Weekend over....

Well that weekend passed so quickly! Scott has left for work and Greg is planning his day - he needs to go check in with his temp service and stop at the Brewing store to see what he needs to do about his Mead as it keeps foaming over the valve at the top. He started this Saturday and I think he stayed up all Saturday night watching it ferment and "burp". He is quite excited about this and I am hoping that it turns out drinkable or he will be so disappointed.

On Friday I took what was left in the fridge of a beef roast and a variety of vegetables and made beef vegetable soup by adding a can of tomatoes, about 2 cups water, a bay leaf, garlic salt, black pepper, parsley and a bit of basil. I cooked it in the slow cooker all day on low so that the meat would get more tender and so that the flavors could meld together. Sunday I took the leftover soup and brought it to a boil in a pot on top of the stove and made parsley dumplings that I cooked on top of the soup.
So from one beef roast we've had 4 separate meals and NO WASTE. The last meal will be our lunch today. Tonight I will be starting the week with a whole new meal - pork chops, mashed potatoes, salad and perhaps some dinner rolls. And I want to try to make a Julia Child recipe called "Tarte Tatin" - a caramelized apple dessert with cream topping. I watched her make it on the PBS.com site and it just looked so heavenly. I almost forgot about the wonderful egg custard that I made on Friday... I've just been in such a Nurturing mood I guess. Egg custard with wonderful Nutmeg.... YUM!

My white Rose of Sharon is really throwing out the blooms now... I just love how dainty they look when the sun is shining on them.

Saturday I went out to the garden and finally found a few tomatoes that were not completely rotted from the heavy rain and heat. Most are cherry tomatoes but the one larger one is actually an "Orange" colored tomato. I thought it would be a fun thing to add to the garden. While I was out there I tied up some of the cherry tomatoes that had fallen over because I used those wimpy cages that you find in all the stores. I will get Scott to make me some more REAL tomato cages from the wire Greg brought home - it's concrete reinforcing mesh and makes the BEST tomato cages. I also got the grass and weeds up between a row of raised beds where we haven't been able to get rolled roofing down. The rolled roofing has made keeping the walkways weed free so much easier - Scott had an excellent idea there. I also cleaned out and turned two of the empty beds and planted Lima beans and pole beans but I believe I've told most of this all ready - sorry for repeating myself.

We went for two very lovely walks by the River and that always lifts my spirits. A little orange butterfly decided to light on Scott's hand - I think it looks like he is wearing a really cool glowing ring in this picture... Of course me and the fungi have this love thing going on and I had to get two shots of this one that was growing along the path - I think it looks like the main section of the Enterprise - nearly floating in the air...