It is hard to believe that Fall is here with temperatures in the 90s.  My one main concern is that with the scarcity of rain, there may not be any mushrooms.  Hopefully the temperature will cool down and the rain will come.  My crock stands empty on my counter, just waiting.

 

No one will ever know just how much pleasure my little garden on my patio has given me.  Yesterday I got enough tomatoes to make me a salad for lunch and with some fresh basil and a little onion and olive oil, you just cannot beat this.

 

It does not take much to make me happy these days but fresh produce, homegrown, can do it.

 

This morning I got a call from Marty that Rose Scalopio called him to come and pick up a mess of Swiss chard for me. Next to tomatoes chard also makes me very happy.  There are so many ways to prepare it and best of all

 

I like to prepare a little of it for the freezer.  On a cold winter day there is nothing better than a dish of minestra.  Swiss chard freezes wonderful, just par boil it, let it cool, then squeeze out all the moisture, place in a zip lock bag and place in the freezer, ready for next January.

 

Rose, I hope your arm has mended and I want you to know you make me very happy.

 

I may have told you about this desert before, but it is worth repeating.  You will need a watermelon and a jar of Amaretto liquor.  If you have never tasted Amaretto, it has a sweet almond taste and is very popular in Italy as an after-dinner drink.  Cut your watermelon in small pieces or you can use little balls.  Place the melon in a large bowl and drizzle about one cup of Amaretto over the melon.  Toss the melon and let it marinate with the liquor.  Place it in the refrigerator.  When ready to serve, place the melon in individual bowls and drizzle a couple of tablespoons of liquor over the melon and serve.  A great cool ending for a great meal.  This is a good replacement for that dish of ice cream.

 

A happy birthday to my sister, Cathy, and my nephew, Vincent and a Happy Anniversary to Joan and Virgil Smith and Cathy and Dan Fisher.  We had a lot to celebrate in August.  My dad’s birthday was in August. He was born in 1905.  A happy birthday to all you August babies.

 

Please do not miss taking advantage of those fresh produce sales, take care, take precautions against COVID and until next week “Now You Have heard It Through The Grapevine.”