Hello, It has been a long time. Since the last post in August there have been a few happenings. First off, a ruthless heatwave set in and devastated my garden-the lovely watermelon I was caring for (pictured previous post) split straight in half. Tomato horn worms set in and ate the few remaining tomatoes on the vine. Pictured here is the final salad of the season with our tomatoes...

Red and Yellow Tomatoes, Feta Cheese, Red Onion Slices and Basil.

I also found out some fabulous news-I am with child (a boy!) once again. shortly after finding out the exciting news, I turned into a pregnant zombie and barely ate a thing (thanks to a hideous bought of morning sickness) and slept most of the time (day and night).  I have emerged somewhat from this zombie like trance and now have a bit more energy. I am hoping to step once again into the kitchen and greet my cupboards with enthusiasm.

I recently read and recommend Omnivores Dilemma by Micheal Pollen which is such a body of information in regards to food and farming in the US.

Articles like this...(yikes):  Junk Food Turns Rats into Addicts inspires us around here to plant our fall crop (now that the weather has cooled) as well as look forward once again to our CSA box every week.

I think I feel unusually fond about this watermelon baby....

And then these Babes are growing up so fast:

Baby Pumpkin too...

Have a splendid week end.

Recently, the man and I took a day trip to Descanso Gardens. Descanso Gardens is an expansive set of land in Los Angeles just a few miles from Pasadena. The gardens (100 plus acres) offer native plant varieties, Japanese landscape and an impressive fern valley. While walking through the gardens, it is hard to believe that the urban jungle of LA is just over the hill. The gardens are beautiful and offer children a good time as well (an enchanted railroad ride!).

Also on the property is a fancy home that belonged to the owner of the property once upon a time. The home sported some lovely bits of beauty....

The 5 tomato plants in the garden are producing tomatoes non stop. I am so happy about this-I can eat 5-8 tomatos a day if required. The abundance led me to this delicious and very easy tomato salsa-

• Chop your tomatos (about 2-3 Cups)

• Cilantro minced 2 Tablespoons

• 1 Minced serrano chili

• 1/2 Lime Squeeze of Lime juice

• Salt and Pepper to taste

Combine and serve

The chickens are growing fast. They like to do so many things... mostly eat and poo. But, occasionally they do like to broaden their chicken horizon and do things like... go for rides:

Stand on Pigs:

Roost on Phidias(?):

And of course, look cute.

The chickens are now about 5 weeks old. The dark one is Margarita and the two brown chicks are Stacy and Jane. The daughter tossed out my idea of chips and salsa.... We often find ourselves referring to them as the ladies (in hopes that there are no rooster surprises). The ladies are a very welcome addition to our family. We are hoping for eggs in December (they must be about 5 months old!).

Recently, a friend and I attended a benefit to promote the eat local movement. There we had the opportunity to do many things, notable: Eat Kale Chips.

So, I knew, I had to try them. Buy yourself a bushel of kale. Wash and chop.

Spread onto a cookie sheet and drizzle with olive oil and salt. Bake at 350 F for 15-25 minutes depending on your oven. Bake until the kale chips are crunchy and a few shades darker.

You may be thinking, "Kale Chips. Ew." Really, you should give it a go, you will be surprised.

Pickled Grapes are a lovely sensation for your mouth. Seen here: Pickled Grapes

Amazing as pickled grapes are, what I really want to talk about is the weather. I live in Southern California and I am donning a sweater and the daughter just asked if we could light a fire and do some sewing....and it is August!

Aside from that, the chickens are adjusting well. I would like to post additional pictures but Typepad is not allowing this. Technical difficulties make me sigh. More soon.

Welcome to the chicks: Margarita, Stacey and Jane. The chicks are officially 2 weeks old, growing, healthy, pooing, peeping and eating.

We are anxiously awaiting our chicken coop supplies....more on that soon. For now, the chicks are brooding in a large plastic box. They sometimes view the kitchen, the bathroom, the backyard and even the daughter's room. More on all this soon... In the meantime, good times teaching the chicks to drink water.....

Delicious! We can't stop making these and dipping them into hummus or salsa.......

• Four tortillas.....cut them into chips

• Place on a cookie sheet and drizzle vegetable oil and salt onto

• Bake at 350 for 10 minutes until golden brown

• Serve warm

Sno-cones made at home. Need I say more? This is the official hot day snack of the summer around here......

All you need is a frozen bag of fruit. Toss it in the blender/processor with a few drops of boiling water-puree.

Top onto crushed ice..... enjoy.