FIRST DAY OF AUGUST 2010

In Manchester, NH Ahhhhh relief with humidity low and the temperatures starting out below 60 this morning...yes I saw 58 degrees early this morning now with the sun breaking through I feel mildly warm a good warm with the fans actually producing a chill though my mind is thinking refreshing and this recipe is it. I thought I would start out with sharing this first thing with you. I love cucumbers and the seedless variety is the best tasting I think. They are sometimes called European cukes too!

Little Cucumber Boats

Vegetarian Times Issue: November 1, 2004 p.100

These are simple to prepare but look fancy. Use the long, ridged cucumbers (known as English, Dutch, hothouse or seedless) because they contain less water and fewer seeds.

Ingredient List

Makes 8 dinner servings, 24 appetizers

1 seedless cucumber, about 1 foot long

7 oz. feta cheese

1 Tbs. sour cream

2 Tbs. orange juice

1 Tbs. finely chopped mint

1 Tbs. finely snipped chives

1 1/2 tsp. orange zest

Salt to taste

Chopped chives for garnish

2 juice oranges, thinly sliced and pitted for garnish

Directions

Trim ends of cucumber, and cut in half crosswise, then lengthwise. Scoop out seeds. Blot cut sides with paper towel.

Crumble feta into bowl. Add sour cream, orange juice, mint, chives, orange zest and salt; mash with fork. Add a little water, if needed—mixture should be more creamy than crumbly.

Mound filling into cucumber halves. Cut stuffed cucumber into 1-inch pieces.

Place on orange slices, and garnish with additional chives. Divide among 8 salad plates, or arrange on party platter.

Nutritional Information

Per SERVING: Calories: 25, Protein: 1g, Total fat: 2g, Saturated fat: 1g, Carbs: 1g, Cholesterol: 10mg, Sodium: 95mg, Fiber: g, Sugars: 1g

Cucumbers 2010

Everything is flourishing outside at Glenna's Garden. This was a particularly good year so far and we still are only a little more than half way. The heat from **** didn't help! We survived. Higher than normal electric bills and water bills. Even the indoor plants took it hard because they are in a room off the studio and some are in the studio near big windows and not in an airconditioned space so while the humidity was nice it really was a bit too much for these Northern plants of mine. The pomegranate bush is so nicely filling out and is doing great this summer. The avocado tree went crazy and the cacti loved the heat of course.

The next ETSY event is coming up in just a few days firstfridayartwalk on August 6, 2010 use the search words aweteam, firstfridayartwalk and ffaw while shopping at ETSY to find all the great shops like mine www.gnormyle.etsy.com that are participating. I am on the AWEteam so if you have any questions you can always ask me. Free to join and lots of fun. All Etsy shops can participate at level 1 and use the tag word firstfridayartwalk on their items they list in their shops. We are a yahoo based group for which I am a co-moderator. Visit our blog at http://www.aweteam.blogspot.com/

MUGGY MONDAY

 AC is on today! The indoor plants are in a closed off in a room off my studio so they are loving this! The onion that was yellow and growing like crazy in the dark yesterday has instantly turned green once it was exposed to light today. I always enjoy growing an onion that has sprouted. I use the shoots and chop them up. They are strong so you don't need much. I have an avocado tree growing indoors....it will be a long time before I see fruit on it. Outdoors the huge lilac bush I mean the really big one is so pungent right now. I was out in the evening last night and it wasn't long before the lovely smell was wafting my way. I will have to pick some and bring it indoors.

Citrus Avocado Dressing

1 ripe avocado, mashed

juice of 1 lemon

juice of 1 lime

1 clove garlic, crushed

1/4 cup dark olive oil

Whisk all ingredients together and refrigerate to thicken.

Variation: add chopped fresh cilantro, as much or little as desired.

Use this dressing as a marinade for fish or chicken, or tossed with a pile of fresh veggies.

Pineapple Nut Bread
Two mixing bowls.
One small
One large.

3-cups all purpose flour
3/4–teaspoon Salt
1-teaspoon baking soda
2-cups sugar
1-teaspoon ground cinnamon
1-cup chopped pecan
3-eggs, beaten
1-cup vegetable oil
2-cups mashed ripe bananas
1-(8-ounce) can crushed pineapple, drained
2-teaspoon pure vanilla extract

In the large bowl...combine the first five ingredients; then stir in pecans.

In the small bowl combined remaining ingredients; then add this to flour mixture, stirring by hand just until dry ingredients are just moistened.

Spoon batter into 2 greased and floured standard size loaf pans. Bake at 350 for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans for 5 minutes; remove from pans, and let cool on wire racks.

This vintage cat card is available in shop Glenna's Garden

Please visit http://www.gnormyle.etsy.com/