Summer is Good

We've been experiencing a heat wave here in southwestern Pennsylvania. It is SO very hot, but I don't want to complain because this is the weather I was dreaming about all winter long! We have many trees which provide some wonderful shady spots to sit and enjoy a popsicle. And...every once in a while, a nice breeze gives a welcome relief.

I have been patiently waiting for my tomatoes to ripen. I think maybe a couple more weeks until I get to bite into the first red one. A little salt and pepper on top, and I am in heaven!



Yesterday, my husband and I took our two boys to two different local farms. One is a dairy farm which we go to frequently, and one is a farm that grows fruits, veggies, flowers and such. We bought so many wonderful things....I was so excited! I forgot to take my camera, so I am not able to share with you all the wonderful things that filled our day.

At Brunton's dairy farm, we bought our usual 4 glass bottles, 1/2 gallon each, of 2% white milk. We also treated the boys to a 1/2 gallon of strawberry milk that's only sold during the summer months, and a 1/2 gallon of THE BEST chocolate milk in the world! Brunton's is known far and wide in this county and the next county over, for their wonderful fresh milk...and whoever you talk to, raves about the chocolate milk!! It is so THICK, and so CREAMY, with just the right amount of chocolate.

At Janoski's Farm, we bought their homegrown black raspberries, dill, zucchini, pickle cucumbers, corn on the cob, peaches and tomatoes.


I can't even tell you how much I appreciate food fresh from the farm! We are so lucky to live in a place where there are farms all around us. I am in love with this. Farms are life!

When I was walking through the market at Janoski's it almost brought tears to my eyes to see all the beautiful homegrown food....sweet corn just picked from the stalks, soft fuzzy peaches, plump tomatoes that have been allowed to ripen on the vine...



bunches of freshly cut dill fragrantly filling the air, and perfect, tiny, black raspberries, just waiting to be eaten or baked into a cobbler.







I love to live where food is grown. That is one of the many reasons why I love Pennsylvania.

So..tonight, I will cook the corn for dinner, I will be looking for a recipe for a perfectly rustic raspberry cobbler...my dill has been rinsed and is hanging to dry from my dining room chandelier, the peaches are tucked away nicely in a brown paper bag to soften on the counter top, and the zucchini will find it's way into a cake with cream cheese frosting this Sunday. Oh life is good. It's just the way it should be. It's summer, fresh fruits and veggies are filling our kitchen, ice tea is the beverage of choice and fireflies greet us every evening with a twinkling "hello".

Yes, all is right with the world here in southwestern Pennsylvania.