Father's Day

Bee Balm, before the blooms that showed up a couple of days ago...back when we were arguing about whether it weas mint (him) or bee balm (me)  Hah. I win. It's now full of beautiful red flowers.

  I've been cooking a vegetarian feast today...made black bean veggie burgers and a quinoa salad.  I went out and rummaged around the garden to find stuff to use, and brought in scallions, fresh basil, small cukes, tiny zucchinis,...then I went to the freezer and found my next-to-the-last bag of shelled edamame and a package of red,yellow and green bell pepper strips.  I also put some of my salsa from last year into the burgers for a little zing.  I made the salad with all of the above and dressed it with a light lemon juice and olive oil, a little cracked black pepper and freshly ground sea salt. My lord, is it ever good.  I bought a giant bulk bag of nature burger mix a while back (a long while back...but it seems to last forever), and I have been using it as a base when I make these burgers.  This time I used the black beans, so they cook up pretty dark...but I added green onions sliced thin and a bit of the bell peppers I used in the salad. A bit of extra garlic and pepper and mixed it up and cooked the burgers in a little vegetable oil. They are delicious. I'm eating this plate full right now. (NO bread, so I figured I co0uld have 2 patties and a HEAP of the quinoa! lol

The cut up watermelon was sitting in the fridge calling my name.  lol  Even the kitties are loving these burgers. Unbelievable.


  Father's Day. My dad died on August 20, 1984.  He was one of my biggest fans when it came to cooking, all my life. When I was a little girl and he would praise my cookies to the heavens or later when my lasagna was his absolute favorite dish.  The last few years of his life, when he was on special diets for his heart problems and later still, when the lung cancer was killing him and he could barely breathe enough to eat...every Father's Day I would make him a batch of peanut brittle, which had always been his favorite "candy". We would giggle like we were getting away with something, and he would relish every bite. It was one of our big "secrets". He always said that no peanut brittle he had ever eaten, in his entire life, was as good as the stuff I made for him. He will always be the man that no man can ever measure up to, for me. I miss him still. There's a picture of him today on my Facebook Badge at the side of my blog page.


  It's another beautiful hot and humid midwestern day here. Rained this morning and now it's about 85 degrees. I have to head down to MissB's in a bit, so I'd better finish up here, eat my food and get showered.

  Have a peaceful day, y'all....


Namaste.