Harvest (aka the reason none of you are hearing from us)

We are up to our ears in (or in expectation of) raspberries, elderberries, peaches, plums, apples, tomatoes, green beans, squash, eggplant, beets, brussel sprouts, peppers, cucumbers, parsnips. carrots, onions, dishes, and jars. It is a sweet season but one that I am eagerly anticipating the end of come October.

I do have a new favorite canning book with delicious recipes for things like peach salsa and chocolate raspberry dessert syrup. It is a wealth of "modern" recipes for traditional preserving methods.

And because I just can't get enough of Addy's precious "isms," I have one to hold you over until after harvest:

The other evening I made a salsa chicken dish that had black beans in it. Addy looked at it and in an intense and hushed voice exclaimed, "Oh mama, you put chocolate in my dinner. That is so kind of you."

Yes, she is my daughter. And any chocolate received is considered a random act of kindness.