Back on track - sort of

I can't believe it's been 2 weeks since I wrote - time flies when you're trying to put things back together after a computer crash.

Once the computer was home, with it's new hard drive, I had to begin trying to re-install programs. Unfortunately, that caused me to download too many megabytes, and Hughes Net shut me down completely. If I'd know about their policies, I'd never have signed up, but the salesman "forgot" to mention the limited access.

I still have a few programs to go, but will do it at midnight, during the "free download time" they offer.

Meanwhile, we're looking forward to the garden bringing forth good things for the table. I picked the first few strawberries yesterday, and tonight we had a wonderful salad made from baby lettuce.

I make it a habit to seed too thickly, and then I have to thin the row - which turns out to be a wonderful bonus for our taste buds. Those tiny lettuce plants taste better than any full grown leaves. I buy a packet of mixed seeds, so get plenty of variety in both shape and color.

To keep from overpowering them with salad dressing, we use a simple vinegar and oil - first spray on just a little olive oil - we use the kind you spray on pans before baking - and spritz on some wine vinegar. Then add a little salt, garlic, and oregano. Yum!

Spring planting came so late that I wonder if we'll ever get tomatoes - I just saw the first blossom starting to come today. I sure hope so! Nothing tastes quite so wonderful as a warm tomato just picked from the vine, and with the big scare over commercially grown tomatoes, we won't be buying any of those - even if they tasted good.

Here's to good food,
Marte

Barbecue season at last!

First, sorry for the long absence. Our hard-drive crashed! We had a back-up, which is a laptop, but typing on it is a chore. I think I averaged about two typos per word.

Summer seems to have finally arrived in North Idaho - sunshine for 3 days now! So Carl has taken some of his cooking outdoors to the Barbecue. Why is it that even though we have a gas grill (no charcoal aroma) steak and burgers smell better when cooked on the barbecue?

Meanwhile, he's also gotten hooked on frozen veggies cooked in the basket in the top of the rice steamer. Just turn it on and set the timer for 15 minutes - no worries about getting things overdone, and the nutrients stay in the veggies. It works for fresh things too - he used it for asparagus and it turned out perfect.

Hope you have sunshine, too!