
*cherry tomatoes quartered (as many as you like)
*two cloves of garlic minced
*feta cheese
*olive oil
*basalmic vinegar
*salt and pepper to taste

directions:
cut apsargus crosswise (I cut the asparagus four times crosswise,then discarded the tough ends) blanch in boiling water for two minutes only, drain. Dump asparagus into cold, cold water to stop cooking-then drain again. In bowl combine all veggies and garlic. Combine quarter cup of vinegar with quarter cup of olive oil. Pour dressing over salad, then add feta cheese (about half a cup or more if you like, I love feta cheese-its one of our fridge staples). Add salt and pepper to taste and mix salad.

We enjoyed this salad tonight, and I'll be making again real soon-just as soon as I get myself back to the market (and before asparagus season ends).

going West

We went on a little trip to Oregon last weekend. This was my first time to the Pacific Northwest. Now, I have heard alot about the rain that this area of the country receives, but really the green beauty of the trees and the lovely scenery made an impression on me, which to me speaks of the greatness of God.
The vastness of His creation always amazes me.

have a good weekend~

more flower love-full force

more flowers, I know.

Enjoy your weekend~

changing over

As I was going through the laundry today I starting putting the turtlenecks, long sleeves, and other cold weather clothing away (in the midwest spring has a way of coming and going-I'm now pretty convinced that it is here to stay). So the seasonal wardrobe change over is happening here. I don't usually tackle it all in one day-just putting out more spring/summer clothes as I come across them, donating the ones that are too small to the Goodwill and so on. What really gets to me about this whole process is when I see how much the girls have grown. Things that could fit last year are now too small. Which is the way it should be, but its still bittersweet. My oldest daughter is nine, and in nine more years she will be eighteen-EIGHTEEN! I have mothered her for nine years already and those years have been delightful, hard, joyous, frustrating, and most definitely character building (my character that is). So when I start the clothes change over I'm looking both back and forward-and it makes me feel so very grateful but also old!
Okay enough of this (I get a little sentimental at times). Let talk about sewing, yes more sewing. Last week I got a thrifted chair and made a little something for it

those crazy prints make it more comfy I think


and since its getting warmer we have this big pile of blankets in the corner- I need to put some of these away.
Happy Wednesday!

flower love

yellow snapdragons


tiny red verbena

I had to do a little grocery shopping this morning, and I also did a little flower shopping as well. The little greenhouse set-up in the parking lot of the grocery store was just calling my name-I needed to look at the flowers. So if I needed to look at them-you know I just had to buy some-such a simple pleasure.

lazy Sunday

eating scones

making scones


wondering if we should buy some more herbs transplants


washing strawberries for breakfast

Sundays are usually a relaxing day for us, just lazin' around the house-no real plans (our church services are on Saturday as with most of our church activities). Since I'm a homebody at heart I love these type of Sundays. It prepares me for the busyness of the rest of the week.
Hope you find some time to putter around and nap today-believe me its good for you.

planting and more simple sewing

It finally got warm enough to set out my large tomato transplant (this one is not from our seed starts, I bought this one). I don't think we should be having any threat of frost at night now, after all its May right?


These small seedlings are just getting some fresh air (just a little hardening off). I'll bring these inside for the night-I want them to grow out a little more before sending them out into the the real world full time.


And more simple sewing-a pillowcase bag! This idea was from the June 2007 issue of Martha Stewart magazine. Basically cut the pillowcase on the diagonal, hem the raw edges-sew the middle hems of the bag together, hem the bottom bag and voila', there you have a new bag. This is such a great summer bag, I could see using this bag at the farmer's market to carry lots of fruit and veggies.



The link for the bag is:

http://www.marthastewart.com/good-things/sleeper-of-a-bag
Don't you think you should make one?