Around my garden today.......

The yard and veggie garden can be as peaceful and serene as a chapel. The tranquil and calm environment of your home and yard is well worth the effort. The beauty of the greenery in all of it's lovely shades make a beautiful backdrop for blooming and growth. Even the business of the insect world can be a fascination. The bees and butterflies have entertained me on many an occasion. They certainly enjoy the fruits of our labor.

Five years ago I planted bare root stock hydrangea and they have bloomed for the first time this year. They are a blue with yellow and a pink and they are beautiful. Well worth my wait!!

My husband reinstalled the pump from my Mother and Dad's home in Florida near the fish pond this year. A storm had taken it down earlier even though it had been in concrete. We painted it red and I really love it. We have only 3 fish left that made it through the winter. They eat the mosquito larvae and stay fat and happy.

Dragon begonias are a favorite as they just stay beautiful and go on and on.









Begonias and Inpatients are good here as we are very shady.

Tomorrow for "Sunday Diner" we will eat the first cucumbers, zucchini, and a bell pepper in our tossed salad.

The cabbage and tomatoes are coming along but not yet ready. Oh well.....I enjoy checking their progress every couple of days. We enjoy the walk through our garden.

Key Lime Pie!! It's soooo refreshing!!

When days get warm we seem to change what we think sounds good.  Around here easy and refreshing takes the center stage.  Key lime pie is an old stand by.  I don't even have the recipe written down!  It's just that easy.  This desert left me plenty of time to do other thing today.  But when my husband tastes it he will think I really did something.  Butter a 9" pie pan and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  You'll need:

Filling.
1 14 oz. can of sweetened condensed milk
4 egg yolks
1/2 c. key lime juice

 Crust.
1 pkg. graham crackers
3 T. soft butter
3 T. sugar

 Meringue.
 4 egg whites
1/4 t cream of tarter
pinch of salt
3 T. sugar

Use the food processor to make the graham cracker crumbs or break them in a plastic bag using a rolling pin.  Add the butter and sugar and process another minute.  Place the mixture in the pie pan.  I slip my hand into a small plastic bag and pat it to form a crust, building up the sides.  No mess no fuss and it doesn't stick to the plastic at all.  Combine in a medium mixing bowl the milk, egg yolks, and juice mixing until blended.  Place this into the pie shell and bake for 20 minutes.  Remove the pie when done and set aside.  Combine the egg whites, cream of tarter, pinch of salt and beat on high with an electric mixer until quite foamy.  Keep beating but add the sugar a tablespoon at a time as you beat the whites to soft billowing peaks.  Spread the meringue over the filling to the edge where it becomes crumbs as evenly as you can and return to the oven for about 9 or 10 minutes.  Just til a golden brown.

Refrigerate til ready to serve.

Memorial Day 2010 Cookout!! BBQ Ribs.

After a week long visit to our sons in Indianapolis we returned to have a family BBQ with our two sons and their families here at home.  They are huge smoked BABY BACK RIB fans so we got to the task.

We prepared a rub using 2T brown sugar, 2T seasoned salt, 2T paprika, and a dash of red pepper and rubbed all sides of 3 slabs of baby backs.  Then my husband placed them on the smoker for a long day of slow and low cooking.

I broke fresh green beans and cooked them with a ham hock and red potatoes. The next thing was to cut up a watermelon, a cantaloupe, and a honey dew melon and wash 2 pounds of fresh ripe strawberries. 

Sounds like a picnic to me.