Summer eating

Been putting in a lot of kitchen time the last two weeks, mainly to keep up with our little backyard plant plots and make the most of the summer produce that is abundant right now. Tomatoes are reddening and yellowing faster than we can keep up, so lots of tomato/pesto sandwiches, bruschetta, pico de gallos, caprese salads, red tomato sauce being prepped and devoured around here.
Jeff just roasted a bunch of tomatoes and peppers to make his annual double batch of salsa for camping this weekend.
I prepared an enchilada dish earlier this week that used four ingredients from the back yard. . .tomatoes, eggplant, pepper, onion.
Today my lunch and dinner included some basil, beets, tomatoes, an orange pepper, and cucumber from our back yard.

We also went twice in the last 5 days to the Hobart farm (Johnsons) that is offering raspberry and blackberry plants for u-pick, so two special desserts came out of the oven this week featuring those berries.

This is my favorite time of summer . . I don't really eat fresh tomatoes or raspberries all year and then when this month comes, they are abundant and I can eat them right off the plant and keep on eating them . . it does not get any better than this!

I am so glad for people who grow food for others to buy and eat . . I was in the raspberry field on Saturday morning having more fun than ever and imagining a day when berry-picking drew as many enthusiasts as those spinning rides at the county fair that was so so crowded the other night. There are going to be zillions of berries on those plants in the next couple weeks and I hope the market demand is worthy of the value and abundance that is ripening on those bushes!

Bike ride

We never get many bike rides in mid-summer because it is so hot! Well we picked a great day to meet Uncle Steven and Aunt Ashley and their girls for some riding in Chicago along the lakefront. Tom Skilling announced that this day was going to be: meteorological perfection. It was. North breezes, sunny, 78 and clear views of skyline, lake . . it was absolutely gorgeous. We met near the Aquarium and biked to the Bird Sanctuary and the "waterfall" near McCormick place old building, then back north to some nice playgrounds for the kids: Daley Bi-Centennial plaza and Lake-Shore East I think they are called. Douwe and the girls had a great time on the bikes and off.

Lake County Fair

I don't think I have been here for several years. It was a mild night, so everything is more pleasant at a fair when the evening is not so hot. . some highlights were:
The pig barn, seeing a sow with 11 or 12 babies, climbing tractors/excavators, etc. , the remote control car dirt track, the ferris wheel, the climbing obstacle course "ride" which Douwe did about 6 times, and the elephant ear at the end of our visit.
Very fun.

Fire hose

We stopped in to visit the VBS activity night at Beacon Light Church in Gary and the Lake Ridge Fire Dept had a hose truck there for the kids to try out. . .
Douwe got a chance to spray the fire out of the "burning house"

Morton Arboretum

Perfect weather for a little impromptu morning visit to the Arboretum with Kristin and her girls . . which turned into a 7 hour visit because it was so fun.



We spent most of our time in the children's garden which is huge and full of great spots to explore. Douwe's favorite is the tree top bridges. He also loved the hedge maze.
Later we found the prime climbing tree that is a bit of a walk out into the main arboretum. . Near the Japanese area.
We had picnic lunches and a little ice cream treat later. . this is the kind of day that summers are made for.

Architecture Walking Tour

On a weekend when Steven came for a visit, we took both boys to the city to do a walking tour and promised that afterwards we would all go up to the skydeck. Douwe fell asleep in his stroller partway through which was a good thing as he was cranky and not enjoying the tour so much. Steve was a good sport on this hot two hour walk. He took many photos of buildings and everything else in sight as we learned a few things about the early skyscrapers of Chicago.
The model city near the Chicago Architectural Foundation headquarters was really fun to look at.
Unfortunately the wait to get up to the top of Sears Tower was so long that we had to take a pass on this part of the excursion. we were all very disappointed and surprised that it would be so busy in the early evening.

50 books

Douwe earned a "Listener" award for the summer reading program at the library, and he was excited to receive the grand prize on his 5th set of 10 books!
The program went from June 1 to July 30, and although 60 days seems like a long time at the beginning of the summer, we had a little crunch on the last week and had to make two visits that week to get everything recorded. A big treat was the Amazing Animals presentation they put on for the readers at the end of the program. More fun almost than a zoo. Douwe loves listening to books before bedtime every night so we enjoyed this extra incentive to get to the library this summer.