it's that time of year!

This is how we start! Empty

This is how we work really hard!..........hehe

Up Up and AWAY

Can this be the Superintendants?

Look what she made!

All Finished and looking beautiful!

Come to the Evergreen State Fairs 100th year

Aug 21-Sept 1st

See you at the fair.....

Yes here we go...........It's up early and off to bed late! Fair Season has begun. I have a stack of really fun things sitting on my blog table but you will have to wait until fair starts and things calm down. Sorry I like that you check my blog and I don't want to loose you.

All the quilts and dresses, and purses are all judged and today we start arranging them in a way that they will look beautiful!

So from the photos above (taken a couple of years ago) you can see that we go from a big ugly barn to the amazing photo at the bottom..

See you all again after the 21'st. Once fair starts all I do is visit with everyone and just have a really good time! I'll have energy for blogs then.

Smiles

Grammie

summer salads

Click to enlarge ,p>These recipes will not be new to most of you. But at my point in time I forget that the ladies just getting started may not have collected all their mom's great recipes so here you go. Two favorites and a new one you may never have seen.

Every year I used to go to a wonderful spin-in (I am a spinner of fiber on a spinning wheel) in Stehekin. We'd stay at the Stehekin Valley Ranch and I really recommend it. Great food and a warm family stay! They know how to use everything in their cooking and shared the recipe for our favorite salad.

Corn bread Salad Stehekin style

8 servings

4 cups rougly curmbled corn bread (yesterdays left overs)

2 cups chicken (cut pea size) (opt.)

1 cup chopped green onions

1 cup chopped parsley

1 red bell pepper diced divided

1 orange bell pepper dived, divided

1/2 cup chopped sweet pickles

1 cup frozen peas

1/4 cup canned corn, rinsed and drained

1 cup mayo

1 1/2 Tablespoons sugar

1 teas. paprika

1 teas. salt

1 teas freshly ground black pepper

1 teas poultry seasoning (sage, etc)

1/4 Teas cayenne pepper

Bowl #1 combine:

Veggies (saving out 1/2 the peppers pickles, peas and corn for tossing on the top)

crumbled corn bread

Chicken if using

Bowl #2 combine

Mayo and spices, sugar

Mix the two bowls together and stir thoroughly.

Cover and chill 1 hours

Before serving

Toss on saved veggies this makes it look very pretty and ready to eat!

Saying Good-bye

This is Kallee last Christmas 19 years old

Yes I still have the note!

1990 At the Ferry dock heading for the San Juan's

That is my sister with the girls.

The camping trip we got Kallee on. The littlest girl in the red pants now has two children and will soon be 25 years old. Kallee was with us for so very long. Coming home with Kalee

The princess of our family has left us. She will be missed so much. We can't be too sad because she has lived a long happy life. She became ours in a most unusual way. We were camping with the kids in the San Juan islands. My sister had come from Los Angeles for a visit. We were having such a fun time. The girls befriended the camp ground cat. A young thing, very sweet and cuddly. Kitty knew to go from campsite to campsite to pick up food at meal times and in between she knew where the loving children were all camping and she visit those camps for love and play.

The day before we left a note appeared in the girls bathroom. You can see that note above. My family thought that was a perfectly clear invitation and talked to me with so much enthusiasm. I did what every smart mom should do I said "we'll talk to your dad". Soon the rules of acquisition were set. If the kitty was in our camp site when we got in the car to leave we would take her. No one was allowed to pre-urge kitty to our site. We would be too busy taking tents down and cleaning up.

The day to leave was tense. The girls eyed the bushes, they watch the road, but no sign of the campground kitty. Sadly everyone began to drag, slowly, themselves to the car. Phil and I feeling relief in the event. Suddenly out of no where kitty walked up to the car and began asking for attention. A note was put in the women's bathroom saying four adorable girls and a brother were taking the kitty home to the mainland. We named her after the ferry we went home in, the Kaleetan. The Kaleetan is named for a mountain peak northwest of Snoqualmie Pass. Our kitty was called Kallee.

She was our princess, sharing her time by sleeping on each bed of the household a couple of nights at a time. She'd trade off laps and let the younger girls dress her up in silly clothes. When she had kittens (not long after we got her) she made sure everyone was there to see them born. This morning when she passed away she made sure I was there to see her off. She was a loving cat who shared herself completely!

Good-bye Kallie (the spelling changed as time wore on) we hope the cat food in Heaven is the very best kind! No family could have a more lovable cat........ the note was correct!!

Post Script: Dear family your dad and I gave Kalee a loving burial. I sewed her a pretty white case with big red hearts all over it. We said a little prayer to ask that heaven give her a big welcome. Wish you all could have joined us but I know you were all here in spirit. Sorry to have to tell you this....mom...

a wonderful pasta!

Today I cleaned the fair building. Tomorrow I begin taking the quilts and wedding dresses and sewing items from everyone who enters in the fair. I got a call so I know we have at least one wedding dress being entered. I'm happy about those as they are the only thing I will judge. My sewing judge prefers I do them and It's so fun for me. If you sewed something, anything bring it down to building 500 at the Monroe fairgrounds between noon and 4 tomorrow or Sat from 9am to 4 pm. With the 100Th fair we have some really special fun happening that you don't want to miss!

So now for tonight's recipe. My good friend Carole makes this pasta and I can't get enough of it. I know it has a lot of ingredients but you can substitute. But just once you ought to have it Carole style

Pasta

2 cloves garlic, minced (Carole says use 3 or 4)

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 pound chicken breasts, sliced or diced

1 1/2 cups of broccoli florets

3/4 cup oil packed sun dried tomatoes, cut them up (I make my own)

1 tsp basil fresh is best

1 1/4 cup white wine (Carole uses alcohol free) (I use apple juice)

3/4 cup chicken broth

1 Tablespoon butter

Bow Tie pasta one whole package, follow package directions to cook

pinch red pepper flakes

Cook chicken until white in the oil with minced garlic. Remove chicken when cooked and add broccoli to the pan, add tomatoes, basil, wine/substitute, red pepper flakes and butter. This is a wonderful collection, cook until broccoli still has firmness but is cooked. Add the cooked chicken back in and toss with cooked pasta. Top with Parmesan.

Carole likes to add some other things. rinse some capers and put those in with some Italian prosciutto, 4 or 5 paper thin slices cut up into little pieces, just use scissors and cut it over the simmering pan. This adds so much.

Mushrooms would be delicious too. So thank you ,Carole, everyone will love this good fast cool to fix dish!

cool chocolate treats!

Click on photo to enlarge

Oh my these are so cool and refreshing, keep them in the fridge!

Pulled out of a magazine long ago!

Curried Chicken Walnut salad

Ate this at a RS conference in the 70's. It was so good it's worth passing along. Great for a cool salad. I collected so many good recipes during my years living in Ukiah!

Curried Chicken Walnut salad

2 cup cubed cut chicken

2 cups well drained crushed pineapple

1 tablespoon vinegar

3 Tablespoons salad oil

1 teas. salt

3/4 teas. curry powder

2 cups cooked rice

Fold ingredients and Chill over night

Next day add:

1 cup diced celery

1/4 sup diced green or red peppers

3/4 cup broken walnuts

1/2 to 3/4 cup mayonnaise.

Stir and serve

Fried Rice

Youngest Daughter is making fried rice for dinner. Now doesn't that sound fast and cool, only a few moments over the stove. Here is my favorite recipe.

It comes from an HP book "Cookery for 1 or 2" by Barbara Swain it's dated 1978. The recipe has had a lot of use. I prefer to use day old rice. I think it works better when it is chilled first.

Some people like a teas. of sesame oil in the rice in the middle of cooking and broth can be used instead of the water.

Click to make larger and print

Notice how stained the page is? 1978 was before scanning and printing which I love! I scan my most used recipes and put them in a plastic sleeve and they look as good as new for each use. Some of my old recipes have missing ingredients due to spills! he he

Thanks Eden

You can thank daughter in law for the summer "hot" recipes. She was saying it was just too hot where she lives to turn the oven on and she inspired me to share the recipes I'll put on this week.

Smiles for Eden

Bumsteads

These little sandwiches are good hot or cold you choose. I learned to make these in high school but the recipe was around a lot in the 60's. Let me know if you like them.

Bumsteads

1/4 pound cheese grated

3 hard cooked eggs chopped

1 can tuna (tuna is so not the same now, use your favorite. I like something that flakes and looks like fish)

2 tbsp green peppers chopped

2 tablespoon green onion but use red onions for a change

2 tablespoons olives chopped

2 tablespoons sweet pickles chopped up (you can use dill if you like)

1/2 cup mayonnaise

6 hamburger buns

Mix up all the ingredients. fill the buns. You can heat in the microwave for just a minute and a half. Or in a 350 degree F. oven for 15 to 10 minutes. ( wrap in foil if heating in oven)

These are very tasty

Add a salad and you have dinner. If you made the no-bake cookies you even have dessert!

Cool to make cookies

At the Jr. high they were called mountain bars, some people call them No bake cookies, when I was in school they were boil cookies but they are all one and the same. Yes each has a little different twist. Sometimes we made mistakes and they don't work, sometimes they are perfect, anyway we will eat them.
I am giving you my original recipe, from high school. It works well but you must use the instant oatmeal. They now make a lot of different cooking rate oatmeal's. When this recipe came about it was original or instant so I think the 3 minutes or 5 minute would be good. This is what makes the cookie hold together. Regular oatmeal can be used it does make the recipe different.

Boiled (unbaked chocolate oatmeal cookies)

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup milk
 1/2 cup butter (one cube)
 3 tablespoons cocoa
 pinch of salt
3 cups of quick oats
 1/2 cup coconut (Optional)
1/2 c. peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
lay out a long strand of wax paper (put on a cookie sheet)

In a saucepan put butter, milk, sugar, cocoa, and salt. Heat on low heat until all ingredients are well mixed. Turn the heat up to high and bring to a full boil (lots of bubbling) Stir as this is happening, milk likes to burn. Boil for 1 minute. (some recipes say 3 minutes and if using another oatmeal other than instant do boil longer)

Remove from heat

Add vanilla and peanut butter. Stir in well

Add oatmeal and working quickly drop by rounded spoonfuls on the waxed paper.

Cool to set up and eat!

I will try to make some of these once my new refridgerator has been delivered and the kitchen is mine again!

Getting hotter shall we think cool food

One thing nice you get with heat is pretty sunsets.

My fridge has died. I knew this winter that it was the cool house keeping it at a safe temperature, but now with the heat it surely is dead! 20 degrees too warm for healthy eating. Remember the blog I wrote about picnic food? Keep cold food below 45 degrees F. Well for your refrigerator you need to keep it around 38 degrees F. We found, as we tested this week, that just opening the fridge for a moment will make the temperature go up nearly 5 degrees. Think what it does when you stand and search the fridge. Most often this is not a problem with a healthy fridge but ours could not recover from being opened.

This is a reminder that with the summer getting so warm you should turn your fridge dial so it is a bit cooler, so your opening it won't cause too much trouble.

Now eating in the summer is fun, it's fresh and we don't have to heat up the house to do it.

I remember the first home microwave ovens. With some practice you can make great food in one and not heat up the kitchen. So I'm going to give you some recipes from my microwave collection.

The other thing is cookies. Make them in a saucepan. Do you know about the boiled chocolate, oatmeal cookies? They go by many names but I will included that recipe for those who don't have a boiled cookie recipe.

And to top it all off salads are perfect for dinner meals. I'll even toss in some recipes for kids cool food. This will take a couple of days. It will give me something to type besides fair paperwork.

Check back each day and collect the recipes.

spaghetti squash in the microwave

I love this squash. It doesn't heat the kitchen at all to cook it this way! Use your favorite spaghetti sauce and it can be heated in the microwave too.

2 to 3 pound spaghetti squash (yellow fat, oblong looking) (easy to grow yourself!)

Wash the skin and pierce with a fork, better yet make some slits with a knife, I blew one of these up one time, not putting enough holes for the steam to get out.

Take a couple of paper towels and fold them place them in your microwave. Place the squash on the paper towels .

Now every microwave oven works differently but as a general rule start with about 5 to7 minutes per pound. If your oven doesn't have a tray that turns you will need to stop and turn it two times or so. If it starts hissing, poke it again!

It will get soft when it is cooked, add time as needed for cooking.

let it rest in the oven for 10 minutes, then you should be able to pick it up with a towel.

Cut it length wise. If cooked it should have long shreds very much like spaghetti. If not put it in for 1 minute at a time.

I take a fork and pull some thread into each persons place and load on the sauce and cheese. It's wonderful food. It reheats well and freezes nicely.

makes 6 servings.

Easy spaghetti sauce: If it's hot this is a good recipe but my favorite sauce requires long cooking on the store. Another time okay..

1 pound ground beef

1 can (15 oz') tomato sauce

1 pkg spaghetti sauce seasoning (1 1/2 ounces) I just toss in my own herbs

1/2 cup V-8, tomato juice or water if needed

1 can (4 1/2 ounces) mushrooms pieces with the liquid

1 can chopped ripe olives

1/2 cup instant chopped onions (or saute some fresh ones) a fast on and off the stove issue

grated Parmesan cheese

Put meat into a 2-1/2 quart casserole with a lid. Microwave 5 minutes uncovered, stirring twice to brake up the meat as it cooks. Pour off the fat carefully. Stir in seasoning, juice, mushrooms, olives and onions. Cover. Microwave 5 minutes stirring once or twice. Serve over that yummy squash above. Sprinkle with cheeses.

I have made this for my family a number of times without telling them it was squash.

This all comes from a choice cookbook, tiny in nature, called Microwave Cooking by nitty gritty productions. printed in 1976

My copy has lots of cooking stains on the pages. A sign of lots of use.

how about some questions?

Yes it's fair season.

I become one busy Fair Superintendent

And I love it!

What I need from all my readers is a sense of direction.

My thoughts are all on the tons of paper work I process at this time of year so help me out

Ask a question, request a recipe. Maybe you need some summer activities for kids, tell me some ages. Just point me in some direction as my brain is on auto pilot for the next month.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Did you get enough Berry stuff?

Smiles

The Grammie person

expecting #11 wow!

Grandchild that is.....

what about those 6 eggs whites?

I added coconut, chopped walnuts, candied cherries I made, and chocolate bits. Drop by spoonful on parchement covered cookie sheet.

Because of the heavy ingredients I added these don't stand up, the less you add the higher the peak you can pull up with your spoon. I know the cherries and coconut added a lot of weight!

You made the Truffles/jam tart and now have 6 or 4 egg whites? When I was a teen in high school we were taught to make two cakes. One cake was a white and used the egg whites and one was a golden and used the egg yolks. They were called lady and Lord cakes. I like to make overnight cookies with egg whites and here is my recipe. No photos yet, my egg whites are still sitting in a glass in the fridge. To make this recipe you must not get any egg yolk in the egg whites. If you do wait for the cake recipe!

Cookies while you sleep

2 egg whites

1/8 teas salt

1/4 Tsp cream of tarter

2/3 to 3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup chocolate chips, the mini ones are great in these

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup chopped pecans, Opt.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. In a very clean bowl with clean beaters beat egg whites until frothy, Add cream of tartar and beat until stiff Add sugar gradually until creamy and and peaks form. Add vanilla Fold in chocolate chips and pecans if using. Drop by teaspoon full on cookie sheet lined with foil or parchment paper. These can be placed very close together. Put sheets in oven and TURN OFF the heat DO NOT OPEN until morning or for 9 to 10 hours These can be tinted a color and are nice with mint chocolate chips. Makes about 3 dozen.

4 eggs whites makes 2 cookies sheets full

Raspberry Chocolate Truffles

Have one?

These are price winning truffles. Back to my wine country days. A local would make these yummies. I've adjusted the recipe a little bit after years of making these. I'll never forget Girls night. When bleach boy and our son went on father son camp outs the girls and I would do fun things, like painting every one's nails, watching chick flicks and one of our favorites was rolling these yummy chocolate truffles in cocoa.

Ingredients

1/2 pound of Semisweet chocolate chips (I used some of my bar chocolate and my remaining chocolate chips this time)

6 egg yolks carefully separated with all little white bits removed

1/2 cup butter

1 1/2 Cups powdered sugar

1 Teas raspberry flavoring or just vanilla if you can't find the other.

6 tablespoons of cocoa

30 perfect raspberries. These are also wonderful with blue berries or any little berry you might pick.

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler. Avoid getting any steam into the bowl

Beat in the egg yolks, one at a time. It's best to separate an egg one at a time so you don't mistakenly get shell or white in the whole batch. So crack, separate, add. I just used a spoon to beat in the yolks. You are still working over the heat so your eggs yolks will get cooked in the mixture.

Stir in the butter and remove from the heat, once again avoid the steam!

add in the powdered sugar and vanilla or raspberry flavoring. Chill until you can form the mixture into a small ball. This can take a while to thicken.

Form into small balls. I drop the dough into the cocoa and use the cocoa to keep the sticky from my hands as I roll a ball. Make a little dent in the center and add what ever berry you collected!

The Truffles will need to stay in the fridge to stay firm. Remove them before serving. Can you believe this makes about 30!

Birthday packages reminds me of making bows

I am looking for the directions for these cute hair braids. I have them somewhere

There are two ways to make ribbon roses this is my easiest

This is my sisters directions for putting tiny roses on pre-made or handmade bows loops.

This is the Cinderella style bows!

With the birthday over my mind goes to the pretty little hair things you can make for children's hair. All over the Internet are fun things to buy or make for hair. I'm wondering if my pages on bow making will help you come up with your own creative ideas? I kept a wooden box of supplies so I could make a hair "pretty", for any of the four girls, on a moments notice. I could make a cute bow and then sew a fancy button or a shaped button in the center. I kept hair clips, ribbon, buttons, beads and such in my box. So look over these drawings and see if you can figure out how to use them for something fun. I will work on better directions when the visiting grandkids have headed home. Right now I'm hugging the baby and tossing balls up and down the stairs with the 2 year old!

I went to a bridal shower today and we made toilet tissue wedding dresses and I'd say two of the three dresses had a bow on it!

My bow directions come by way of a year of floral design in college, and other classes I've taken.

Enjoy and pass along your ideas.

Happy Birthday Cheryl

Our 4th child has a summer birthday.

It seemed like we celebrated while camping, or on the way to visit one of the grandparent families. Later it was Girl Scout camp or some other camp that occurred during her birthday.

Cheryl was one of the "late" arrival girls. She was over due and bleach boy was wearing down from the mid-night false alarms. Her claim to fame is that I took something to start labor and it worked! That or the long walk, which never worked before.

Baby Cheryl was always know for her big smile and happy out look, and Frogs.

I hope she is having a happy day seems once again Summer events are getting in the way of her special day. But we won't forget it! Happy Birthday, born in the 1980's, Cheryl

What happened in 1981.

Oh it wasn't a very interesting year really. Ronald Reagan became the 40th president.

Raiders of the lost Arch with Harrison Ford was released.

MTV was first released on TV.

Luke and Laura marry on the U.S. soap opera General Hospital; it is the highest-rated hour in daytime television history.

Not much more to report!

Go to the Movies!

Want to do something really fun? Take the kids to see the 3D movie 'Journey to the Center of the earth'. Here in the Seattle area it is only playing in Monroe and Seattle. The Monroe theater is behind the Fred Myer. Just one block East of the 522 hwy. When you get off 522 get in the far left lane coming off the fwy as you will need to get into the left hand turn lane right away as it has a cement runner blocking you from getting over if you are too late.

We went today to Monroe and had a wonderful, laughter filled time. The movie was Kid Safe in that every problem had a safe (albeit not possible) fairly quick solution. All danger passed quickly and the 3D effects were really fun all the way through the credits even.

The movie was a bit pricey. Nine dollars at the 4:45 pm time slot but maybe it's because of those sturdy 3-D glasses we all received and were told to keep for the next 3D movie. Even one of the movie pre-views was in 3-D so we got to run a bit of a test before the movie.

Now don't be confused like we were. Seems TWO movie were released by the same name. The 3D run of Journey to the Center of the Earth has Brandon Frasier the other movie does not.

So take the kids to a really fun adventure, some great laughs, some dazzling "BIG" things and hopefully it won't make your head spin like it did me! he he

Enduring little things so we can handle Big things

On our way home from Canada last Friday we were stopped for nearly two hours in really hot direct sun. It was the border and it was Friday and it was at a stand still in our lane. Bleach boy had this same problem getting out of the U.S and going into Canada. He choose a lane and it never moved. Turned out a bus had blocked it. The reader boards said 5 minutes to cross and it took over 45 minutes. However the trip home was a test of even my Patience. No air conditioning, past lunch time, sun right on my leg and arm and our lane wasn't moving and the other three lanes were. I could see bleach boy start to really seem unhappy. My mind was processing the following points.

1) bleach boy couldn't know his lane was not a good one

2) No one was going to care if I was getting a nasty sunburn

3) If I got cranky and bleach boy got cranky it would make the wait even longer

4) The only thing I did have control over was my mood.

Now I skip to my favorite little book "Don't sweat the small stuff and it's all small stuff" Once I got home from my vacation I got my book out and looked for the following advice. This book came out in 1997 and I still remember many of it's lessons.

13.

Become more Patient

The quality of patience goes along way toward your goal of creating a more peaceful and loving self.The more patient you are, the more accepting you will be of what is, rather than insisting that life be exactly as you would like it to be. Without patience, life is extremely frustrating, you are easily annoyed, bothered, and irritated. Patience adds a dimension of ease and acceptance to your life. It's essential for inner peace.

Becoming more patient involves opening your heart to the present moment, even if you don't like it. If you are stuck in a traffic jam , late for an appointment, opening to the moment would mean catching yourself building a mental snowball before your thinking got out of hand and gently reminding yourself to relax. It might also be a good time to breathe as well as an opportunity to remind yourself that, in the bigger scheme of things, being late is "small Stuff".

Patience also involves seeing the innocence in others. My wife, kris, and I have two Young children ages four and seven. On many occasions while writing this book , our four-year old daughter has walked into my office and interrupted my work, which can be disruptive to a writer. what I have learned to do (most of the time) is to see the innocence in her behavior rather than to focus on the potential implications of her interruption. (I won't get my work done, I'll lose my train of thought, this was my only opportunity to write today." and so forth).......I have found that , if you look deeply enough, you can almost always see the innocence in other people as well as in potentially frustrating situations. when you do, you will become a more patient and peaceful person and , in some strange way, you begin to enjoy many of the moments that used to frustrate you.

He now reminds us to take our irritations out of things and allow patience to take over, you can practice in little 5 minutes sessions. When something is not going your way allow yourself 5 minutes of not being bothered by it. OK so I did that very thing at the U.S. border

First in the peace of my practice of patience I remembered I had poured lemonade in our water bottles and put them in an ice box on the seat. I fetched those out and bleach boy and I had a moment of relief. Just enough to change the mood. So I suggested I read aloud the book we have been sharing for nearly a year. That helped tons to get our minds off our long wait. The longer the wait went the more I practiced this patience and I remembered some Caramel's in my back pack and found a way to dig those out. Then some music that I'm sure truly bugged bleach boy as it was all in French but it was better to turn his attention to the African lady singing in French and it was calming to me. So we survived the 2 hour, no lie, wait at the border in the line that didn't move. We finished our book, a long time goal we have had, and we survived in style, and sometimes that's the best thing of all!

Our lives are jam packed with things we can't control. More and more each day things are happening that makes it harder for us to control things. Isn't now a good time to start the Patience practice periods? Say that 10 times! You will save your perspective if you can develop patience. In light of showing patience you will find amazing ways to cope to survive!

Good luck and I'm sure you will get an opportunity to practice most any moment in your life as a mommy and wife and women and neighbor and student and on and on. Lots and lots of practice.

OH a new addition to the play house

Wish I'd taken a photo before dark. When the kids were all little bleach boy built an amazing play area, bridges, multi-platforms, all kinds of fun things to play on. When we moved all we took was the drinking fountain and the fireman's pole. This evening bleach boy installed the old fireman's' pole in the play area. He'd like some kids to test it. Yes I know Shannon you tested the trip line swing and hit a tree but your dad seems to think this has less risk! So who will test the fireman's pole first? I do need a photo of a kid going down it after all.

devils club, pretty berries don't eat

As you can see by the BIG thorns this plant is called Devils club for a reason. Right now the berries are turning ripe and a very pretty red and no longer green as they were last week. Don't eat them!

Though the berries are poisonous they have been used by natives groups to kill lice (mashed up and put on body) and other parts of the plant has other medical uses.

how about skunk cabbage

"Skunk cabbage like many other members of the arum family contain sharp crystals of calcium Oxalate. If any part of a Skunk cabbage is put in your mouth the crystals can become embedded in our mucous membranes and provoke intense irritation and burning." SO DO WE WANT TO EAT ANY PART OF THESE?

The Native peoples of Canada seemed to think if the birds didn't want to eat something they didn't either. So skunk cabbage seems to be left alone and so shall we leave it be!

blue berry pie

My friend Marie McKell, long ago and far away used to make this pie. Wow is it good. Wish I had some blue berries to show you how. But you go a head and try this recipe and maybe you will have some photos to pass along to me. It's a cool summer treat.

Blue Berry pie

3 cups fresh blue berries

1/4 cup cornstarch

1 1/2 cup water

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons honey

1 tablespoons lemon juice

1/4 teas salt

1/8 to 1/4 teas of nutmeg

1 9" pre-baked pie shell (the recipe with my raspberry pie works well)

whipping cream for topping

Rinse and drain the blueberries. Place 1 cup of blueberries in a 3 quart saucepan. Crush with a potato masher.

Stir corn starch into the water and stir until smooth. Add to the blueberry mixture in the saucepan, also add sugar, honey, lemon juice, salt and nutmeg. Stir until well blended.

Now add in the remaining berries and leave them un-mashed. Stir over medium high heat until you bring the mixture to a boil. (yes you can do this in your microwave!) Just stir often.

Reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes or until berries are cooked.

Cool before pouring into pre-cooked pie shell. Cover and chill for at least 1 hours.

Serve with whipped cream. Serve the same day as making.

Chicken and Raspberry sandwich

The berry recipe of the day is a long time favorite of mine. It goes back to my days in wine country, California. I've had a lot of years of enjoying this sandwich. Try it like it is and then change it as you wish. Something about just that combination is really good. Enjoy!

Chicken and Raspberry Sandwich

1 french roll or 2 slices of french sandwich bread

Raspberry mayonnaise (below)

1 small red onion, cut into slices for rounds

half a chicken breast or 4 to 5 ounces of roasted or Sauteed chicken meat

Shredded red cabbage

Fresh raspberries (or try another type of berry)

Split the rolls. Spread them liberally with Raspberry Mayonnaise. Place some rounds of onion on the bread and top with the chicken of your choose. Top the chicken with some shredded cabbage. Top with fresh raspberries. Place on a serving plates and and top with a big scoop of raspberry mayonnaise. Garnish the plate with more fresh berries.

Oh this is good!

Raspberry mayonnaise (in a pinch I just mash up berries and add to commerical mayo)

1 egg

1 egg yolk

2 cloves garlic peeled

2 teaspoons mustard if you wish OPT

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 cup of olive oil

4 tablespoons of raspberry vinegar (or what ever vinegar you have)

dash of salt

This is blender work.

Place eggs, garlic, mustard and extra virgin olive oil in a blender and blend at top speed for 15 seconds. Turn blender to low and slowly drizzle in 1/2 cup of the other olive oil. Slowly add the raspberry vinegar. Add the Sugar and salt. Continue to blend at high speed and slowly drizzle in the remaining olive oil.

Recipe from 'A cooks tour of Sonoma' by Michele Anna Jordan

Berry recipe time

It was a brooding day for our drive home.

Vacation coming to an end. I always savor every moment. This is lunch on the Howe sound. A beautiful place even with a stormy sky.

After a nearly 2 hour wait at the U.S. border and with no air conditioning and direct sun I have decided not to ever do the border again on a Friday. NO U.S licence plates in any of the lines we could see during the 2 hours. The cars were being searched one after the other. We got to the booth and in about a minute we were welcomed home and sent on our way!

So now that I have shown you a bunch of tasty wild berries (we all know how many black berries we have in the area) I am going to give you a bunch of really good recipes to use these or any berries. All loved and tested by my family. So be ready to try them while the berries are in season.

my best berry pie recipe

I just returned from my vacation and my daughter left a bowl of fresh picked Raspberries from my bushes.

Everyone loves this recipe. I made this pie from Raspberries I picked on my way out the door for our vacation last week. I didn't even take a photo so you have to trust me this is a great pie recipe! Everyone that eats it wants more. You can use any berry, or even peaches. I mixed strawberries and Raspberries this time. I am a spinner. That means I have spinning wheels and Cashgora goats and once a lot of angora rabbits. As a spinner I like to get together with others and spin. One summer day as a big bunch of us were enjoying spinning under the maple trees the hostess brought out a pie. I loved it and this is her recipe I jotted on a tiny sticky note!

Berry or Peach Pie

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 cup sugar

2 cups boiling water

3 ozs of strawberry, or raspberry or peach jello

Combine cornstarch and sugar, stir well

Add the boiling water, bring to a boil on med.

Remove from stove and add Jello, Stir well

Chill until syrupy.

Pre-make a baked 9 inch pie shell.

(here is the recipe I learned in high school, easy and it works)

1 cup flour

1/2 teas. salt

1/3 cup shortening plus 1 Tablespoon

3 tablespoons cold water

mix flour and salt, Cut in shortening, add cold water 1 tablespoon at a time

Stir until holds into a ball

On a piece of plastic wrap pat into a flat circle Lay another piece of plastic wrap over the top. Do not let it seal on the bottom sheet of plastic. Keep lifting it up if it does

With rolling pin roll until about 3 inches larger than your pie pan. Remove top plastic and lay into pie pan dough side down. Remove bottom plastic and gently coax pastry into pan. Make a nice rolled edge. (do we need a lesson on this?)

This is a must. Lay a piece of foil shiny side toward pie and form it within the pie shell. Trim it so it doesn't cover up your rolled edge. Now fill it with dry beans or rice.

Bake at 475 degrees F. for 10-12 minutes until rolled edge is brown. I take the crust out of the oven and lift the foil and beans out and let it cook long enough to brown in the oven. By this point the crust is not going to bubble or drop to the bottom of the pan.

cool completely

Finish the pie by arranging the berries or peaches any pretty way you wish in the cooked pie shell. fill it full! Carefully pour in the syrupy jello mixture. Be sure to cover all the areas and do not over fill or you will have it slip under your crust and make it soggy.

Chill for several hours or until set and firm.

Top with whipped cream and serve cold!

wild red raspberry, small

This is a vine

Many berry plants are not.

This is the only raspberry I saw all week and I was up high on a ridge.

Red Huckle berries, yum yum

The leaves are the hint here. Oval, smooth sided. All the raspberries have teeth on the leave edges. Not all red berries are bad for you. Huckleberries are very good! I didn't eat any this year so few were ripe.

Black Cap raspberries

This is my first black cap. I'm pretty sure that is what this is. They are tasty I ate a good handful. You can see the leaves are in groups of three to five. Very dark green also. I didn't find very many bushes of any of the Raspberries. It just may be the time of year. They are common up here.

thimble berry unripe

As you can see the Thimble berries are in different stages of being ripe. Some are still in flower. As you can see the leaves look like maple leaves. One big one. Where as the raspberries and salmon berries have three to five leaflet per stem. Knowing the leaves and seeing the flowers helps a lot.

You can eat these berries when ripe.