Jocelynp, that is sooooo cute. He must be a little darling ;-). Blueberries are a POWERHOUSE of antioxidents...he will be sooooo healthy ,,,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!

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.

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???