Mish Mash Wednesday

Hello, hello, hello!  Can you hear it in my voice?  I am feeling SO much better!  Almost 100%.  I still can't hear very well, but I am feeling human again!!!  I even got to go have breakfast with my girlfriend Jae this morning after dropping off Hannah and Noah to Vacation Bible School.  ( Our little Clairey is a bit under the weather still, so I took Hannah for Gennifer and Jake today)  Jae is doing better.  She has been to the doctor and is undergoing a battery of tests.  We had a great time this morning catching up.
So.....the end of June has had me spending lots of time in the garden.  Especially these past few days. Everything is growing like gangbusters, and I am planning our meals around what is harvested on that particular day.  One night this week, I had a good variety of veggies and herbs, so I decided to make a rustic pizza.  This was an experiment, because I wanted to see if I could cook it on my stove top using my heavy cast iron Lodge grill pan.  First I grilled up the veggies.  Meanwhile I rolled out the dough to a rustic sort of squarish shape for the pan.  I made some homemade pesto sauce to top the dough.  I didn't have any pine nuts on hand, so in place of those, I used sunflower seeds.  I have used walnuts too, and this is wonderful as well.  But let me tell you, the sunflower seeds were an excellent substitute!!!  . 

I have been asked how I make my pesto, and I intend to do a tute soon.  However, on this night, I was trying to whip this together really fast, so I didn't take the time to take pictures.  But simply put, I used a very large bunch of fresh basil from the garden.  A few cloves of freshly minced garlic,and then about a cup or so of sunflower seeds.  Place all in Cuisinart, hit blend, and into the top, pour a steady slow stream of olive oil in until desired consistency is reached.  Season to taste.  It is that simple.  I also love to make cilantro pesto the same way, just substitute cilantro for the basil, and use desired nuts.  I would recommend pine, or walnut, and now sunflower too.
I topped with some fresh cheese and a variety of veggies, including the slightly grilled squash.

The top puffed up and cooked nicely.  But then the house filled with smoke, and everyone came butting their noses into what I was doing!!!!!  I opened up all the windows.  Turned on the exhaust fan on the hood of the stove, and kept on cooking!  I did lower the temp a bit, and realize that I started it out too high.  But it was delicious, with the exception of the center pieces that burned on the bottom.  Next time, I will lower the temp a bit, and keep it at a medium high.

I cut it into squares, and we ate it up.  I had cut my first big handful of fresh arugula to heap on top after it was cooked, and then forgot all about it!!!

Those were also my first green onions from the garden.  My cherry tomatoes are amazing!!!!!
Last night, I had been craving a nice steak.  So off to Sprouts I went, and bought three rib eyes.  They looked so good.  I also bought some fresh bleu cheese to top them with.  And picked my first string beans to cook.  As well as a large batch of fresh spinach, and cucumbers, strawberries and tender peas.

Geeps grilled up the steaks, and topped them with Bleu Cheese, and I steamed the green beans and made the spinach salad.  We ate out back just as the sun was going down.  It was so nice.

Truth be told, we were a little bit disappointed  in our steaks.  They were cooked to perfection, but they just weren't as good as the meat I usually buy at Sprouts.  I prefer a bone in steak too.  They are much more flavorful.  These were boneless.  They were good, but not the best!  Darn.  But the salad and green beans...oh my!!!!!!  The only thing in the salad that I didn't grow was the handful of blueberries I tossed in.
It's Wednesday, and I don't cook on Wednesday because my husband plays on a mens softball team on Wednesday nights, and doesn't eat before games.  I might be cereal for me.  Or just some snacking in the garden.
My chickens have been producing some pretty large eggs!  And one of them, Chickas, which is Hannah's chicken, has been producing monstrous sized eggs!!  It is incredible!!!  To show you, I lined up the 5 eggs that I collected today, with Chickas' on the far right.

The other four chickens lay what I would call a large egg.  But Chickas lays a super duper, extry large egg!!!!!!  Plus, hers always have little calcium bumps on the shell.
Here are two together, both of my green egg layers.

Today after Jae and I had breakfast, I popped into my favorite Goodwill store, and did a little poking around.  I rescued an absolutely gorgeous hand crochet blanket.  It is so soft.  Full of texture, and perfect colors!  Someone put a lot of love into that piece.  I had to rescue it!!!  I brought it home, and gave it a good wash in the machine, and dried it.  It came out fluffy and Downey fresh!  I am in love!!!

 It is stunning!!!  I love this!!!!

The workmanship.  The choice of yarn.  The pattern.  Just yummy!!!!!  It is a bricky or barn red and cream. Perfect for my house.

And, it is huge!  A two person snuggler!!!    It was priced at 5.99.  BUT, it was half price!!!!!  Can you beat that with a stick?
Heading over to take Noah to swim with Christopher next door while Jane and I nosh on an edible fruit arrangement that she just got.
Toodles.
XO  Kris