The Perfect Summer Lunch (w/ recipe)

It starts with a glorious summer vine ripened tomato out of your garden. The supermarket varieties will not do.  Those imposters have been raised to look lovely and travel well.  They are the blonde bimbos of the vegetable world - all fluff and no substance.  Pick the reddest ripest real tomato you can find.  Next, bake a loaf of whole wheat bread.  It doesn't take that long, and most of the time spent is on rising and baking so you can do other things.  Mine is in the oven as I'm typing.  Here's my recipe:
Dissolve 3 Tbsp yeast with 1/4 c. honey in 3 c. warm water (as warm as you like your bath).  When it smells yeasty and looks bubbly add 2 c. whole wheat flour and 2 c. white flour and 3 tsp. salt.  Start mixing.  Depending on your humidity level you will have to add more flour (I sometimes add as much as 2 more cups).  When the dough gets stiff enough to handle, start kneading, keep adding flour as it gets sticky.  You want it slightly tacky but not sticking to your hands or the bread board.  Knead 5 minutes, cover and let rise in a warm area until it has doubled in size.  Knead again 5 - 10 minutes.  The more you knead it the better it will be.  Divide into two loaf pans sprayed with oil and let rise again.  Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 1 hour.  Cool before slicing.

Once the bread is sliced, slice the tomatoes generously and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Spread the bread with a good mayonnaise, and that is it.  A good old fashioned tomato sandwich that you can only enjoy once a year when the tomatoes are ripe.  I enjoy this with a glass of cheap Chardonnay but Hubby has his with Shiner Bock.  Either way, it's a little bit of sunshine in your mouth.

How to: Making a Used Tire Planter in 3 Easy Steps

Step 1:  Find some used tires.  I find mine on the side of the road.

Step 2:  Plan on using one can of spray paint per tire.

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Step 3:  Fill tire with plenty of good dirt, plant, and enjoy!

Hosting a Garden Party the WT way

the centerpieces

WT party guests

In May on the Gulf Coast, our gardens are glorious! By July the heat will have baked everything but the okra, and only the most dedicated gardeners get out to weed and water. To celebrate the spring and before it gets too hot I wanted to host an outdoor party. The theme (and I always have a theme!): White Trash Garden Party! All of our guests were invited to dress the part - and since most of our friends are honest- to- God White Trash, that was no problem. The WT theme is the easiest theme ever for a party. Don't feel like sweeping? Don't! I used all of the paper plates and plastic cups from previous parties so we had an assortment from Halloween to Christmas to various princesses. We served cheap beer and rum punch in a fishbowl (rum, orange liquer and lemonade) and cans of soda for the kids. To eat I put out hot dogs, homemade pimento cheese sandwiches (using my own recipe which is made from white Vermont cheddar, pimentos, a dash of Worcestershire sauce, and mayo on white bread smeared with butter. I may be White Trash, but I'm a White Trash foodie). Also, hot pink coleslaw (coleslaw with a good few shakes of Louisiana hot sauce), a pineapple Jello mold, spray cheese on Ritz crackers, and Moon Pies. I invited guests to bring their favorite WT snacks and people brought watermelon, pork rinds, marshmallows on a stick, and pigs in a blanket, among other things.  My favorite, however, was Maggie's bacon wrapped tater tots. You read that right. Bacon. Wrapped. Tater. Tots. For decor I put cut flowers in beer bottles and tin cans on the table, as well as coffee cans with holes cut around the middle with a candle placed inside. We also strung up colored Christmas lights. For effect we had on some old Elvis movies on the TV on mute so we had the visual but not the sound because we had music on - Western swing and Rockabilly. I hung up laundry on the laundry line, and we let one of the chickens out to wander around the yard while the party was happening. We filled up the inflatable pool with water and let the kids get in and splash around. We started at 5 in the evening and wrapped up at 2:30 in the morning. A very good party, indeed.review

A dog, a baby, and a Cheeto...I think we all know how this is going to end.