Monday 3 July 2023

Homemaking Mondays: Summer Foods and Flowers

 


Hello! 
Summer is upon us now and with it brings 
so much beauty and delicious treats.
Yesterday I picked our very first ripe strawberry 
from the greenhouse.
The chamomile and lemon balm are growing nicely.
I've started picking them for tea.
Do you have a tea garden?
This is one thing I really enjoy.
I don't have a lot of variety but each year I plant
chamomile, calendula, mint, & lemon balm.
Then there are the wonderful local tea items that can be foraged
like spruce tips, rose petals, rose hips, coltsfoot, yarrow, & horsetail.
There are more but those are the ones I usually go for.

With the lovely days I long to have meals outside.
I do love picnics, but just even taking our food out to the picnic table
is something I enjoy very much.
This year the bugs haven't been bad so it makes it even more pleasant. 
Do you have a place to eat outside in your yard...or a favourite
place to go to enjoy your summer meals?


As the garden is growing 
the calendula are erupting in blooms.
Right now the bright orange is close the bright
pink of the wild roses and it's beautiful 
to see from the kitchen window.


The chamomile brings it's cheerful little blossoms
to cheer the garden and the little bees.


With the flowers in full bloom 
I like to take my little basket out to collect
what I can find to harvest.


Right now I am enjoying adding 
roses to my grandmother's rose bowl.
They float in a little bit of water
and the beautiful scent of the roses
floats out and freshens the space about it.


This week I tried something new in the kitchen.
I've been wanting to do this for a long time 
but I've just not gotten around to doing it.
So...I made some mayo! 
Yes, it's super easy and this version is carnivore diet
compliant as I made it with melted butter instead of a plant oil.
It needed to sit for awhile before it thickened, 
but wow! It's so good!
Creamy and full of flavour 
so devilled eggs were on the menu.


I dehydrated some apples and strawberries.
At first I was going to save them for tea....but well,
the kids seemed to enjoy them so much 
it's all gone so I shall make more. 


I've been making bacon and eggs for breakfast.
I saw someone who doubled up the bacon on the pan
when cooking it in the oven and thought
I need to try that. 
I can now make so much more at the same time
and if I pour the bacon fat off partway
through the cook time it crisps up much nicer.
I'm going to be trying to cook up big batches 
that can just be stashed in the fridge for snacks
or when we go out and can't cook. 


This past weekend my children went camping all together.
It was so much fun for them and then for my husband and I it was
the first time since before we had kids we were home alone.
So it was really nice all around.


As the kids grow up and are off on their own more
it's a new time for my husband and I to re-connect 
in a new way. Another chapter in our marriage.

Thanks for dropping by!

Love and Prayers,
Jennifer




3 comments:

Margie said...

I don't have a green thumb, so no tea garden for me. I'll have to live vicariously through you!

Margie said...

P.S. Now you've got me craving bacon. LOL

Linda Shukri said...

My breakfast for years and years has been bacon and eggs and scones or toast. Can't survive without my bacon fix! Bacon keeps me full longer than if I didn't have it. And I've been making my bacon in the oven for a long time. So much easier! I don't bother dumping out the fat partway through. I just don't. :-) I also use my toaster oven for every day making bacon. It's rare that I would have to use the big oven for that since it's only the two of us, and mostly just me since my husband is at work when I have my breakfast. Which is late morning!