Meals from the Garden, A Birthday Party and Celebrating with My Daddy!

The kitchen is my favorite hangout, where my creative juices flow best.  I like to keep my camera close at hand so I can capture the moment; the one when the recipe works, or doesn't, when I've just brought in fresh produce from the garden, or when the kitchen counter is in a state of chaos because there is something wonderful cooling in the background.  These things make my heart sing.   I believe that good, real food given in each season is a gift from God and is meant to be enjoyed and celebrated with those we love.  This month's photo collection spotlights fresh food from the garden, a birthday party and a Father's Day lunch.

Offerings from a June Kitchen

We enjoyed the last of the lettuces from the garden with a variety of salads, one of my favorites being this one,with chopped strawberries, Point Reyes blue cheese, walnuts and balsamic viniagrette.  So delicious!

The butter lettuce leaves were perfect for making these asian wraps with a spicy dipping sauce.

I always hate saying goodbye to strawberries, but all good things must come to an end.  Until

next year I'll have to make do with the bags I've put in the freezer. 

We had a pasta week as I practiced, and practiced making pasta for a class I taught at church.  

Worse things could happen, you know?  I had a great time teaching the class.  

My kitchen smelled wonderful as a I zested and juiced lots of lemons for our favorite lemon cookies.

Sugar snap peas from a friend's garden.  What a wonderful gift.

We had them for dinner,

 and I put the rest in the freezer.

On one of those, "I don't have time to cook nights", I picked up a rotisserie chicken.  

A few days later I made a rich stock from the leftovers with a ton of fresh herbs from my garden.

Fruit smoothies are so refreshing and I love to whip up one after I work out.  But, I always

make more than I need.  I've started making popsicles out of the excess.  A brilliant solution if I 

say so myself.   Yes, these rocket shaped popsicle molds have been around a while.

Dillon's thinking hard about that birthday wish.  I made a carrot cake at his request.

I had more frosting than I needed and since it would be a crime to throw away

cream cheese frosting, I stashed it in the refrigerator and later in the week made

these carrot cake whoopee pies for my sister.  She loved them.

I surprised my Dad with a visit on Father's Day.   As a bonus, I got to visit with my sister and her family too.

We had Dad's famous roast with carrots, green beans, mashed potatoes and rolls.  I made a 

chocolate layer cake for dessert, but I guess we didn't get a picture of that.   It was all delicious.

I finally made pesto from the garlic scapes that had been waiting patiently in the refrigerator.

The next day, we enjoyed a pesto pizza with fresh tomatoes and mozzarella.

Italian artisan bread made the perfect cheese sandwich,

to go with creamy tuscan tomato soup, made with more of that fresh pesto.

My favorite new recipe of the season is this Lemon Pie Ice Cream.  I just can't tell you how good it is.

Blueberries are here!!! 

The first thing I made were blueberry pancakes for breakfast.

I made a big batch of Dad's BBQ sauce and canned some for grilling in the months ahead.

Last, but not least, I whipped up some individual banana puddings in these cute little

ramekins that my friend gave me for my birthday. The lucky recipients of this gift  from

the kitchen gave them a big thumbs up.  I have to admit, they were pretty darn good.