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!