Mimi Mine

One of the best things about summer is the abundance of fresh fruit and vegetables. Farmer's markets and roadside stands boast baskets of all sorts of beautiful, tempting regional produce. Georgia is called the Peach State but the area where we live in South Carolina grows the most juicy, sweet and delicious peaches you could ever hope to eat. The month of July, particularly around Independence Day is when the best (in my opinion) are ripe and ready to be harvested and sold. Home-Churned Fresh Peach Ice Cream Our family eagerly anticipates the appearance of those beautiful peaches! South Carolina Grown Freestone Peaches There are all sorts of delicious ways to prepare and eat this luscious and delectable fruit. They are simply scrumptious when peeled and sliced like this: Peeled and Sliced Freestone Peaches You can add a splash of milk or coconut milk and a little sugar, but it really is not necessary. They are so very sweet and satisfying. Eaten fresh they are qui...

We currently have a couple of blueberry bushes in our yard. It took those bushes a decade or so, being moved around a couple of times and the addition of a little fertilizer but, finally, several years ago they began blessing us with a bountiful supply of berries. Enough so that family and friends can enjoy picking, eating and cooking with them. Like most children, our grandchildren enjoy the experience of picking berries and they usually come over at least once during the season to do a little berry picking. Last week, they arrived to have some fun picking berries together. We have had some temperatures in the high nineties for the better part of the past several weeks but in spite of the high temps and southern humidity, our grandchildren managed to get out there and pick some berries. Did they ever! They all came on the same afternoon and I was able to snap a few pictures of them in action. It was about as hot as a fire-cracker on this day, but they seemed to be havi...

It seems that my strawberry loving man cannot pass by a roadside market without stopping to buy some of the strawberries which are in season here. I have been having to find ways to use them. So, here we go! This go round, I thought it would be a good idea to make a cake (sort of). Actually, I began with  this  recipe and modified it to use for cupcakes. I was searching for a recipe that would allow the mouth-watering flavor of the beautiful berries to shine like a brilliant star! If you have been searching for recipes calling for fresh strawberries you have probably noticed there are many for desserts with strawberry flavor, but not nearly as many using real fruit. Some do use real fruit but, in addition, call for using gelatin with artificial flavoring and color, as well. I certainly do use these things sometimes, but, as I have said before, when there is an abundance of fresh ingredients, why not use that? The recipe I used was again found on All Recipes at  thi...

It's that time again folks! One of the things I like most when the month of May rolls around is that strawberries are in season. The farmers around here grow some of the most beautiful, juicy. sweet and delicious strawberries you could ever care to purchase. These pictures will give you some idea of how gorgeous the berries are and, believe me, they taste as succulent and sweet as they appear. Not only are they tasty, but they are also very large berries. Fresh Strawberries Grown by Our Local Farmers Fresh Strawberries Grown by Our Local Farmers Of course, these beautiful berries are great as is. A couple of these big pretties makes a healthy and wholesome snack. Of course, you all know that strawberries are also delicious when used in other ways. They are great when added to a mixed green salad or joined with other fruits in a fruit salad. Needless to say, there are many good recipes in cookbooks and on the Internet for making cakes and pa...

This month has been a busy one for us. April 4th was the eighteenth birthday of our oldest grandson, Glenn. This is a picture of Glenn not long after he was born. Glenn He was a very sick little baby as he has a condition we would later come to know was EE or Eosinophilic Esophagitis. He went from a healthy looking newborn to being emaciated and malnutritioned. The condition is very serious. It is one in which an allergic reaction takes place inside the esophagus, causing major inflammation and deterioration in the lining of the digestive system. In Glenn's case, he was allergic to pretty much every thing he ate, literally. The condition was identified and named only within the last two decades or so and Glenn's case was not diagnosed properly and treated for many years. We finally found a doctor at the Medical College of Georgia(now known as Georgia Regions) who recognized what he had and, in my opinion, is responsible for the life or quality of life Glen...

If you read my blog you will know how important family is to my husband and I. Family, to us, includes not just those family members who were born into the family but those who were acquired by love. Our son-in-law, Jason, posted a photograph, taken by one of the Walt Disney World photographers, to his Facebook account this morning. It is one of my favorite and my husband and I have the same photograph on display in our home. It was taken on July 4, 2010 at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom. I was inspired to post about the photo and why it is so special to our family. It brings back many sweet memories of occasions when we all got together as family unit. Also, the trip on which it was taken was the last trip when Jason's grandmother Mable (Granny to all of us) joined us on a combined family vacation. Granny is no longer able to travel. Our other son-in-law, Jimmy, had not yet been diagnosed with kidney cancer. Jimmy was his fun-loving, healthy and exuberantly happy sel...

I am linking up to Creative Party 201 at Carolyn's Home Work blog. There are so many great projects being posted at the party. If you are looking for some creative ideas,  this  is a great place to find some inspiration! Creative Party 201 at Home Work Just click on the above link to drop in to check out my tutorial on making a stencil with your Cricut Machine and all the other  fabulous projects and creative ideas!