The First Weekend in July

I'm a little miffed that June left without even saying goodbye, but I guess I'll get over it since July is taking June's place. July is hot, busy, the heart of the summer. It's farmer's markets and far too many weddings and fireworks.

This weekend, I'm engaging all three of those activities, in that order.

This morning, it was the most bountiful farmer's market visit yet. For only $20, I came away with:

The old standards: tomatoes, green beans, and potatoes.


Beautiful blueberries (from Michigan, as I think we're done with that season here; but still, buying fresh fruit from the region at the farmer's market beats the pants off of blueberries picked who knows how long ago and shipped from California).


The first Illinois peaches of the summer. (Which inevitably lead to me to sing "Millions of peaches, peaches for me. Millions of peaches, peaches for free." Only they weren't quite free.)


The first Illinois corn of the summer, plus a lovely little spaghetti squash and some onions.


Oh, and a little treat for me.


I passed on a few staples that were in abundance–namely, cucumbers, zucchini, and peppers—as I'm about to pick my own from the front-yard garden.

And so there you have it. The first of the three Fs.

Then tonight, comes the first of the July weddings—after a stop at the pool for a few hours to get some sun.

And tomorrow? The fireworks, of course. And perhaps a bit of grilling, because isn't that what the Fourth of July is for?

Have a safe and happy Fourth of July, dear readers. I hope yours is full of fresh local food, good friends, and fun.

A Quiet 4th

Had it not been for the fireworks we watched in L-Town last night (a pretty great show for a small town, I have to say), I might have forgotten it was the 4th of July weekend.

That's what happens when it rains—really rains—all day on the 4th. That rain thwarted my plans to ride my bike around town to garage sales, to the farmer's market, to the flea market and to any other action I could find celebrating Independence Day in downtown L-Town. It prevented me from laying by the pool for the first time all summer and from hanging out at a backyard cookout.

But that's OK. It did allow me to work on my midterm exam for environmental law, do some cleaning, and bake some cookies that we took to Conservative Boy's buddy's house. We sat in the garage, still managed to grill, and all in all had an enjoyable evening, even if it wasn't the blue skies 4th everyone expects.

And yesterday the weather turned out to be perfect, so after finishing my exam I managed to get in a dog walk and a bike ride before heading next door for a 50th birthday luau for our neighbor. And then on to the fireworks.


In other news, you'll be shocked (OK, not at all), but the cookies I made were sugar cookies. With a twist: Conservative Boy made the frosting. Well, at least he added the food coloring. So the hues were intense. We're talking Play-Doh intense. He actually decided after making the frosting colors that he wanted to start his own "intense" cooking show. But it would have to be HBO so he could throw the f-bomb. Because that's intense.

Conservative Boy also arranged the cookies. I have to admit, he continues to amaze me. He was serious about arranging these cookies. After he'd finished, he stared at the plate for a while because something just wasn't quite right. Then he adjusted the cookies a bit. Then they were perfect and we could finally go to the BBQ.

Oh, and did I mention we watched a lot of HGTV and DIY this weekend? And no, I didn't turn on the TV. It was Conservative Boy. Something has come over him—and I think I like it.