Better Homes and Gardens Magazine has a delicious looking and easy recipe called TOMATO AND RED ONION SALAD. Here it is straight from the July 2008 issue:
- Choose as you please a variety of heirloom and farmstead tomatoes - whole, sliced, and cut in wedges - for a colorful salad.
- Prep: 25 min. Stand: 25 min.
- 1 medium red onion, sliced 1/4 inch thick
- 1/2 cup cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 8 cups tomatoes, cut (about 3 lb.)
- In a medium bowl combine 4 cups ice cold water and 2 teaspoons salt; stir to dissolve salt. Add onion slices; stir gently to separate rings. Let stand 20 minutes; drain.
- Meanwhile, for Sweet-Sour Dressing, in small bowl whisk together vinegar, sugar, and 3/4 teaspoon each salt and freshly ground black pepper. In extra-large bowl combine tomatoes and drained onions Add dressing; gently toss to coat. let stand 5 minutes. Serves 6 to 8.
Some of our balcony tomatoes are in the bowl and peeking her little nose (as usual) into whatever is happening around the house is our little imp Miss Riley. Riley has an almost twin brother, Rocky. The ruler of the house is Teddy (Theodorable). They each have their own story (for another time). All three cats have well trained staff!
We were up and at 'em early today. After watering the tomatoes and the herbs, I was off to the gym for my date with the treadmill. Walk, walk, walk. Good for the bad back.
Dick was off to his drawing class. Retirement for him has been fun. Last fall he took a continuing education drawing class at a local college. The class was called "You Too Can Draw" and he found out that yes, He Too Could Draw! He did a portrait of the grandson and it really does look like the little guy. This summer he decided to take a real beginning drawing class from the museum art school. So far so good. And, it keeps him inside in the AC.
One of the other things on Dick's retirement list is getting back to golf. It's been a very long time since he has played and his clubs could be considered antiques! He's taken a few classes through Leisure Learning and Golf Galaxy, been out to the driving range, and has played a couple of rounds of best ball. When we go to a bookstore, instead of the history or mystery section, he's of to the sports section to see what's new in golf.
Stay cool and have a good day!
Once we decided that the garden will be a memorial to Musashi what was next? It was list time. What did we really want in the backyard that would make us happy? What were we looking for? SANCTUARY in very big letters.
- We wanted a garden we could enjoy all year.
- We wanted a garden that was critter friendly.
- I wanted a place for herbs and maybe a few vegetables.
The list went on and on. About the same time I was reading a book titled THE SANCTUARY GARDEN by Christopher Forrest McDowell and Tricia Clark-McDowell. This little book helped me gather my thoughts and feelings.
I admit the whole garden process has been an experiment. Some plants haven't worked at all and were replaced. One plant I had to have was roses. One of Musashi's favorite places was the balcony where he would sit under the roses and watch the birds, squirrels and people. The first two plants were a red rose and an apricot rose on either side of Musashi.
The garden has grown. We planted in containers and moved them around until we found a spot they liked. We have two lime trees that are in the ground and a tangerine and satsuma orange that are in containers. Green beans, herbs (peppermint, cat nip, lavender, rosemary, sage). Red and gold Ixora. Plumbago. Purple trumpet vines. Penta of all colors. Amaryllis. Camellia. Gardenia.
Musashi's Garden is a garden of comfort. We share this small space with critters we like to watch. We have successfully provided a habitat and features to attract different birds, toads, frogs, butterflies. It is a special place that we enjoy year round.
Gardens talk to you. All you have to do is sit and listen. The special sound the leaves in the trees make when the wind blows. Birds singing and calling to each other or letting us know it is time to hurry up and put food in the feeder! (We don't feed them on the ground anymore.) Squirrels chattering. Wind chimes. Water in the fountains. The buzz of a bee or mosquito. At night the sounds of the toads and frogs.
Gardens have the power to heal, soothe and stimulate. Did you know the word "paradise" comes from a Persian term for garden? We have our own little paradise right here on earth.
When we moved into our home nine years ago our postage stamp backyard was all grass. My husband and I learned quickly that weed wacking the grass was not the way to go! We both agreed that buying a lawn mover for what little grass we had was silly and grass wasn't what we wanted in the first place! We hired various companies for suggestions about what to do with the space. The bids we received were for amazing amounts of money or simply designs we didn't like. We decided to take the plunge and do what we felt like doing.
We hired someone to come and remove the sod and rototill where we wanted planting space (part of which is in the five foot utility easement). My husband (Dick) spent time with pencil and graph paper designing the brick walk and patio he was going to build. The work went slowly - mainly ideas only - until our beloved kitty Musashi passed over the Rainbow Bridge. Our garden became a loving memory to Musashi - Musashi's Garden.
At the first baseball dinner of the year Coach Graham said it was going to be a very interesting year. He wasn't kidding. This year has been a cardiac stress test for Rice baseball fans. We've had no idea what we were going to see when we got to the ballpark. If anyone had told us when the team was 8-7 we would be going to Omaha for the College World Series for the third time in three years, we wouldn't have believed them.
If you've guessed by now the Owls won their super regional against Texas A&M you'd be correct -- by the skin of their teeth.
Because Rice is a small university, baseball season ticket holders are like an extended family. You know the names of the fans sitting around you in your section and usually something about them and their family. You exchange email addresses and telephone numbers to keep in touch during the off season because you really do miss them when baseball season is over. You meet the players. You realize that Rice has successfully combined the student with the athlete. Listening to the team last night at the after game celebration was a joy. These are articulate young men who are a pleasure to be around no matter how much stress they've put us through.
Fans always have their favorite players. One player everyone has been rooting for is Jimmy Comerota. He started the year as our utility infielder. If someone needed a day off, Jimmy got to play. Our second baseman suffered a season ending injury and suddenly Jimmy became the starting second baseman. The fans watched Jimmy mature as a defensive and offensive player and (even Coach Graham agrees) one of the best second basemen in college baseball. To put the icing on the cake, Jimmy is also an excellent student. Go Jimmy Baseball!
No matter what may happen in Omaha in 2008, we are proud of our Owls. GO OWLS!
