Yankee-Belle Cafe

My daughter reminded me that technically summer has two more weeks, but for teachers, summer ends when that first school bells rings.

So, since while you're reading this, I'll be meeting my new class for the first time, I thought I'd do a bit of a farewell to summer post.


Blueberries
This was the summer of blueberries. Honestly, I'm surprised I didn't turn blue. But they're so healthy and so delicious.

I froze some and roasted them with some peaches for an end-of-summer treat.


Peaches
Discovery of the summer - roasted peaches in salad. You've heard alot about them in my various salads so I won't belabor it except to say this was the best salad yet - shredded honey mustard pork in a salad with roasted peaches and toasted sunflower seeds. I could eat nothing else for the rest of my life and be happy

Salads

I rediscovered my love of salad, mostly due to this little package. I gave them a try one day and WOW! It's such an interesting mix and even though I wash them, the pre-washed ones save so much on my least favorite part of salad-making - washing all the greens.



Writing
Oh, this has been the best summer I've ever had of writing. I didn't go anywhere, just stayed home and wrote every day. #sheer bliss No pictures of that. LOL

Nature

You all are always sharing such gorgeous pictures from where you live. I don't often have the chance to reciprocate given that I live in the city. But I've been noticing all the trouble people in my neighborhood have gone to in order to bring some of nature's pretty into a bleak cityscape. I've been photographing so I can share.

A few splashes of color.

It's hard to see, but most of these are succulents and they are thriving!

 These pictures fascinate me. The "garden" is outside the local bank. The day before I took these photos, I had a conversation with a woman who was picking the herbs to use them. There's basil, mint, rosemary, thyme. And something else that I couldn't identify.

I'd be a little wary of eating them since it's right in the middle of a street of parked cars and I know it was a favorite "watering spot" for local dogs before the plants arrived!


These corn plants come back each year - and yes, they actually grow ears of corn (though the raccoons and squirrels usually eat them).

These two are part of a program the city has created to prevent flooding from rain. The flowers are much bigger now than when I took this photo.

This garden of peppers tickles me. There is a man who sits outside our supermarket begging every day, all day. He pretty much camps out and chats with everyone. Apparently he also has a green thumb because he grew this garden of peppers in the tree pit outside the supermarket. He also had an amazing pit full of tomato plants, but someone tore them all out. :(



I always enjoy this song, so here's a sendoff.

Farewell summer of 2016. It's been fun! Summer of '69

 1 cup peanut butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1 cup butter
2 eggs
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1.2 cups flour

 Blend the eggs, sugar, vanilla, butter, and peanut butter together. Mix the dry ingredients together, then add to the egg and sugar mixture. Form balls and bake at 350F for six to eight minutes. Any longer and they start to get crispy, which is fine if you want crispy... but these are supposed to be like a PB&J sandwich.
 When the cookies have cooled a little but are still warm, fill the indentations with jam or jelly. We used our strawberry jelly (from a previous post!).
 The smelled amazing and tasted even better! A real treat!
 The morning glory in our garden is blooming. I had no idea this was considered a weed in some places! Here, we try to get the seeds started inside in the spring and then carefully transplant them outside. Facebook friends told me they take over the property in some regions and have to be ripped out!
 And our seedless champagne grapes are ready. Maybe I already posted about it. Well, they're super yummy and I can't post about them enough. Grape season is so short here that we revel in it while it lasts.
 My neighbors zinnias! Really, they just had to be on the post. Too pretty not to share!
 And my polydactyl kitty is helping me with my new book. He's a great content editor! He goes to sleep if it's too boring...
I hope everyone has a wonderful last weekend in August! I can't believe it's almost September already!! Summer has just flown by!
Come visit me on my Mary Jane Hathaway facebook page or on my blog!

Tex here, coming to you live from...my desk. I'm in the throes of revisions, so this is where I've spent most of my time lately. Funny, you can always tell when I've been writing a lot because my desk is a mess. I mean, who has time to clean off their desk when there's writing to be done?

When I'm writing like this, unless there's something that HAS to be done, it doesn't get done. The family still demands to be fed, though, so I usually go for something quick.

Today's my last day as the Gluten Free GAL on Yankee Belle. It's been great sharing tips, showing off the grandkidlets, and salivating over my friends' wonderful stories and recipes.

When I was growing up, the customary time to move was summertime so as not to disrupt school and allow more time to transition. The customary time to get married was summer for the same reason. The above picture was me with my sisters right before I got hitched to ManO.  Sigh, I miss those days. Who am I kidding, I miss looking good in a bikini!!!!

But I'm in a transition season right now, not school or weddings, but in my writing. Some times we have to let go of one thing to make room for another. My word for this year, TRUST, (thanks Tina Radcliffe for introducing the concept to me and a lot of us) has been the most valuable one I've ever had. So I am swinging over the swimming hole and letting go of the rope.

This card I found says a lot. Except I'd add, "but you have to make time to work on them."

I hope you will visit my personal Facebook page and other pages and blogging opportunities as they come along this summer and fall, follow me on Twitter and Pinterest, friend me on my author page when that launches. I may have moved but I'll still have plenty to talk and write about.

My facebook page as Julie Hilton Steele

Modern Belles of History Blog

Twitter where I tweet as @SisSteele 

My Pinterest Boards as Julie Steele


Best of all, a new healthy writer is coming on board, Love Inspired Suspense debut author Cate Nolan. She is a good friend, a great writer and an excellent cook who has experience in everything from green smoothies to vegan Thanksgiving dishes. Can't wait to see what she cooks up.  


Thanks to Jan, Mindy, Ruthy, Missy, and Virginia for their companionship on the journey called Yankee-Belle Cafe.

Peace, Julie   

Until June 10th, I'm on a writing retreat. Unfortunately, I am not in my favorite hermitage on monastery property in New Mexico.

Even though I'm at home there's no cooking, barely any cleaning, no tv, no Facebook, occasionally Twitter. 

Mostly I'm back in time, using a hand-me-down typewriter and working on my WIP:


If I'm in the present I'm working on the new butterfly garden to replace that bare spot where a diseased maple used to be. A stepping stone path, transplanting and dividing perennials, adding containers because there are a LOT of roots we just can't remove because they are wrapped around our, gulp, gas line! 



Yep, not much time on social media.  One exception: Pinterest. It's helped me plan out my garden, figure out how to stack a wall around a french drain, attract butterflies. I had to start a Front Yard Makeover board just to handle all the ideas. 

I also check out my own boards when I need a break from looking at all my WWII boards. Living in the mindset of a second WWII means keeping the homefront going and contributing to the war far away. Or it means dealing with the war in your own backyard, the one with the vegetable garden you need to survive. A mental break of the best kind.



You can see what I'm up to here.  I would love for you to follow the boards you like or just follow me. I'm always added a new prayer or inspirational saying, a vintage dress or a recipe.


Here are some of my favorite boards:

Gluten Free and Adaptable Goodies Board.


Fashion of a Different Era


Mad about Plaid


Porches, Patios and Garden Spots


All Things Book


Inspiration-and-mantras

Until next time, Julie

March is Speedbo #NoLimits Writing for March, check it out here Month for me. I'm writing as much as I can. Unfortunately for ManO, I'm not cooking as much as I should. I had plenty of food in the freezer, ready to pull out in an instant. But three snow storms hit in two weeks. Forced to raid my stash, I'm scrambling. You may not be a writer but it's March, when garden chores pick up, sports start, and folks just want to get out of the house. See #Cabinfever #cure. Life's busy again.



So here I am, trying to get hundreds, no thousands of words written a day, and hopefully not starve our household in the process. So I'm turning to my favorite snacks and picking the best restaurant to grab meals for lunch and dinner. But I'm also going through Yankee Belle and finding the quickest, easiest dinners I can for poor ManO.

Lunch is about quick snacky meals, leftovers or getting out of the house.  Writing at home can be productive but I need breaks for mental and physical reasons. Sometimes it's better to write somewhere else and eat there so you don't feel guilty about taking a spot for hours.

Snunches (snacky lunches): I'm a big fan of fruit and cheese. I take it up a notch by putting a sliced pear (high fiber) and Tillamook cheese on a rice cake and broiling or microwaving til the cheese melts. Nuts or hard boiled eggs are great for snunches too.  And then there are salads I can pre-make and stick in the fridge.

My pear-and-cheese toast would have looked more scrumptious on a pretty plate but I'm so busy I had to eat it off my beaten up but beloved mini cookie sheet.

Favorite lunch franchise of the moment:  - Zoe's Kitchen
I am fortunate to have a local Mediterranean restaurant run by the same family for decades but I discovered Zoe's down the street. It is my favorite place for soup, hummus and a salad, enough to take leftovers home. Healthy, healthy, healthy AND gluten free options galore. AND their seating space is HUGE so I can sit down and read research or plug in and type. 

When I want to eat the Mediterranean Diet but don't have time to cook, Zoe's is where I go.

Yankee Belle Quick Dinners are perfect, for when you have a few moments to cook or can let the oven or crock pot do the work. Dinner is about keeping ManO happy and myself fueled.  All these meals can be adapted by using veggies or gluten free pasta, bread or cake mix/all purpose GF flour.


Jan Drexler's Quick Chicken for Speedbo 
Ruthy's easy barbecued beef sandwiches
Missy's Quick Chili
Virginia's Huevos Rancheros 
Mindy's easy chocolate cake

Now why the chocolate cake? Well, for one, Mindy's posts are full of chocolate ideas. But two. your family may need a reward for leaving you alone to do what you need to do during busy times. Who am I kidding? I need a reward during Speedbo!



Lastly, let the leftovers do the work: Pinterest, that treasure chest of so many good ideas, got me thinking about a great leftover idea. Cupcake leftovers. These aren't Jan's delicious cupcake war desserts but taking leftovers like turkey and dressing, spaghetti, mac and cheese, etc. and putting them in individual cupcake/muffin liners, freezing and then putting them in a freezer safe bag to be reheated later in the week. I remember mini pot pies when I was a child but also spaghetti and mac and cheese in round tins. Works as well today.

So, when life is crazy busy, what do you eat that requires little or no cooking? Where do you like to go to get a healthy meal  you didn't have to fix yourself? Are you ready for the busyness of Spring?