Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Let The Summer Begin

Memorial Day weekend is the official kick off to summer.   Nothing says summer like playing in the water, bbq's and home made ice cream.  We did all of that this weekend.  Poor Greggers just watched.  He is better, I am happy to report. But I am afraid he has a long way to go. 

I made home made vanilla ice cream, and mint n chip, and lemon sorbet.  Then with Hannah yesterday we made snow cones.  What fun!
Oh my gosh, was it ever good.  And I am not even a fan of ice cream.  But home made ice cream reminds me of our old hand crank ice cream maker that Dad used.  Us kids took turns sitting on the top while he cranked it!  I wish my Mom still had that old machine.  It sure is easier to make these days.  No salt needed!  We enjoyed our ice cream with Genny and Jake and the girls, sitting out on the patio after a delicious lunch of In N Out (thank you Jake!).  I had a bunch of fresh berries so we had those on top of our ice cream and it was so good.  Then we watched the girls play in buckets of water.  They had a ball!!
Hannie wanted to go in the pool sooo bad!!!  Later I took them into the spa.  She did NOT want to go home.  (Sorry Gen!)
That little Claire is something else!  She is just fearless!!
She walked around like this forever.  One croc on, one off. 
I love summer!
This is Hannah's face after Geeps told her she can't go in the pool because it is too cold.  One more week of warm weather and the pool will be ready.  I was actually in it at 7:00 p.m. to clean all of the darn little flower seeds that our next door neighbors tree drops!!!   It was chilly, but refreshing!
I am loving my Pioneer Woman cookbook.  Made the corn salsa, or corn salad I believe it is called in the cookbook.  Oh so good.  You grill all the veggies for it, all except the tomatoes, then toss it with a dressing of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper to taste.  Amazingly good!!!!
I used my grill pan to do them all indoors. But it can get a bit messy to do this in the house. 
Greg took this of me.  My son Drew said he liked it because it shows me actually doing the demo.  So I put it in.
Oh, I forgot to mention the basil. There is fresh basil in the dressing too.  Just roll your basil leaves into a tight "cigar" and then take your knife and cut tiny strips of confetti or chiffonade, as it is called.  I used two big handfuls of fresh basil leaves.  I love the taste of fresh basil.  Luckily I grow it in my garden, because I use it in a lot!!
And here is the finished corn salsa.
It makes a bunch.  We had it over chicken tenders the first night.  With corn chips the next day as a snack. And then over tri tip that evening for dinner!  Oh, and there was enough left over for Greg to have with his dinner he made last night.  Fresh lime cilantro shrimp, mixed with corn salsa, served over tortilla chips.  I wish I had taken a picture.  He was very proud of his dish!  But I was out working in the yard.  No camera handy.
So that was our kickoff to summer weekend.    What did you do?

11 comments:

Pam said...

The corn salsa looks fantastic - I am sure it would be delicious topped on chicken or pork too. Homemade ice cream is the best... extra creamy and delicious.

We camped all weekend long and now I need to go get the laundry done - fun.

NanaNor's said...

Hi there Kris, Firstly loved seeing the grands-they are so adorable! Little Claire reminds me of our little Miss Bott(nick name from her dad)because she is the wild crazy child at 18 mos...you talk fearless!
I got jealous looking at your ice-cream as I'm on a dairy/soy/sugar free diet for the next few months. Sure looked good. But I think I'll have to check out Pioneer womans blog for the recipe for corn salsa or get the cookbook-your salsa looks soo good.
Have a wonderful week-praying hubby is getting back to normal.
Hugs, Noreen

Mama Goose said...

That looks fantastic, and I love that they snapped a pic of you in action! The icecream looked delicious too, my Grandma has an old icecream maker that she used to make peach icecream with and it was always so much fun. I've always wanted an icecream maker, have any of that mint chip left??? ;)

Oh yeah and I know all about those kids not wanting to leave the Grandparent's house. We can't seem to leave my Mom's without tears!!

Maryrose said...

Oh looks fun. Love the grilled veggies...can you do that on the grill too? Did you grow that corn?I have one of those ice cream makers...thanks for the inspiration, I think I will pull it out and do a bit of sorbet.

Kids look like they are having fun, nice to see water sports are just around the corner.

Loved seeing you and Greg...hope he is feeling better. Happy beginning of summer...let the games begin (maybe some v-ball on the sport court????)

Kris said...

Maryrose, I didn't plan corn this year. Just using two raised beds, and some containers for gardening. I think I will plant some though as soon as I harvest my zukes in one box. Would love to play volleyball on sport court, but poor Greg can't move!!!

Genn said...

The girls sure did have fun yesterday. What a workout trying to get Hannah home though. I was exhausted.

The corn salad was so good. I can't wait to make it again.

Katie said...

Homemade Ice Cream, YUMMMMMMMM...I just ate a bunch of skinny cow fudge pops b/c I was craving ice cream so badly! Your beginnings of summer fun, certainly does look fun!
It RAINED here ALL Weekend and will continue to rain ALL Week, like it does ALL year here! ;( I'm ready to jump on a plane and come enjoy some sunshine!!!

I'm going to have to make that corn salad from the cookbook, looks great!

Debbie said...

I SOO love homemade ice cream. It reminds me so of summer and the 4th of July. We too made it every year with salt and the old crank method. I can remember sitting on it too all sunburned and hardly able to wait until it was done. The corn salsa looks great, and I love grilled veggies. Jeff cooked some up yesterday too. Glad the hubby is doing a little better at least. Hopefully he improves rapidly and gets back to his normal self soon. What an ordeal for him. Yep, looking forward to summer too. I know it is hard for the grandkids to understand just how cold the water still is. Won't be long though now. Before you know it they'll be splashing around. Have a good week Kris...

Diane said...

My mouth is literally watering. All of your food looks wonderful! I LOVE the demo pics of your prep work. I, too, am soo glad that summer is almost here. I have got to get that Pioneer Woman Cookbook!

Cathy~Mille Fleur said...

Wow...now I am starving! What a wonderful post...full of yuumy food and gorgeous pics!

We haven't made homemade ice cream in years...you have inspired me!

Enjoy!
Cathy

Amy said...

Your ice cream maker is making me want to get one. I saw one at Macy's today. You and Genn are both inspiring me to get the PW cookbook! Your food always looks good though :)