Mud Pie

These are our pics from our Spain night that we forgot to include in our previous blog.




Along with exercising, sewing, and reading, cooking made it onto my summer "musts" list. Having a garden lends itself to cooking expeditions. I have done everything from pick, to can, to bake, to fry this summer. I feel like my life has definitely revolved around food. Through my cooking expeditions I have undoubtedly had my ups and downs. Actually, it seems like the more I have been cooking the worse I have gotten. I can't figure it out.

I have always been an experimental cooks of sorts; rarely cooking the same thing twice. However, I have found those recipes that are just too good not to make again. This summer, and in particular over the past few weeks, I just haven't been able to figure out if my failed attempts have been bad recipes, me, or just that I am in need of a break from the kitchen. It very well could be a combination. Often times I will find myself either taking a shorter route or substituting for an ingredient that I don't have on hand. But, I will say that I have also been pretty skeptical about some of the recipes I have used. My more recent failure was a Paula Deen recipe for peach shortcakes which was in much need of some sugar to be called a dessert. I had some peaches that we had put up last year that I needed to use up. Other food flops of mine this summer have been biscuits and pie crust. I had some fried okra that just turned out mediocre, too. Should I just draw the conclusion that I wasn't meant to be a lady of the South?

On the contrary, I can say that I have also made some delish dishes this summer. On the top of the list would have to be zucchini chocolate chip cookies; a beet salad with spinach, goat cheese, and pecans; and a pretty tasty gumbo. My most successful dishes have been inspired by what the garden is producing at the time, and, like I said, I have been canning. If anything this winter, we will definitely have food. I have enjoyed learning how to preserve the harvest (extended gratitude to Sam's mom and my mom). Thankfully, even though we had a pretty long dry snap this summer, the garden has been fruitful. I have canned 25+ cans of beans (this is what I am most sick of), 13 jars of blackberry jam, 10 pints of salsa, and 12 quarts of tomato sauce. I surely take comfort in knowing where my food comes from but will not hesitate to say how much work it is.
To bring balance to all of this food, Sam and I have also started training for a 6 or 7K. I am not sure what 4.2 miles is classified as. It is not only a run but a mud run. This means that you basically submerge yourself in muddy water and then go run the race stopping about every quarter mile to do an obstacle. When you think obstacles, think boot camp. This race is put on by the USMC. Proceeds go to Marine families. I don't really know what sparked this endeavor, but Sam, Jon, Christian, and I will all embark on this together. The race is September 25th, and I have been training about a month now. Running has never really been my thing. I have always thought I was terrible at it, and it just never appealed to me. I can say that running the past month has made it less of a chore because I have seen progress. I started out being able to run .5 miles, and I have built up to 3 miles. I guess you could say I have made a lot of ground. Sam is a pretty good runner, so he hasn't had to train as much. I guess once I build up to the 4.2 miles I will start running with extra weight to simulate running with mud. The following is a link to the Mud Run if you want more information: http://www.usmcmudrun.org/

Anyways, it looks like I am going to get a break from the kitchen as we are heading out West tomorrow for one last hoorah before school starts back!

Enjoy.