These are the days...

Tomatoes

 

Credits Here and Here

Everyone who knows me knows how much I LOVE tomatoes! I was spoiled living in California by having an abundance of gorgeous heirloom tomatoes. There's really nothing like them. So, you can imagine that I was thrilled to learn that Ruskin, Florida was the "tomato capital of the nation". However, when I got here, I had the hardest time finding a decent local tomato. It seems that all of the tomatoes grown in Florida are shipped out to other parts of the country ~ GO FIGURE. So, at the grocery stores, I was buying tomatoes from Canada, Chile, and Mexico!! What's up with that? And they have no flavor at all~ LOL! Then, driving down a random road, I found a tomato stand!

 

     

 Actually, it was like a little farmer's market ~ perfect! The tomatoes weren't heirlooms, but big, juicy beefsteaks and romas. Then, as if my luck just couldn't get any better, I found a "U-PICK" tomato farm in a very rural part of Florida. We took the kids there and watched them run through rows and rows of tomatoes filling their buckets. 

You could fill an entire 5 gallon paint bucket for only $5!! Here are a few of my favorite tomato recipes:

Heirloom Tomato Basil Mozzarella Salad

Heirloom Tomato Tart

Please make sure to share your favorite tomato recipes with me.......we can always use some new ones! =)

I can't wait to get back to California and go HERE every week for heirlooms!

And, if you're wondering, "NO!" ~ I was not the least bit scared of "Sam" and "Ella" ( as PW calls them) out here messing with my beloved tomatoes! LOL! Not even the fear of a gastrointestinal disaster would keep me away from a delicious, juicy tomato! ha!

Another Birthday.........and a surprise at the end.......

We've been really enjoying our summer! Since my last post, we celebrated Sarah's 6th birthday! It's hard for me to believe that 6 years have gone by since we were up at St Helena Hospital waiting for her arrival! Wow! At six years old Sarah loves Hannah Montana, adores her brother, will be a first grader, is creative and independent, amazes me with her vocabulary, has a great sense of humor, and still manages to snuggle up at the end of the day and be my baby! She is a miracle and a blessing ~ Happy Birthday Sarah! We celebrated her birthday with a Hannah Montana party. If you love Hannah like we love Hannah ( always makes me think of Beach Blanket Babylon....." if you love sushi, like I love sushi.........") Okay...sorry i digress! LOL! Anyway, if you love Hannah, check out her concert tomorrow , Saturday, on the Disney Channel! We're all excited and going to make a movie night out of it. 

The kids and I decorated the house for Sarah's birthday. We went shopping for decorations and cupcakes. I decided ( we've had A LOT going on.........stay tuned for the surprise) NOT to bake the cupcakes and instead we had yummy store bought. Then, walking out of the grocery store, I opened up the car doors and out flew these.....Aaaaaargh!

As Hannah Montana sings "Nobody's Perfect".........ha! We called Daddy and asked him to pick up more on the way home. He saved the day! As you can see, we had a NASTY storm about 5 minutes away and we had to hurry home. 

Here's the birthday girl..........

       

      

THANK YOU, THANK YOU to all of the friends and family who sent special cards, wishes, and gifts to help Sarah celebrate her special day! We are SO VERY grateful for you all! 

..........and now for that SURPRISE...........

opportunity has knocked again and we taking another leap BACK to California! We are so excited and have been unable to speak of this until NOW!!! We will be back for the start of school! We are knee deep in boxes and packing paper and ready for another fun adventure! The past year and a half have been amazing and we have made memories to last a lifetime! We'll miss the friends and family in Florida, but know we'll be back for many wonderful visits! 

And what seems so fitting now is ....yes, you guessed it......

Hannah Montana's words "Life's What You Make it.....so Let's Make it ROCK!" 

 

So stay tuned for more updates, pictures and adventures! 

Happy 4th of July

We had such a nice 4th of July this year! Hope every one else did, too! Don surprised us and came home early ~ just in time for the neighborhood fireworks. It is so different for us here in Florida ~ fireworks are LEGAL. So, right out our front door, we had a huge fireworks display. Not just the little sparklers, either....But the BIG ONES! 

Don made patriotic cocktails with raspberries and blueberries ~ (next year I want to try these martinis), I made a cheesecake for the kids ( I might have had a bite or two ~ giggle) , and we sat outside most of the night. It was such a FUN time! One of my favorite moments was watching Sarah and Ryan hold sparklers for the first time! I caught some fun pics of their faces:

This last one cracks me up! How did Sarah know to strike

 the PERFECT Statue of Liberty pose?? LOL! Gotta love that little girl! 

God Bless America!