CSA - Week 13

Last weekend, my sister took the whole CSA as I was away for the weekend!

But this week, it is all mine!!

Full Share:
8 ears of corn
2 lbs. of zucchini
2 large eggplant
a handful of small eggplants
2 sweet peppers
1 lb. of cucumbers
4 lbs. of tomatoes
1 pint of grape tomatoes
1 lb. broccoli
2 bunches of collards
1 bunch of Swiss chard

Engagement Party

Kathy, my very good friend, and also the mother of my future daughter-in-law, decided to have a very impromptu engagement party for Dom and Sam to celebrate after they got back from Kiowah Island.

For our family, that means 75 or 80 (minimum)people who come and enjoy the festivities.  (we both have huge families) (and there was probably more people than that, because they came and went!).

The party was held at Kathy's brothers house as he has the pool and the yard for it!

Lots of fun!!!

 

Point Pleasant, NJ

The weather cooperated so while we were in NJ, we spent the entire day at Pt. Pleasant - I had never heard of it, but it has a beautiful beach, right on the Atlantic and a small boardwalk and restaurants and bars and tons of families!

It was really a wonderful day spent with my husband's two sisters and their husbands.

 So many people - for miles and miles - it was the last hurrah before school starts!!!

After a huge breakfast at a local restaurant and spending the day on the beach, we found a bath house!  It was our first time using a bath house and it was perfect - showers, outlets, bathrooms and we were able to clean up and go out for a really nice dinner on the water.  The pictures were too dark, so I left them out.

Thank you Inez and Dennis for all your hospitality - what a great weekend!

(and there were palm trees on the beach in NJ - who knew!!??)

Hoboken

Some photos from Hoboken are below.

We saw Carlo's Bakery - the line was 1-1/2 hours long, so we did not wait - but we peeked in - there was no one from the show inside.  Mostly teenagers working behind the counter!  

Then we walked up and down the River Walk there (The Hudson River).  It was beautiful - a perfect day to see the NYC skyline.  We ate lunch at a cafe on the sidewalk and just people watched!  The name of street is Frank Sinatra Drive and since my hubby is such a BIG fan, we got a kick out of seeing everything with Frank's name on it!

 This was a World War II Memorial that was really very nice!

Karaoke

My two sister in laws and my brother in laws serenaded us with karaoke.  Everything from Blurred lines by robin thick to day dream believer by the monkees.  I haven't laughed that much in years!  Carole king and the Partridge family never sounded so good ( or so funny).

Mud Volleyball, Year 2

I have some great pictures and some great stories of our trip to NJ, but my daughter just sent me these photos, so I thought I would post them. 

These photos below are from THIS year's mud volleyball tournament held at her school during the first week.  She did this tournament last year also (see photos from last year in link)!   I think it is crazy, but what do I know!  (she is the one in all black)

On vacation.....

.......in New Jersey.  We went to Carlos Bakery (the Cake Boss), and to Hoboken, NJ.  I now love Hoboken.  

I will post pictures when I get back.

Tomorrow is Point Pleasant and the Jersey Shore.

Engagement!

My son and his girlfriend of about 10 years, just got engaged!! 

We are all very excited!

He proposed while they were on vacation and he had a photographer capture the moment. 

Go to this site Magnolia Gardens in Charleston SC and then their facebook page and scroll down.  To the photographer, Herb Frazier and all the others who made it happen.....Thank you all!! 

Canning and Other stuff

This has been a busy week with work and canning and trying to clean my house (important word to remember here is that I did try to clean it!).

My sister had a source for crab apples - something I had never tried!  The recipe made two pints of crab apple jelly.  It was supposed to come out red and clear.  It came out pink and cloudy....but the flavor was good!

My mom's peach tree is mass producing these small but amazing peaches.  I picked about five or six or ten lbs. (I don't really know) and made a LOT of peach jam this weekend.   I can pick about 10 more batches and make it but I don't have the time.  If anyone wants peaches this week to can for jam  or pie filling or whatever you want, please let me know!    I will give them to you!

I am going to meet my friend Kathy in the next week or so to make salsa, but my mom had tomatoes that were overly ripe and peppers from her garden, and of course I got two jalapenos from the CSA, so two quarts of salsa were made also! 

It was a cooking frenzy with 10 quarts of meat sauce that went into the freezer yesterday.  I made marinara also, but used it for two trays of  eggplant (from the CSA) parm, that I had to fry!   I'm done cooking for the week (and it is only Monday morning!)!   

Hello Grasshopper

My daughter's good friend went to Mexico to do a Community Service Project working with orphans and disabled children with her church.

She brought us back delicious chocolate - all different kinds!  The box was emptied in a couple of days!

She also brought us back a delicacy from down there.....grasshopper!

Yes, I tried one.  It was salty! But really it had no flavor!  My son Dominic, thinks it tastes like dust and I would say it tastes like salty dust.

She brought home a bag-ful.  And she says they don't go bad!   One was enough for my palate, though!

Maybe if she brought home chocolate covered grasshoppers, I would have liked them more!!!!!

Paw Pads

My dog has had the habit of licking his paws - all the time.  It's annoying!

We had the doctor check them and he says there isn't anything there.  We changed his food (there was a possibility of an allergy to the old food) and we thought maybe once we switched to an all natural (read: expensive) new food, that would stop the licking.  But Alas....he still does it. 

So we bought him these Paw pads.  They are for hot pavement or ice, but seem to work for this issue also!  Let's hope they continue to work!

He was hysterical the first time we put them on his paws!  He clopped around like a horse.  It took him a little while to get used to them!

The pictures aren't great, because he wouldn't stop moving around!

And away I go.....

On a very good note, I have started running again this week.  Last week with Bible School, I never had time and the week prior, I was prepping for Bible School and never had time!

I took off for the month of August in teaching Zumba, and my body knows it!!!

I have my favorite 5K race on Labor day and then I'm going to look for a 10K for October!  I am going to try to up my limit.  On my bucket list I wrote (years ago)....Race something longer than a 5K!    I figure once I write it here in my blog journal, it is something that I will have to do.....So I'm going to go for it (and then cross it off my bucket list). 

CSA Week 10.....already

Here is our list for this Friday:

Full share:

4 ears of corn

1 head of cabbage

2 bunches of hakurei turnips

1 bunch of carrots

2 lbs. of tomatoes

1 pint of grape tomatoes

1 lb. of beans

2 lbs. of potatoes

2 large eggplant

2 hot peppers

2 lbs. of cucumbers
1 lb. of yellow squash or  zucchini

I have asked for the cabbage and carrots as I want to make some cole slaw this week.  Elizabeth is heading back to school in another week and she has requested pulled pork and I always make slaw to go with it!    I would love to make some salsa, but we don't seem to be getting all the ingredients.  but we will!!

PSA for Today

LOCK YOUR CAR DOORS AT NIGHT


My hubby tells me all the time and I fluff him off.....

So far, we know of seven cars in our area that were broken into last night.  But really, they weren't broken into.  They were people like me (read: Stupid) that left the car unlocked.  I had two dollars in the center console.  They took the two dollars, but left all the change, the GPS and some costume jewelry.  I guess they just wanted cash. 

More photos from CVBS

These are mostly my nieces and nephews.