Vacation time!

We're going to visit the old home town; Marcellus, NY. It's at the eastern end of the Finger Lakes, in a really beautiful area. All of my brothers and sisters will also be there at some point in the next week, although some will be arriving after we are already heading home to Wisconsin. I wish we could stay longer, but:
A. Mom's house is only so big - and even with 5 bedrooms, there are way too many people for house at this point.
B. The old vacation time just doesn't measure up. Time desired does NOT equal actual time acquired. Dang it.

Our next door neighbors are moving to South Carolina, leaving the same day we leave for vacation. It took 13 years and them leaving before we finally invited them over for dinner. They are really interesting, smart and just all around nice people. It's a shame that you sometimes don't see what is -quite literally- in your own back yard. Good Luck, Bob and Ruth! Enjoy living in the warm weather. (Wish I was going!)

Moving in to the house is a couple with two young (pre-school) children, two dogs and one cat. We shudder just thinking about it. Course, that is probably exactly how Bob and Ruth felt when we moved in!! What goes around comes around, I guess. I hope we find out more about these folks before one of us moves!

More strawberry goodness

I made a strawberry roll - A sponge cake filled with fresh strawberries and home made whipped cream. It was really good - but in hindsight, I should have cut the berries smaller and added sugar to bring out the juices. Not that I am complaining, this was still pretty good. The berries looked good, but they are small this year. Cold spring and rainy early summer.

Sour cherries are getting ripe. Our neighbors have a tree, but they are moving this week. Let's hope the people moving in will let us pick some as well. We'll just have to pick at least enough for a pie before Bob and Ruth pack up and leave on Thursday!

Also getting ripe are the wild black raspberries, or "black caps" as they are called in Wisconsin. Those are my favorites. I asked Kevin and Ethan to pick some today, I hope there is enough to make a cobbler!

Margarita-ville

It all started with fresh strawberries from the farmer's market. Add some good tequila, good orange liqueur, lime juice and this is what you get - perfect for a warm summer afternoon.

The drinks are actually two margarita recipes swirled together in one glass. One is the strawberry margarita made with the fresh berries, the other is a frozen lime margarita. Recipes for both are listed below. These were SO GOOD!!

Frozen lime margaritas - Recipe courtesy of my sister in law Leigh Ann!

1 - 6 oz can frozen limeade

6 oz silver tequila (We like Milagro)

2 oz orange liqueur (we like Grand Gala - the Italian version of Grand Marnier)

Put all together in a blender, fill with ice and blend until smooth. Store in freezer.

Strawberry Margaritas -

4 cups fresh strawberries, cleaned and hulled

3 TBS frozen limeade

1/4 C sugar

6 oz silver tequila

2 oz orange liqueur

Spread two cups of the strawberries on a cookie sheet and put in the freezer. (So they freeze individually.) Put the other two cups in a saucepan with the 1/4 C sugar. Mash the berries with the sugar and cook over medium heat until slighty reduced, about ten minutes. Remove from heat, and still in the limeade. Cool completely, in the refrigerator.

When the mixure is cooled and the other berries are frozen, put all in the blender. Add the tequila and the orange liqueur and fill the blender with ice till it reaches the 5 C mark. Blend until smooth. You can also store this in the freezer, but it will freezer a bit more solidly than the other recipe.

To make the drinks, above:

Mix coarse sugar and coarse kosher salt crystals together on a paper plate - 2:1 ratio - I used 2 T sugar and 1 T salt, and it was plenty to get us through both recipes...about 6 drinks, I think. Use a fresh cut piece of lime around the outside edge of the glass and dip in the salt/sugar mixture. Pour (or spoon) equal amounts of the margarita recipes, swirling together with a spoon. Enjoy!