A Couple Things

First, a word on Sun Tea.

Can you believe I happen to have a picture of brewing sun tea in my photos? It's 2 years old. Cory keeps telling me to weed through all of my photos, but these sorts of occasions serve as an important reminder that we just never know when a humble, unattractive photo from the past may be called upon to serve the greater good of the blogosphere and general mankind.

Sun Tea is the easiest thing Evah. People probably have different ways of doing it, but here's what I do:

Buy one of these kitschy jugs at your favorite grocery store.
Fill the jug with hot water (leaving a little room at the top).
Stir in a scant 2/3 cup of sugar.
Add 6-8 tea bags of your choosing. (Last time, I used 4 regular old green tea bags, along with 2 flavored green tea bags.)
Set the jut out in the sun and go weed your garden, kiss your babies and water your roses.
Within a couple of hours, you will have a jug of tea.
Keep it in the jug, in the fridge and watch how quickly it vanishes.


Next, a meal, to go along with the tea:

I found this recipe back in 2000 in Country Living (or was it Country Home?) magazine. It is still in one of my recipe binders and I make it at least a couple of times a year. It's easy, fresh, relatively healthy and we all love it.

First, seed and chop 6-8 Roma tomatoes. I usually do 8, because I'm all different kinds of tomatoey.

Next, cut a bunch of asparagus into 1 to 2-inch pieces. I do not have a picture of this step, or any step hereafter. Who do you think I am? Pioneer Woman?

Close your eyes and envision yourself chopping 3 cloves of garlic.

Now, heat some olive oil in your saute pan then toss in the garlic. Once that's nice and smell-goody and golden, toss in the tomatoes and the asparagus. Toss in some salt. Cook until the tomatoes start to break down. Maybe 10 minutes? Maybe 8? I don't know, I'm in Ohio and the recipe is not in front of me.

This is all from memory, baby. And I can tell you from experience - it's a scary place to be.

Once your veggies are softened up (but not too soft!) pour in one cup of white wine (I use white cooking wine, because I know no better...) Bring it to a boil, then reduce the heat and add 2 T of butta. Stir until melted. (I have taken the liberty of doubling the wine/butter "sauce". I'm a saucy gal! And so are you.) Throw a nice handful of chopped, fresh basil in and you're ready to eat.

Except for the fact that I forgot to tell you to boil some angel hair or thin spaghetti. So go do that and don't you dare curse me, because God is always watching.

Shovel some of the veggie sauce over your pasta and thank your lucky stars that fate has lead you to FPFG, the keeper of all good tomato-based recipes.

Isn't it weird to think that I was barely married and a spring chicken of just 23 years old when I had the good sense to tear this one out? I probably didn't even have wrinkles or an age spot and still, so wise!

What can I say? A stomach knows what it wants.

Finally, here's a cropped-in view of what allaya'll have taken to calling "the flower cart". An Amish man loads up two trailers with the most gorgeous hanging baskets and such and hauls them about, every day. He does not go door-to-door. He does not stop to see if I'd like anything...although holy cow, that would be phenomenal! I honestly don't know where he takes them, but I do know that he goes by our house later in the day, around 3 or 4, and his wagons are empty. The last time I saw him, he also had 4 smallish-to-small children on the wagon. Sometimes, when it's raining, he covers himself up with this blue tarp.

It's all quite fascinating. But mostly, it's beautiful. It's the picture of serenity, to me.