Making Summer Memories

Summer is my favorite season, and as we enter the last weeks of it I'm usually a little sad. Fall is my least favorite time of the year, and leads into winter, which always ends up being holiday disasterfest in some form or another for me. This year, however, summer has been so filled with fun and joy I think it will carry me through the darker months.

Life can be like a garden if you plant enough good ideas, love and kindness. A dear friend sent me some seeds last year, one of which grew into this delicious watermelon. I'll never forget the delight of seeing it grow, harvesting it, tasting it and sharing it with our neighbors. This is just one of the happy things that happened this summer.

Taking off a week and a half to spend time with these two also made my summer bright. They filled my birthday with light. They fill me with light. I'm ready for whatever fall and winter bring now. :)

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Make It Yourself

As we head into December, here are ten ideas for easy handmade gifts: Cookie Exchange: If you live close to your friends invite them over for a cookie exchange. Basically everyone bakes a set amount of their favorite cookies, and these are exchanged at the gathering by lottery, sharing a little from each batch with everyone, or however you want to do it. You can also exchange recipes, too. My neighbor did this once and it was wonderful. Favorite Recipe Cookbook : For my favorite person I found a copy of my favorite cookbook from a vintage bookseller (yes, I am that old) and went through it making notes on all the recipes I used, how I tweaked them, etc. Ornament: There are probably a million free tutorials on how to make your own holiday ornaments, so do some research online. I like to make hanging pomanders , which smell heavenly and are biodegradable after the holidays. Mug Rugs: If you sew, making up a set of mug rugs is simple and easy; I add these every year to my ...

Better than Fried

I cut some chives from the kitchen garden to make garlic-chive baked fries for dinner. This is a great side dish for veggie burgers. Click here for the recipe from Taste of Home.com.

In the Kitchen Garden

Our strawberries are taking over the kitchen garden, but I don't mind. This week I want to make some strawberry banana nice cream (a vegan version of ice cream) and maybe a chocolate cake with berries and cream for the topping. There's thyme in the garden now, too, which I'll dry and jar for cooking along with the chives and the oregano. Next we'll plant cucumbers, as I use a ton of those in our salads and for snacks.

Rayen

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