Years ago when I subscribed to an organic vegetable delivery, I learned that it was interesting and fun to plan my meals around the week’s delivery. I’m doing the same this summer and it has resulted again in discovering new ways to use the garden bounty. It is actually easier now with the plethora of food and cooking blogs.

I am not a fan of what odd ingredients can we mix in this week…BUT, then here I am with some unusual – at least to me – combos this week.

Carrots have been in the garden bag for the past several weeks. First there were a few baby carrots. They have been getting bigger but are still wonderfully sweet and flavorful. I have shared some with neighbors and the rest munched as a snack or added to my pasta salad.

This week, though, I remembered a potluck salad of grated carrots, raisins and ??? I looked at a number of recipes and then made a carrot-dried cranberry-chard-walnut mix with a pineapple ginger creamy vinaigrette dressing. Oh boy… I was glad to see in the garden email this morning that there were carrots again this week because this salad was goooodddd!

I paired it with some Copper River Red Sockeye Salmon and raw – fresh from the garden – peas.

Peas…there were still some peas. Fresh peas – so good and sweet.

My recipe searching turned up several variations of sweet pea pesto. You’d think I would have had enough pesto, considering I’ve turned every green thing from the garden into pesto…but no. I took from several recipes and ended up blitzing the peas, lemon juice, sunflower seeds, sunflower oil, parmesan, salt, pepper and garlic. And then… I used that sweet pea pesto on a pizza…

Sweet pea pesto, leftover salmon, Vidalia sweet onion, mozzarella…AND SWEET CHERRIES!

It was so good, I had 3 of the same this past week although the last 2 did not include salmon. The sweet pea pesto and sweet cherries was the bomb!

And last night, Wednesday, August 1…the first full moon in August night…I finished pitting my twenty pounds of cherries purchased last weekend. Some have been blitzed with basil and sugar into syrup and frozen. Some just frozen. Some used on the pizza and some in my cereal and some eaten as a snack. I hope to make either Cherry Preserves or Cherry Marmalade this weekend. The rest I hope are a wonderful surprise treat through the winter.

This Summer has been going well. It got a bit of a late start which is fine with me. Since then, the heat has been moderate and short-lived…broken up by cool spells. Eating from the garden – the research and planning has helped me enjoy a time that is not my favorite.

This morning was cool and beautiful. Bob and I have been having some time together on the front porch as Bear does not like to be out when the sprinklers are going. He has a thing about spraying water…

So, Mr. Bob and I have our quiet time together while Bear takes a morning nap.

The sun rose through a few clouds into a blue, blue sky.

Smile Bob!! Time to start Thursday… well… I think that is his “sit down and drink your coffee and stop pointing that darn camera at me” expression. So, I did. Happy Thursday!

Lazy, hazy days of Summer??? – the days have turned hot and hazy and that makes me lazy as I just want to sit still and stay cool.

The garden did produce a small bag of veg this week: a bag of stir fry (small bits of greens, carrots, broccoli and carrots), a bag of mixed greens, a gorgeous and huge head of broccoli!! and a bag of fresh, fragrant basil.

The stir fry did not really appeal so I picked out the carrots and froze the rest to be used to make vegetable broth.

The basil became pesto…my first “traditional” pesto from the garden :)!

That broccoli – it was destined for a broccoli salad. The usual and delicious broccoli salad has raisins, onions, bacon and a light slightly creamy dressing. I made two modifications…

Instead of bacon, I used the “cajun” sausage that my folks bring back from Louisiana. Bill reportedly hunted high and low to find a butcher that made a sausage to his liking. This stuff is good: spicy, a little heat, full of flavor. And it stands up to being fried a bit crispy. I sliced it thin, quartered the slices and fried them crispy.

In place of raisins, dried and slightly sweetened cranberries. A light dressing of a little mayonaisse, Vidalia sweet onion, white wine vinegar, sugar and salt…AND a sprinkling of sunflower seeds.

A perfect salad for a side or a meal.

Continuing with summer salads…I typically make a huge bowl of macaroni salad or cabbage slaw and then kind of fizzle out as I get near the end of it. I decided that this year, I would make small bowls of each and have a variety through the week.

My folks had a picnic with friends and a shared macaroni salad with a new to them combination. I am not at liberty to divulge all, but the secret ingredient is pickle juice :)! – I use Tony Packo’s Sweet Hot Skinnies: pickles and peppers. Spring onions AND their tops – from the garden – are in this salad.

The cabbage is organic from California but the carrots in the slaw are from the garden and a poppy seed vinaigrette for dressing.

It is not rocket science…if I have some good things ready to go for a snack or a meal, I eat good things!

On to more good things.

It was 90 the last 2 days and is forecast to hit 97!!! today. That is about 20 degrees higher than what I consider hot enough. When I saw a recipe for homemade peach frozen yogurt without an ice cream maker, I decided that sounded like a thing to try. No ice cream maker needed! I am not a big ice cream fan, although I have toyed with getting a maker and making my own, but am not thrilled about the idea of a “one trick pony” kitchen gadget. I AM a fan of yogurt and this simple recipe of greek yogurt, some extract and fresh fruit sounded perfect. Instead of peaches, I thought, cherries – I have 4 cans of cherries in my cupboard….good Oregon cherries in only their own syrup with no added anything. My plan was cherries, almonds and almond extract with the yogurt.

On my errand run to Bigfork, Friday afternoon…whaddya’ know??? A local cherry stand was open. A local grower with a Washington orchard as well, had the first cherries from Washington. I bought a bag of Rainier’s. Rainier’s are sweet – not quite as sweet as the black cherry varieties, but they are a bit firmer.

So…greek yogurt, almond extract, a bit of protein powder and fresh cherries…frozen. No ice cream maker. Yes!

Pretty simple and what a treat… a sweet treat with no sugar other than what occurs naturally in the fruit and yogurt. And protein and other good for me stuff. The texture is something along the line of ice milk and the taste has the tang of the yogurt. For this not so great fan of ice cream, it is a perfect substitute.

This year, Bear is acclimated to Montana and so has felt the heat more than last year. He chooses to be in the cool house for the afternoon and early evening.

Bob sprawls on the front porch, often right against the house in the coolest spot, but mostly stays outside.

Occasionally, we have a bit of a stalemate…

Happy Monday!