Busy as the bees…

This has turned out to be a very busy summer, and I feel like the bees I see working about me as I work in my garden and walk about this fair city of mine this month. Already we’ve made our new yearly pilgrimage to the mountains to celebrate another year together; wandered among the fairies and flowers out at Summer’s Past Farm; ventured into the heat and dust and local plants down in Old Town Historical Park; trekked to the very tip-top of Cowles Mountain; tried to get over my fear of Zombies by going to see World War Z (it was really good!); ushered in a new era of teaching with a new classroom for the Learned Boy; took a few whacks at an overgrown-but-beloved family backyard; and begun the now-firmly-entrenched-yearly- tradition of The Summer Reading List.
A list!  Let’s make one, shall we?
Mad Hungry Craving by Lucinda Scala Quinn- Love her no nonsense-I’ve-seen-it-all-because-I-feed-boys “voice”, lots of fried, meat centric, basic food.
Blue Eggs and Yellow Tomatoes by Jeanne Kelly- Unfortunately, I picked this one based on the title and the cover picture and was thoroughly disappointed. Not enough pictures inside, pages filled with negative space, formatted into a huge, unwieldy book. Liked the pizza section though.
The Four Season Farm Gardener’s Cookbook by Barbara Damrosch and Eliot Coleman- Love it! Part gardening book, part beautifully inspiring cookbook, it’s a fun, interesting look at practical gardening. Yummy dessert section, too.
River Cottage Everyday; River Cottage Veg; The River Cottage Family Cookbook by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall- these books make me long to visit England and experience the restaurant for myself. And cook Nettles and Ferns and make yogurt and bread all day long…
The Farm by Ian Knauer- So much beautiful food, essays on farming and a bit of foodie-centric recipes made this a fun book to read. Loved the section on pickling and canning. And Sour Cream Ice Cream…
The Homemade Pantry by Alana Chernila is just plain magic. Make your own everything- crackers, ketchup, soda (!!!) and take back control of your food.
Eat Greens by Barbara Scott-Goodman is  a lovely little book arranged by type of vegetable, giving several recipes for each. Loved the section on cooking with herbs- lots of good sauces, marinades and butters. Excellent ideas for summer cooking, too.
Green Market Baking Book by Laura C. Martin- I want this book for my collection. Alternatives for commercial ingredients, farmers market-based recipes, and tons of reasons to go locally organic. I cannot wait to make the Maple Ice Cream this fall…
And last, but never least: Home From the Sea by Mercedes Lackey. Last years entry in her Elemental Masters series, a very moving tale based on the Selkie mythology. With guest appearances by Robin GoodFellow, mystical Indian Warrior companions, coracles, steam engines and assorted old myths and legends from days gone by…
Whew! I didn’t intend to read all of these at once, but the public and county library systems are on it this year, and they all came in the same week. Glad I ordered them though- lots of new ideas, facts, recipes and story ideas are swirling around this old noggin, jumpstarting some exciting new projects for the summer.
Now, if I could just get those Faeries to help out in the garden this summer instead of just making dresses from all the flower blossoms…