summer's here!

Wait, it's only May 8th.

While the rest of the country has been experiencing above-average temperatures, here in the great lakes region it's been chilly. Ten to twenty degrees below average. Until today. It reached 84. Blessed every saint that ever walked the earth; finally. No one complained, but we definitely exclaimed, "it's hot!" Because it was. Our house is not prepared for this. I had to search high and low for our window fans. Thank goodness for window fans. Have I been thankful for that yet?

On a side note, we had dinner with some wonderful friends, Jess and Jake (and their girls, Yael and Avah, I've blogged about that cutie patootie here. It didn't take much arm twisting when venison steaks were mentioned (which were delicious btw). The menu also included pretzels (hey Jess, I need that recipe), an amazing couscous salad (which I know was super easy to throw together, but I'm not that creative), a bowl of juicy, fresh fruit (did I mention today felt like summer, perfect!), and apple crisp with homemade french vanilla ice cream. Would you like to guess which dish(es) I made? It shouldn't be too difficult if you were paying attention.

The apple crisp and vanilla ice cream. It hit the spot. Man oh man. It was so good.

I had given some thought to strawberry shortcake, but had apples that unfortunately aren't fresh enough for regular snacking. I figured baking them would be the best thing for them. And it was.

So maybe I'm thankful for apple crisp too. Served warm with vanilla ice cream.

mushy fruits

If a fruit or piece of fruit is mushy, I tend to not eat it. I don't know why, I just don't.

But I was just eating some olives and I popped one in my mouth. It was mushy. Yet, I still ate it. It doesn't make sense does it?

Do you eat mushy fruit? 

what happens when I have too much sugar

The other day I had a brownie, a piece of rum cake and strawberry shortcake. Now I feel a head cold coming on.

The two have nothing to do with each other. However, it is a coincidence that in the past when I've had a lot of sugar, I have gotten a cold immediately. I don't know how the two relate to each other, but it happens.

Today, to fight off the cold, I had blueberries with my yogurt, a large glass of o.j., a Clementine, and freshly squeezed lemon in my water. I'm having butternut squash and spinach risotto for dinner.

Besides the five glasses of water I've already consumed, if this doesn't help me get better faster, nothing will.

"A" is for apples and they're back

Late summer means some of the best fruits and vegetables are fresh (editor's note: you may disagree with me and that is okay, these are my favorites and since this is my blog, I can say things like this). Corn is one of them. Apples are another.

One of my all-time favorite lunches consists of fresh apples with peanut butter. Mom and I went to Robinette's so she could get peaches. They had an early harvest apple, whose name I have forgotten... (Mom, what kind are they?) We bought a bag and split it. They're very good. And I'm super happy to be eating apples with my lunch again.

I've also decided that today is the day I meet my quota for my fruit servings. Like a years worth, in one day, today. I had oj for breakfast, watermelon and blueberries for a snack, banana bread and the aforementioned apple. I'm feeling like I should go squeeze some lemon into my water just to balance it out.

I should point out that for dinner last night, I made a harvest soup. It had an onion, a leek, a butternut squash, carrots, a potato and an apple in it (and it's so good). It's perfect for this lovely late summer weather.

Who knows what dinner holds, hopefully a salad with some tomato and olives...

blueberries

It's blueberry season. Or as one sign on our way to South Haven read, blue berrys.

I think blueberries with yogurt are divine. I can't get enough. I have frozen a couple cups and will likely be getting more at the Farmer's market to freeze.

Last year was the first year I tried them.

You read that right. Oh sure, I had them with fruit salads, but never on their own. I had no idea what I was missing. See? You should always try new things. You never know, you might like it.

I have to make a blueberry pie...