Author Archives: cathyboettner

As I said in the last garden post, I pulled up a bunch of stuff that was bug eaten and/or tired from the summer garden. We added some mushroom compost to the empty stock tanks and I just filled them. When the tomatoes are finished, I will plant some swiss chard, and probably some moreContinue reading “Fall Garden”

We bought a tent this summer for my mother in law’s 80th birthday party–it was about the same cost as to rent one and now we have it for other events. The problem is that we didn’t want to store it in the house, and leaving it on the floor of the garage was alsoContinue reading “Another storage solution for a difficult to store item”

This is the time of year when EVERYTHING starts to look pretty tired and bedraggled. I went around the house this morning and some things are looking really bad–so bad that I will have to pull them up. This garden in the front with the strawberries and fig trees is doing well. The strawberries haveContinue reading “Late Summer Garden Update”

Our youngest just moved into an apartment and he is really into plants. I brought him several when I helped him get his apartment together, but he still wants a few more. Ceramic pots are really expensive, and aren’t always waterproof, but glass vases are. I bought two really heavy glass vases from the thriftContinue reading “Upcycling some thrift store vases”

I went to Costco and Trader Joe’s last week. Costco had some really fantastic looking plums and Trader Joe’s had a couple of varieties of Pluots (a hybrid of plum and apricot), so, of course, I had to get some. I didn’t taste the pluots because I was pretty sure that I just barely hadContinue reading “Plum and Pluot Jam”

Our local marina makes these and we have had them a couple times and they are so good, so I decided to try making them at home. There are a bunch of recipes online and I used the one that got pretty much all five star ratings. It’s a super simple recipe. Mississippi Pot RoastContinue reading “Mississippi Pot Roast Sandwiches”

My dahlias were absolutely gorgeous at the beginning of the summer, but now they are DONE. My zinnias are starting to bloom more prolifically and a curve ball that I discovered last year was flowers from my hostas. Most people only think of hostas for their foliage, but the flowers can be beautiful as wellContinue reading “Summer Flowers”

I LOVE this dish. It is the best of summer in my opinion. The first time I had this was about 25 years ago and my mom made it for Christmas dinner when none of the ingredients were in season, but it was still FANTASTIC. When the squash and tomatoes are at their peak, itContinue reading “Summer Squash and Tomato Casserole”

There are so many fruits in season right now that are just great in cobbler. I love cobbler because it is SO easy to make. Cobbler filling 6 cups of sliced peaches (you can use frozen) or substitute your favorite fruit–follow the recipe on the minute tapioca box. 1/4 cup minute tapioca 3/4 cup sugarContinue reading “Summer Cobbler”

My mother in law turned 80 this year, so we (me and my husband and my sister in law and brother in law) threw her a party. We started working on the details back in April and came up with doing a brunch on my sister in law and brother in law’s patio. (She hasContinue reading “An 80th Birthday Party!”