Jocelynp, that is sooooo cute. He must be a little darling ;-). Blueberries are a POWERHOUSE of antioxidents...he will be sooooo healthy :-D,,,the more color the fruit or vege has, the more good stuff it contains!

Jocelyn_P--thanks for the recipe, sounds fab! :-)

When I TRAVEL (had to put that word in there to make sure I was relevant :-) ) to my inlaws summer home on Norris Lake in TN they have the best tomatoes - they are evidently nationally known as Granger County Tomatoes. I love garden fresh tomatoes (from TN or otherwise) with a little salt, pepper and dill. Yumm!!!

Del's frozen lemonade in Rhode Island, yum!

Fresh locally grown tomatoes, not those awful things found in grocery stores.

I am enjoying being able to eat a big salad made with veggies that I grew myself. :)

Sliced tomatoes, fresh green beans, corn on the cob, summer fruit; and for dessert, Graeters peach ice cream. They only make it during the summer when quality peaches are ripe. They are a Cincinnati company but, thankfully, have some stores in KY.

The fresh papayas we enjoyed earlier this month in Kauai were GREAT. They don't taste the same once they've made the journey across the Pacific.
It has been a fantastic summer for strawberries this year. We get them at our local farmer's market and they are the sweetest and tastiest in years.

I so happily recall when Daddy would take my sisters and me on outings in search of dingleberrys. Oh what a time we would have, although I still wonder if it was some mischievous hoax of Daddy that he liked to replay from his days in the Queen's service. We always returned home with empty pails.

Poor Richard does not enjoy any trips "down south", so we do what we can. Do you gentle people across the lake have problems with your spouses not enjoying trips down south as well? How do you cope with your differences? I find that refocusing my energies on my elegent dinner parties helps the frustration.

Iamq, how true about the papaya coming across the ocean and not being the same! Same with the pineapple...... guess you need that Hawaiian air to breathe as you're consuming them!:-)

Jocelyn, ready to drool? Every year, around the last week in June, there's a local vineyard that grows blueberries and we've started a tradition of going the first day of picking season. The bluberries are the size of cherries and incredibly sweet. I picked 12 lbs this year and they were gone in a week! My son probably picked about 5 lbs but must have eaten 4 of them before we got to the cashier...I usually freeze several pies worth but there were too many pleas for fresh berries so I only froze one pie's worth!!

Hyacinthbucket: Are you sure they were called "dingleberries"? Here in Texas, a dingleberry is something you wouldn't want to eat.

Donna

Well, this does relate to travel. One time, visiting Grandma, she fed my one year old daughter all the blueberries she wanted. The next morning, after we get on the plane to go home, upgraded to first class, the blueberries kick in. She had blue, uh, you know, the d word for the rest of the flight. I had to change her diapers about five times. What a mess that was. And in first class!

So, lesson is, beware of the blueberry eating just before you take a trip.

Heavens, better in first class than in coach, huh? At least you had more room to "handle stuff"..... but poor you!=-o

LOL, Donna! That's what I was thinking, too! :))

dwoodliff - twas a long time ago, and I'm afraid the little left of Daddy's memory would provide no answers. But I am positive that was what we went for. Are they more bitter, or fibrous on your side of the pond?

Dwoo & Bonnieb, I take Irbesartan for the bp, walk at least a mile a day on the treadmill and went on the Atkins diet last Oct and have lost twenty pounds.

ronkala,
I went on Atkins and gained 20lbs....
Unfortunately, I found out I was on the "Chet Atkins" Diet...cigarettes, whiskey, BBQ and honkey tonk wimmin'. My wallet was thinner, tho.

While I can get them any time but chose not to right now, whenever I munch a "Frito" chip, I'm back at a BBQ on The Silver Strand in San Diego.

Fresh tomatoes (not the store bought kind you can play baseball with), buffalo mozzerella, with basil in a light drizzle of olive oil and red wine vinegar. =P~

I'm trying hard to think of summer treats other than ice cream off the Ice Cream Van (and that "Turkey in the Straw" song it plays)-- and I'm like Scarlett. Just about everything is available year-round where I live. However, I guess I do enjoy summer tomatoes. And summer squash. Nectarines (which have been in season for several weeks here) and peaches? Yum. And now I can start eating fruit again (just started Phase II of South Beach Diet)!!

The South Beach Diet works, if you stick to it. I've been on for four weeks and lost 18 pounds. YMMV, and see your doctor first (I URGE you to do this, especially if you're diabetic or hypertensive).

Congrats, ronkala and rjw, on your weight-losses! Not easy to do......... Rjw, I managed South Beach for a couple of weeks, lost eight lbs., but couldn't stand the restrictions so am back to calorie-counting and exercising (up to two miles a day walking), and that's going well. Continued success to both of you!:-)

bonnie: The South Beach diet restrictions actually dovetail nicely with the food that's available here (California). Lean meats, vegetables, reduced-fat dairy-- sure, no starches (gosh, I miss rice!), but you can re-introduce them in the subsequent phases.

Frankly, I'm with you-- reduced caloric intake and exercise are the best way to go. But this diet gets you part of the way there, and by the time you're out of the restrictive phases you've learned good diet modification tricks. My mom did it your way and has lost about 60 pounds in two years (she has diabetes and lupus-- both controlled by diet) and is healthier now than in many years. So keep it up! And keep eating tomatoes (ohhhh, I want a nice ripe tomato right now!)....

Judyrem, yes he is a little darling, especially with "boobehwy" or "twabehwy" juice all over his face. :)

Karenvk, thanks for the tip--I looked online and it seems there are some similar places around here. I'll call around tomorrow.

Heavens, those blueberry diapers are awful, aren't they???

What a wonderful thread, so glad I didn't give up on it. Started nice, got controvercial, and continuing nicely.

rb-travelerx - You missunderstand these silly little threads. They serve one of the most important parts of this forum, which is helping keep educated travelers pass the time, while trying to help others. If I had to recommend my favorite restaurant in Maui one more time, or decide which resort has the perfect pool, without a single child in 20 miles, I'd be out of here. These moments keep fine people on the forum. People that want to help other travelers. And sometimes we answer over and over, because we read something from a new poster, and want to help make their adventure an amazing life experience. Perhaps you are used to the nazi chowhounds with their rules and deletions and kicking posters off the island. That's fine, but has proven to loose many educated food lovers because of their strict rules and policing. Here, we like to keep things light and fun, and occasionally mean and nasty. If you own the kickball, and make all the rules, sooner or later you'll be alone in the street.

bb...wouldn't think of hurting my heirloom tomatoes with Kraft....Hellman's girl all the way on scali bread, with sliced thinner than thin landolakes! Oh and triberry pie with fresh whipped cream....ahhh~...and herbs from the garden...basil/tomato, chives for my baked, oregano for my lemon chicken, thyme, rosemary for my grilled lamb, cilantro for my salsas!!! Fresh produce - priceless!

oops!

jpher: let's recap that quote of yours!!!

"life's journey is not to arrive at the grave in a well preserved body, but rather to skid sideways totally worn out, shouting""Holy s*#@t what a ride!""
Author???!!!! GNight!

gyppielou & ronkala, actually, I have Hellman's in the fridge, too, along with Kraft and JFG. I really like all three....:-) Tend to buy what's on sale. (I don't like Duke's - tastes like Miracle Whip to me which, BTW, my DH eats on his tomato sandwich, and I tell him that's NOT a good thing!)

I'm still laughing about dingleberries and I wouldn't eat them either!

rjw, congrats on your weight loss. Only a couple more weeks to MIA huh?

Love the SBD book. It almost turns you into a nutritionist.

Hi Go!! Yep, two weeks from tomorrow, in fact. It will be hotter than hell, but so what? The trick will be to stay hydrated and to not overdo the mojitos. That will be a toughie.

The SBD is well thought out, and I liked the idea of shocking the body with no carbs to balance out insulin levels; it makes sense to me. Of course, now I'm a bit afraid to bring the carbs back in, but I started with carrots and will have a whole-grain bagel for breakfast tomorrow. And I bought a new bicycle and went for a leisurely ride on the beach Saturday-- and it felt great with less weight to schlepp around.

There's my summer treat! A morning bike ride, then a summer veggie frittata for brunch (squash, mushrooms, baby spinach, tomatoes on top). Great weekend meal!

rjw, did you just write NOT overdo the mojitos? Okay, I understand the lack of white simple carbs is blocking your brain from making rational decisions.

You simply must overdo the mojitos one afternoon at the Delano and toast us all. Don't forget the Sky Bar at the Shore Club one night. Try and get a day pass for the pool or check out an afternoon there.

rjw, my sister does the SB frittata with asparagus. So good! Are you doing the ricotta cheese/jello combo? I got real sick of that during my two weeks!:P

Go: You're right, I was talking crazy talk there. I have to have a mojito hangover one morning-- at least. All those places are on my list, believe me!

bonnie: I actually like the ricotta cheese desserts-- but don't indulge that much. I'm actually a "one dessert a week" kind of guy (although I'd kill for a slice of strawberry pie-- "And you shall know of my dieting by the trail of bodies...." LOL).

HOWEVER, wait until my birthday dinner at Wish. Forty only comes once (or once a year for about 20, in the case of my mom, ha ha!), so watch out, pancreas and liver, you're going to get a workout!

rjw, actually I like ricotta cheese a lot, and liked it as dessert at first, then got aggravated because it was ALL I could have. And I got very grouchy because it was ACC/NCAA basketball tournament time here on Tobacco Road, and we're used to pigging out then........... and I wasn't even supposed to have wine and popcorn! :-d

It's not food, but it IS my summer treat. Discovered it at the pool bar at the Marriott on Coronado.

Electric Lemonade - lemonade with Absolut Citron and a dash of Amaretto to "smooth it off"

Yummy!

Last summer we LOVED the cherries we brought at the Pike St. market in Seattle...Raniers?