August

The month of August has no widely recognized holidays. Maybe the Dog Days of Summer, if anything...

There are ten national holidays in the United States. March and April have no federal holidays but they do have St. Patrick's Day, April Fools, Passover and Easter. 

From July 4th to Labor Day (a span of two months), there are NO holidays. Nothing.
Zip. Zilch. Nada.

But who needs holidays when celebrations abound?

August 2...Hubs and I celebrated 33 years of marriage! He has had this shirt FOREVER! And he wore it at the birth of each kid.

August 4...My mom's 82nd birthday. Mom and I traveled to Bald Head Island, NC, on the 4th and as we were driving to the vacation house, we passed my niece and her boyfriend, who were walking to the beach. They came back to the house all smiles and at dinner, announced they were engaged! It was a beautiful birthday present for Grandma!

August 10...Pelotonia bike ride in Columbus. This was the biggest Pelotonia yet. All proceeds go to the James Cancer Center at Ohio State for cancer research.

August 11...My in-laws celebrated their 68th wedding anniversary (they were married August 11, 1945). My father-in-law returned from his WWII service in the Pacific theater and was on a train crossing the United States to return to Ohio for his wedding. Due to delays, he almost didn't make it on time. He was also under 21 so he had to get permission from his mom to get married. Here's to long lasting love!

August 12...Our last college tuition payment EVER! Four kids...47 payments (two went to a college that was on quarters, along with a few summer sessions). 

August 19...Aviation Day. Being from Dayton, OH, home of the Wright Brothers, this one is special. By presidential decree Franklin D. Roosevelt created this day and it falls on Orville Wright's birthday.

August 26...National Dog Day. The four furry friends in my life: Hunter, Clark, Ted and Bernie.

August 30...My #3 child celebrates her 25th birthday.

Yep...from beginning to end, August life is good! 

Grilled Zucchini Roll Ups {Zucchini-palooza}

An appetizer or a snack...these zucchini bites go like hot cakes! 

Last year I took them to a friend's house for a Girls' Night. My friend said that she didn't like goat cheese...she changed her mind after one! 

They're a little labor intensive but once you get the system down, putting them together goes quickly. 

Be prepared...these will be the first things to go!

Grilled Zucchini Roll Ups

3 zucchini (about 1/2 pound each), sliced lengthwise into 1/4" slices

Olive oil

Chunk of goat cheese

1-2 T. minced fresh parsley

1 T. fresh lemon juice

2 c. baby spinach leaves

1/3 c. basil leaves

Directions

Slice zucchini 1/4" thick. Discard the outermost slices of zucchini. Brush the slices with the olive oil. Place on preheated grill or grill pan for 4 minutes on each side, or until tender.

In a small bowl, combine the goat cheese, parsley leaves and lemon juice, mashing with a fork.

Put a dollop of the cheese mixture about 1/2 inch from the end of a zucchini slice. Top with a few spinach leaves and one large basil leaf or a couple small basil leaves. Roll up and place seam side down on a platter. Repeat with the rest of the zucchini slices. 

Zucchini-palooza!

I grew zucchini for the first time ever this summer. From a few seeds sprang a zucchini jungle that took every inch of space and spread over the edges of the 8' x 8' garden that was its home. 

And boy, oh boy, did those plants produce! What to do with all this gorgeous zucchini? 

People who grow zucchini always give it away. "July is the only time of year when country people lock our cars in the church parking lot, so people don't put squash on the front seat. I used to think that was a joke." (Garrison Keillor). I did not want to be one of those people!

And I sure wasn't going to throw away these beautiful vegetables, planted and nurtured with love, and guarded with this god-awful, smelly concoction to keep the deer from having a feast!

This was my plan...rather than giving zucchini away, I made zucchini dishes to enjoy at home with family, to give away, or to share at gatherings. My goal was not to repeat a recipe and it worked...and it was fun!

Stay tuned...zucchini-palooza begins!

Blue Moon

My mom had lots of sayings and one piece of advice she gave to her four kids advice went something like this: "You need to learn something new everyday or else your day isn't complete." As a kid, this was kind of intimidating...I thought that meant I would be in school forever! 

Last night (August 20) was a blue moon night and Facebook was abuzz with posts about it. And I thought, "No way, somebody's messed this one up." A blue moon is the second full moon occurring in a single month. 

But I learned something new...seasons can have blue moons, too. There's an alternative definition of blue moon: the third full moon in a four moon season. Since last night's full moon was the third of four this summer, it's a blue moon by this standard. 

Whichever definition you prefer, a blue moon is a rare occurrence.

I went to yoga at 7:30 p.m. and was excited to see the moon as I drove home. Clouds had come in during class and covered the moon. Every once in a while, the clouds would break and tease me with a glimpse. Fast forward...I fell asleep on the couch and woke up around 1:00 a.m. As I shuffled toward the stairs, I looked at the front door and in my sleepy fog thought, "Look outside." And there it was shining brightly...

As the saying goes, "Once in a blue moon..."

Summer Lunch {Tomato Sandwiches}

Summer is tomato time! Nothing screams "Summer's here!" like a juicy, freshly picked tomato. 

And one of the best summertime lunches is a tomato sandwich...simple, refreshing, delicious. I could eat them everyday. All that is needed is a couple slices of bread (nothing fancy), a sliced tomato, Miracle Whip, and salt. Sure, there are recipes that fancy things up like using avocado mayonnaise or a dense, whole grain bread, but I will keep with simplicity for mine.

Truly one of life's simple pleasures ~