Green Lemonade Perfected

As a kid I was lucky enough to live next door to one of my grandmas.   I remember being outside in my yard on warm summer nights, and I could hear my grandma sneeze as she was outside sitting in a swing.  I'd yell to her, "Bless you!"  and then you'd hear her say, "Thank You!"  I was lucky.  My grandma's house was the hub of all activity.  With cousins living on each side, grandma's house was where we'd meet, and begin our adventures for the day.  When the school year started all those cousins would meet at my grandma's house to catch the bus.  It seems we'd all get there 5-10 minutes or so before the bus, and the boys would jump out of the tree, holding onto the rope of a giant swing.  If it was cold we'd all huddle in my grandma's front room while my grandpa would look out a big window looking for the bus headlights.  Once he saw them, we'd all run out the door right to the bus.  Life was good living next door to a grandma.

I remember sitting in my grandma's kitchen while my mom would put pin curls in my grandma, and great grandma's hair.  One thing that was always present there in her kitchen was big glasses full of fresh juiced carrot-celery juice.  Everyday my grandparents would start their morning with this juice.  My grandma always said the carrots alone were too sweet, and celery alone was too bitter so she'd combine the two for the perfect morning juice.  So I guess you could say "juicing" is a family tradition.

Throughout the years my mom would always juice carrots for us in the mornings.  I didn't love it.  Sometimes I'd drink it, and other times I wouldn't.  My mom always had a nice orange hue about her from all the carrot juice she drank.  The palms of her hands were where you'd really see the color!  I've juiced a little here and there since I married, but the last 3 years we have really enjoyed juicing at home.

Maybe it's the fact that I have the JUICER OF ALL JUICERS!  I own a Hurom Slow Juicer and we love it!! But I have used cheaper juicers with great success as well.  I was just a sucker the day the kitchen store was demonstrating the Hurom:)  So every morning my kids have become addicted to their morning juice.  They demand and require a juice to get them through the day.  One thing I've found, is that if you add a quarter of a fresh pineapple to the nastiest tasting juice, it turns it into something delicious. Kind of like Mary Poppins and that Spoonful Of Sugar.

I think I've perfected this Green Lemonade.  It is loaded with good stuff and James and I each drink a quart of this almost every day.  Sometimes it is sipped through a straw and other time it is guzzled as fast as I can.  It's delicious by anyone's standard.  Don't let the color scare you.   In fact, rejoice in the fact that you are drinking something so incredibly good for you and that tastes so good too.  I've played around with different ingredients for my Green Lemonade and this is my favorite.  I've added cucumbers and they really add a distinct flavor.  I don't love it in my juice.  I've also tried kale in place of the spinach and I don't love the bitterness.  Kale is awesome in so many other things, but not my favorite in a juice.  You can add a nub of fresh ginger and that's yummy.  I have actually been known to add a pinch of salt to this juice a time or two.  Those are the days I savor each swallow:)  Enjoy!

Green Lemonade Perfected

Serving size is 64oz. It makes 2 quart sized Mason Jars.  Adjust according to how many servings you want.

1 bunch celery

3 BIG handfuls spinach

4 small green apples (or 2 large)

1 lemon peeled

1 lime peeled

1/4 fresh pineapple or 1 grapefruit peeled (the pineapple make the green juice into a sweeter juice and the grapefruit makes it a little more of a savory juice.  It just depends on how I'm feeling.)

1 bunch of fresh parsley (optional)

Send all the produce through a juicer.  I usually add a little water to make it 2 quarts exactly.  I like my juices room temp., but you can add ice if you prefer.

Cinnamon Spiced Nuts and Berry Salad

First order of business is, I'm so sorry I've been a slacker posting anything the last few weeks.  If you could see the behind the scenes you would be AMAZED at what I've accomplished!  I have officially taken my blog over to my own personal domain.  clawsonlive.com is up and running.  All I have to do is figure out a new template, and redirect traffic, and 10,000 other things and it will be official:) So hopefully one of these next few posts you will see the new and improved Clawson Live site, and life will be back to normal. It's going to be a good day around here:)

I did make a very tasty and delicious salad the other night for my family though.  I've written about the Everything Salad lots of times, and talked about the homemade candied nut, but this version is by far my absolute favorite.  My sister in law Katie told me about it a few weeks ago.  It's fantastic!  There's also something completely wonderful about FRESH berries this time of year.  And when the price isn't too outrageous the salad is even THAT much more wonderful!  I love a good hearty meal, but I love that hearty meal when it's balanced out with a fresh yummy salad.  And you know if you have the Spring Mix in the fridge at all times, you can eat this salad with it's many reincarnations every night of the week and not get sick of it.  A good friend told me years ago, that all you need for a good salad is a fruit, a nut, and a cheese.  You can mix all three of those up, and go from there.  Apples, berries, pears, dried cranberries or blueberries, or even fresh citrus fruits this time of year are all perfect salad additions.  Pecans are my favorite nuts in salads, but we used pistachios, and almonds both in a different salad just this week around the Clawson home.  As for cheeses, Blue Cheese is my most favorite, but shredded Asiago or Parmesan are fantastic, as well as shredded Swiss or crumbled Feta.  You get the picture.  Just use what you have and create interesting combinations.  

The star of this particular salad though is the Cinnamon Spiced Nuts.  You know that smell you enjoy every time you walk into the mall at Christmas time?  The hot fresh Cinnamon Almonds?  That's what you are going to recreate and put into your salad.  Heaven on wheels!  When your 13 year old, most picky eating child, can't stop snitching these nuts as they're cooling, you know you have a winner!  I've made these nuts lots of different ways.  All take about 5-10 minutes of your UNDIVIDED attention.  Don't get distracted while you make the nuts, or they will burn on you, and you will have to clean up the worst pan on the planet.  The key to these nuts is getting your sugar to melt, and caramelize without burning.  Once you figure it out though, you will make them all the time.  I actually make a big batch quite frequently and store them in a Ziplock bag in the freezer.  Pull them out the next salad you make and they will be perfect.


Cinnamon Spiced Nuts and Berry Salad

Dressing

1/2 c. vinegar
1/2 c. sugar
1 t. salt
1 t. pepper
1 c. oil

Mix together and pour over salad.  You can add variations to this dressing.  Add some raspberry jam, or use lime juice, lemon juice or orange juice for some of the vinegar.  Improvise.

Salad

Spring salad mix (I buy the big container at Sam's.  It will feed a crowd!)
raspberries
blueberries
sliced strawberries
Blue cheese crumbled
Cinnamon Spiced Nuts

Add all ingredients to your liking.  Depending on the amount of people to serve you can vary amounts. 1lb. of Spring Mix will usually serve 20-25 people.  Sometimes I just fill a small bowl with just enough lettuce to feed my little family.  Just note that once this salad is dressed it must be consumed.  IT DOES NOT KEEP, and it's always sad to see something this wonderful go to waste:) So you can always add a little more lettuce, but you can have leftovers:(


Sugar Spice Pecans

1/3 c. sugar
1 t. cinnamon
1 c. whole or chopped pecans

In a dry fry pan place the sugar, cinnamon and nuts and put over a medium high heat.  Be diligent and stay right by these babies until they're done.  I've burned a few nuts in my day, and even the kitty won't eat them:(
Don't stir until you start to see the sugar melting around the edges of the pan.  Gently stir the nuts so they don't burn.  Keep stirring until all the sugar melts and turns golden brown.  This part goes fast.  It takes a while for the sugar to start to melt, but once it does watch it.  Poor the nut onto a WELL GREASED pan or plate.  Immediately sprinkle with a shot of salt.  Let cool and then break up and add to the best salad. 

Green Lemonade

Here's another favorite juice that we make at the Clawson home.  We call it the Green Lemonade.  One trick I've found when juicing is that a lemon will make any concoction taste better.  Let's be honest here, I've had my fair share of juices that I've had to plug my nose, and just swig.  Sometimes the gag reflex kicks in, and it's all I can do to keep that juice down.  But a lemon or a lime can brighten and mask a lot of "not so tasty" ingredients.  If you've got a pear, or apple that will help any "veggie juice" as well too.  Mary Poppins always says, "A spoonful of sugar, helps the medicine go down."  Well I say a lemon will always make the juice go down:)

I really like my morning juice.  Lots of fresh oranges, and carrots, but sometimes I need something that isn't fruit based.  This Green Lemonade hits the spot.  We juice a lot through the winter months.  I buy oranges, and apples by the 40 lb. case, and 25 lb. bags of carrots almost weekly.  My kids seemed to tolerate the juices at first, but they are actually starting to crave them now.  My Red Head asks for them almost every morning before he catches the bus.  Here's a great little something we've noticed around here lately that we attribute to the juices.  Our complexions are pretty fantastic right now.  James' skin is so good looking!  The three older kids have had beautiful skin.  The acne that usually follows teenagers has been held at bay.   There's a healthy something going on, and they say that your skin and hair are the first things to show if you are healthy or unhealthy.  It's a great side effect of juicing I've decided:)

Give this juice a try.  Add an extra apple, or pear for more sweetness if you like.  I love the addition of fresh parsley.  It makes the juice the most beautiful green color.  Spinach alone makes a muddy green, but the parsley really brightens the juice.  It's great for fresh breath too:)

*I've had a few people ask what kind of juicer I use.  Well let me tell you, I just happened to be at the local kitchen store one day right as they were demonstrating the Hurom juicer from Sweden.  I was amazed and smitten instantly.  So much, that even the price tag didn't keep me from taking one of the shiny Hurom's home.  It's a wonderful juicer.  It's a slow, press juicer that is quiet, and just smashes the fruit, veggies and even nuts.  I love it, BUT.........I'm not convinced it's the only way to go.  I've used the cheaper juicers from Costco, and been pretty happy with those too.  So get the juicer that fits your budget, and start getting healthy!

Green Lemonade

1/2 bunch of celery
1 lemon or lime peeled
1 asian pear (a regular pear or apple works great)
2 big handfuls of spinach
1/2 big bunch of fresh parsley
1 orange
1/2 cucumber

You can always add whatever you've got in your fruit bowl.  This is just a suggestion, but I love it!!  You can substitute kale, or other greens for the spinach, but for me I like spinach.  It doesn't have a strong flavor like kale, and is easy for me to drink.  I love kale cooked or in a soup, but I actually don't love it juiced.  It's a little bitter for me.  Good luck and let me know of any great concoctions you come up with!

Korean Bibimbap

I subscribe to Bon Appetit magazine, and it's one of my guilty pleasures!   Sitting on the couch and delving into the latest issue with nothing to distract me is pure loveliness.  Some of my all time favorite dishes have come from this beloved mag.  This pizza especially has been a favorite, as well as many other recipes.  There is always a recipe or two, and sometimes three that get ripped out of the magazine and make their way into my bulging recipe book to be cooked sometime in the near future.  Well this Korean Bibimbap recipe made it all of two days before it was a must to be made at my house.  This is how it went.  I sat down and read the mag, and consequently ripped a few pages out from between the covers.  Those said pages made it to the kitchen where my oldest son saw them and immediately BEGGED for this recipe to be made.  I will say I was smitten as soon as I saw the picture of this dish, but I didn't quite expect the reaction I got from my kids.  So needless to say I made the recipe the next day, and dang it, it was a HUGE hit!!  If I can just say, it was soooooo stinking good!!   As James was eating he said, "This is definately a keeper.  Something you need to make quite often."  Exact words!  We loved it.

My brothers and their families are going to be making the trek to my house in the next few weeks for our annual Chinese New Year festivities.  With a husband, two brothers, and a sister-in-law who all served LDS missions to Taiwan, and an adorable niece, and nephew who were adopted from Vietnam we ALWAYS celebrate the Chinese New Year.  It's usually full of pot stickers from Taiwan, Mango Rice from Thailand, maybe some Pho from Vietnam this year as well as this Bibimbap from Korea.  I'm definately putting Bibimbap on the menu:)  Here's what Wikipedia has to say about Bibimbap:

Bibimbap (비빔밥, Korean pronunciation: [pibimp͈ap̚][1]) is a signature Korean dish. The word literally means "mixed rice". Bibimbap is served as a bowl of warm white rice topped with namul (sautéed and seasoned vegetables) and gochujang (chili pepper paste). A raw or fried egg and sliced meat (usually beef) are common additions. The ingredients are stirred together thoroughly just before eating.[2] It can be served either cold or hot.

Well we ate it hot, and it was splendid.  There is nothing strange, odd, or weird in this recipe.   Just a wonderful mix of fresh veggies, meat and rice.  Amazing!!  I can honestly say I have never had anything Korean before.  I'm a little scared of Kimchi, but who knows, maybe I'll try some.  Since Bibimbap is so good I'm sure Kimchi would be too.

Korean Bibimbap
recipe from Bon Appetit (Thanks for a FANTASTIC recipe!)

(Click on this link to take you to Bon Appetit's site.  From there you can click on other links for all the veggie recipe.)



Ingredients
Meat
1/2 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
1/3 cup finely grated Asian pear with juices
2 scallions, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon raw or brown sugar
2 teaspoons grated peeled ginger
1 pound thinly sliced (1/8-inch) boneless beef rib-eye steak or short ribs
Crisp Rice and Assembly
3 tablespoons toasted sesame oil, divided
8 cups steamed sushi rice or mixed grain rice (from 2 1/2 cups dry rice)

Bibimbap Mix-Ins Click here for a link to all the veggie recipes.

(Sesame-Pepper Bean Sprouts, Sesame Carrots, Garlicky Spinach, Soy-Glazed Shiitake Mushrooms, Sauteéd Zucchini, Scallion Slaw, Wakame, Gochujang Date Sauce)
8 fried eggs
Kimchi


Preparation

Meat

Whisk first 6 ingredients in a medium bowl. Add beef; toss to coat. Cover; chill for 30 minutes or up to 3 hours.
Crisp Rice and Assembly
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large cast-iron or nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add rice; pat out in an even layer. Cook, rotating skillet for even browning (do not stir), until rice is golden and crisp on bottom, about 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat 1/2 tablespoon oil in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Add one-quarter of beef and cook, turning once, until cooked through and lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a bowl. Repeat in 3 batches with remaining oil and beef.
Divide rice among bowls. Top with beef, Bibimbap Mix-Ins, and eggs. Serve kimchi alongside.

Good Morning Juice

I juice a lot this time of year.  Something about all the beautiful citrus available, and my need to have a healthy family.  They go hand in hand you know:)  Each morning as my children are just about to head out the door for the bus, they each get a big glass of Carrot Orange Juice.  I usually sneak an apple or two in as well, and I really try to up their carrot consumption.  Some of the kids love it, and others tolerate it, but they all drink it.

I'm turning into my mom actually.  As a kid she juiced all the time.  In fact I remember the skin on the palms of her hands being a lovely shade of orange most of my growing up years because of her carrot juice habit.  I believe my mom came by it naturally though.  Her parents were big juicers.  I used to  run over to my Grandma B's house on a summer morning, bust through their door without knocking, and walk into the kitchen to say hi, just as my grandma and grandpa were drinking down their Carrot Celery Juice.  My grandma told me the carrot helped the celery not taste too bitter and the celery helped the carrot not taste so sweet.  They drank a cup of this concoction everyday I'm sure.  If you walked through their door early enough in the morning, you could always have a sip if you wanted.

There's so much out there about juicing.  It's the "buzz" word right now.  But you know, it's tasty most of the time, and dang good for you so why not drink up.   Mary Poppins always said a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.  Well an apple or a pear makes kale go down too:)  I'll share a few of my favorite juices over the next few days and share what I like, and what I don't.  So to start here's the juice that James and I have almost every day.  Good Morning Juice.  Feel free to add what you have on hand.  I love it with some pineapple, and James doesn't particularly love the grapefruit in his, but beggars can't be choosers.  And remember, the recipe is a "guideline", not an exact recipe.  Mix it up, and see what you like.

Good Morning Juice

Ingredients

• 1 Grapefruit
• 3 Oranges
• 1 Pear
• 6-7 Carrots
• 1 Apple

Cooking Directions

1. Wash carrots, apples and pears. Peel oranges and grapefruit. I cut all my fruit into quarters to fit in my juicer, but depending on your juicer, you may not have to. This amount of fruit makes approx. 32 oz. of fresh juice.

Roasted Green Beans with Goat Cheese

*Disclaimer- My dad hates these beans.  He says it's the goat cheese, but I take everything he says about veggies in general with a grain of salt.    He won't eat carrots.  EVER!  So that just shows you what his vegetable thinking is.  I don't want to paint this post a little too rosy, so I thought I'd get that off my chest.  BUT- Everyone else loves these beans, so at least give them a try:)

See large bean wall next to glorious Zinnias:)

Is this what your dinner plates have been looking like a lot lately?  Ours have.  I must admit that some nights dinner may be strictly watermelon, or peaches and cream.  I will say though, that these are some of my favorite meals of the year.  Maybe if I was able to eat like this year round it wouldn't be so wonderful.  But the fact that this season only lasts a short while, I relish every garden dinner I eat.


These beans were my Jimmy's idea.  We have a favorite bean recipe throughout the year and this is a take on that.  Since everything seems to taste better when it's roasted, and since it is so easy to do, I gave the suggestion a try.  And it was a winner!


I have been buried in beans.  At least 2 five gallon buckets a week.  I've given them to anyone who will take them.  You see, I only planted them this year for aesthetic purposes.   I have a ton of bottled beans still from last year, as well as a bunch of Dilly Beans.  I love the look of the tall bean poles next to the row of zinnias:) That's all there is to it.  So if you have beans, try them out one night like this.   Good luck and happy gardening!!

Roasted Green Beans with Goat Cheese

Green Beans

Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

Goat Cheese (4oz will be plenty.)

I fill a sliver cookie sheet with fresh, snipped beans.   Drizzle a little bit of olive oil on top, and sprinkle the beans with salt and pepper.  Toss until all the beans are lightly coated.  Place in a 425' F. oven and roast 20-30 minutes.  I usually let them stay in until the tips have started to char or brown a little.  Take out of oven and sprinkle goat cheese over top.  Serve.  

Breakfast Today

I'm trying out my new mobile app. My brekky on the go! Actually I can't seem to locate my camera so you get the iPhone photo. Since our little get away for Spring Break I'm hooked on this breakfast. My friend R introduced me to this wonderful Kale Hash. We love kale at our home but have limited ourselves to eating it in soup only. Now we eat it a lot. My garden is always bountiful with kale but I'll admit most goes to waste at the end of the season. No longer! You can serve it as a side for dinner or my favorite, breakfast. Sorry to all my "totally cooked egg friends". I love a runny egg dripping off my hash! Delish!! I hope you try this recipe out. It's so healthy for you and it tastes yummy. You can use spinach, chard, beet greens, or collard greens as well. I love adding tomatoes and whatever else I have. Enjoy and happy weekend!!

Kale Hash

1 bunch kale washed and chopped ( I use most of the stems as well)
1 tomato chopped
1 red pepper chopped
Zucchini
Carrots......... You get the idea! Add whatever you have.

In a large skillet drizzle about 2 t of olive oil and add veggies. Stir fry until tender. 5 mins or so. You can add a little garlic too for some more deliciousness. Serve as a side dish or top with a perfect fried egg.

Pesto

Perfect pesto!  It goes on anything.

I hate to admit it, but I sometimes hate harvesting my garden.   Like a few months ago when I finally pulled out my lettuce that was starting to bolt.  All it did was leave a large area of unproductive ground.  It looked like a scab on an otherwise unblemished face.  I love the neat, perfect little rows and sometimes harvesting ruins my aesthetic perspective.  Silly I know, but still it's hard for me:)  Well yesterday I did it!  I harvested a lot of my basil and then proceeded to make pesto sauce.  I trimmed up those basil plants neatly.  Kind of like a really good haircut.  The kind that you don't notice a significant change, and everything still looks real nice.  My mother-in-law told me that that is the sign of a very fine haircut.  I believe her.

So the basil in the garden is still beautiful, but I now have a very large stash of homemade pesto sauce.  It is so stinking pretty.  The most beautiful color green.  It totally matches my kitchen, and the walls at the bakery.  I must have a thing for Pesto Green.  What to do with all that pesto you may ask.  We use a lot of it at our house.  I stir it into the ricotta/cottage cheese mixture in lasagna.  We use it as the sauce for our homemade pizza's, and the best purpose for pesto sauce of all is to make a Swede Turkey Pesto sandwich at home.

The Swede Turkey Pesto, or STP for short is the number one selling sandwich at the bakery.  It probably out sells the other sandwiches 2 to 1.  If you haven't had one I'll give you the secret recipe now so you can make them at home.

Don't you love this pic.  My brother-in-law Doug does all the photos for us at the bakery.  This poster is a huge hit!

Swede Turkey Pesto Sandwich

courtesy of Great Harvest Bread Logan, UT

and my sister Hollie who helped me come up with this sandwich:)

Great Harvest Asiago Sourdough Bread

Mayo

Spicy Brown Mustard

Pesto Sauce

Good Deli Turkey

Swiss Cheese

Leaf Lettuce

Red Onion 

Tomato

Balsamic Salad Dressing

Ta-Da!!  That's it!  We take the bread and squirt on the mayo, mustard, and a smear of pesto sauce.  Add the turkey and cheese and grill.  We use a George Foreman grill.  We like how it does the job, but a fry pan, or griddle will work too.  When the sandwich is sufficiently toasty, add the veggies, and then drizzle the sandwich with the balsamic dressing.  I actually like to dip so do as you please.

Just so you know who Swede is, he's my cousin and was a baker for us for quite a few years.  And you say his name as it is spelled.  It's a family name on the other side, but when we made the sandwich we needed a catchy name, and Swede was so unique, and interesting the rest is history.   The sandwich is so famous that one semester Swede was sitting in a class the first day, and the teacher was reading down the role.  When she got to Swede's name she said it, he responded with, "Here!" and then she stopped.  She then went on to ask if Swede just happened to have a sandwich named after him at Great Harvest?  Of course he did and I don't think Swede had to do a single assignment in that class that semester.  He just got an A for being "the Man".        

To make the pesto it is quite simple as well.  If you've got a lot of basil in your garden, put it to good use.  If not, go buy some and make yourself a Swede!

Pesto Sauce

2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts

3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

A food processor or blender

 Combine the basil in with the pine nuts, pulse a few times in a food processor. (If you are using walnuts instead of pine nuts and they are not already chopped, pulse them a few times first, before adding the basil.) Add the garlic, pulse a few times more.

Slowly add the olive oil in a constant stream while the food processor is on. Stop to scrape down the sides of the food processor with a rubber spatula. Add the grated cheese and pulse again until blended. Add a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.  I poured my pesto into cute bottles and then poured enough EVOO on top to cover it.  The pesto will discolor quickly if exposed to air.  I freeze mine.  It will last forever.  One tip I learned was to portion the pesto in ice cube trays, and then freeze the cubes.  When frozen place in Ziploc bags and use when needed.  

Fruits of My Labors

An evening spent picking beans in the garden with the redhead.  Love that kid!

I love my garden.  Next to my husband, my children, my dogs, my home, my family, my friends and neighbors, my garden is truly loved.  I pray for things in my garden, and yes, the prayers work.  I'm afraid this year though in all the hub-a-balloo of birthing babies, and nursing babies, and loving new babies, some things in my garden just didn't get the right start.  Cantaloupe won't be a staple from the garden this year, and I noticed that the new lawnmower in the family dismembered my cucumber plants.  And the tomatoes........well let's just say I may never get a ripe one this year, but at least I have plenty bottled from last year.  But the garden is beautiful still.  I have to admit that a lot of the reason I plant a garden is asthetics.  It's all about how it looks as I sit in my bathroom and admire it out the window.  The rows have to have texture, and be placed in certain order.  I love the tall lines of onions, the frilly wisps of fennel, and the beautiful color of giant Zinnias right down the middle of the garden.  Sometimes I don't even harvest something because I don't want to ruin how the garden looks.  I walk around the garden every day and admire the fruits of my labor.

As a kid I remember going to Bear Lake every year with my family and staying in Fish Haven.  I think it's the cutest little town, and there must have been a million little old grandma's who lived there who loved their gardens.  I loved driving through town and admiring each perfectly manicured garden.  Tall rows of corn, sprawling squash, and tons of raspberry bushes.  It all seemed so idealic to me, and it inspired me to do the same.

Every year I plant a huge row of pole beans right down the middle of the garden.  Why pole beans instead of bush?  Bush beans produce all in one big bang, but they're harder to pick, and they don't look as cute as the wall of bean vines that wind themselves up a fence.  A bean fence is just absolutely perfect down the center of my garden.  I LOVE the look, but the consequences are a load of beans.  So far I've picked quite a few 5 gallon buckets of beans.  Many get cooked with new potatoes, and bacon, but the majority have turned into Dilly Beans this year.  A lovely neighbor gave me the recipe a few years back and the fam and I decided this years harvest would be devoted to Dilly Beans.  Dilly Beans are better than pickles, and finger licking good.  They are easy to make, and don't take a lot of time, or even a pressure canner.  They're simple and delicious, and we love eating them by the bottle full.  The recipe is from the "Good Book" of canning.  The Ball Blue Book.  So it's safe and approved by the canning god's, and my neighbor Beanie.  (She's the canning god around Paradise.)  So when life hands you beans here's something a little different to make, but I promise you will be pleased with the outcome.  Especially come Christmas when you add these beans to a lovely relish tray, but let's not talk about Christmas............yet.

Dilly Beans

recipe courtesy of the Ball Blue Book of Canning

2 pounds fresh green beans, rinsed and trimmed
4 cloves garlic, peeled
8 sprigs fresh dill weed or 1 t. dill seed and 1 t. dill weed in each bottle
1/4 c. salt
2 1/2 cups white vinegar
2 1/2 cups water
Directions

Cut green beans to fit inside pint canning jars.
Pack the beans into four hot, sterilized pint jars. Place 1 clove garlic and 2 sprigs dill weed in each jar, against the glass.
In a large saucepan over high heat, bring vinegar,  water, and salt to a boil. Pour over beans.
Fit the jars with lids and rings and process for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath.

Christmas Every Sat. Morning

Almost every Sat. morning it feels like Christmas to me.  A few of my friends and I order a Bountiful Basket every Mon. night, and Sat. morning we get to pick them up.  A laundry basket full of the best produce!  There is always something new and surprising inside.  This week was no exception.  Have you ever eaten a persimmon?  Well I have never had one.  I've manhandled them at the grocery store wondering what they might taste like.   I've even heard before that persimmons were the forbidden fruit that Eve partook of in the Garden of Eden.  Don't ask me how anyone would dare suggest knowing something like this, but someone did.  Silly if you ask me.  But I'm going to eat my first persimmon today.  Maybe it will give me eternal life, or at least I will know right from wrong.  It looks lovely, and I'm sure I'll remember the first bite for the rest of my life.

Included in the basket today were: cauliflower, bananas, grapes, persimmons, asian pears, cherry tomatoes, potatoes, collard greens, regular pears, apples, green beans, and brussel sprouts.  I think we're going to be eating some Minestrone Soup this week.  Maybe some cauliflower soup and some roasted veggies.  What a treat!  Everything in this basket cost me.................$15.  Seriously!  My grocery bill has dwindled since I started getting these baskets.  All I need is juice, milk and I sleep with the baker so I'm good in that area.  What else could a girl ask for.  My sister-in-law has received a 100% organic basket from Bountiful Baskets as well.  It's an extra $10, but for her she was pleased as punch.  Her basket was filled with totally different things than what I received, but still so yummy!  All the stuff is so fresh and good.

UPDATE!!
I've received a few comments the last few hours and there are baskets available now in Texas! (Thanks Lori!) and in the Boise Area!!!  (Thanks dear cousin Jenny!)  So I hope you gals enjoy next Sat. morning!!

Now to anyone reading my post from anywhere other than Utah, Idaho, Nevada, Arizona, or Washington I believe, I'm sorry you can't get these baskets.  And Hollie, I'm sorry they don't come up the Boise direction.  Only Southeast Idaho, but maybe you could get them to Boise.  Click here and find a location near you.  I was astonished how many places are available.  I just have to drive to Hyrum, and I just found out that they deliver right behind the bakery in Logan as well every Sat.  Where have I been.  If you like good produce and are a little adventurous give it a try.  You'll have Christmas at you house every Sat. morning just like me!!