It's that time of year again.  We're harvesting everyday now, sometimes just a little, but sometimes, like yesterday, a lot.  I picked an entire basket of green beans, the lovely French Filets, made green bean pickles and still had enough beans left over for dinner.  I've shared this recipe many times before, but it's worth sharing again: Dan Koshansky's Refrigerator Pickles are by far, the best tasting pickles you'll ever eat let alone make. Plus, it's the easiest pickle in the world to make.  Say goodbye forever to soft, soggy pickles.  This recipe makes crispy pickles with a good kick of dill, garlic and red pepper. They make such a nice mid-day snack and are great on the buffet table. In a few weeks when the cucumbers come in, I'll use the same recipe to make a standard pickle.  I'm also thinking of experimenting making a beet pickle.  Hmmmm. Whether you grown your own veggies or buy them at the roadside stand or supermarket, try these!

The green beans were harvested from two 9' rows we have planted with Botanical Interest's bush French Filets, my favorite bush green bean.  They are easy to pick, (pick them pencil-thin), and the bean flowers don't stick to them (if you grow green beans you know what I mean by that.)  They have a mild flavor, grow straight and are prolific.  To prolong our green bean harvest, a month later we sowed Blue Lake pole beans.  They also grow straight, are quite big and meaty and have a very pronounced old-fashioned beany flavor which is lovely and summery. Planted at the base of teepees made from the straightest thinnings of our fruitless mulberry, in a month, they will be up to the top.

At the same time, my dear friend called me and said, "Come over today!  My peach tree is bursting with fruit!"  To be honest, I couldn't get over there fast enough.  An hour later I was home with 2 very large bags of the loveliest, most fragrant, ripe peaches I've ever had.  We saved some for eating on the spot, and with the rest I made a double recipe of Honey Sweetened Peach Chutney using some local honey from another girlfriend's back yard.  My friends are sure nice to me.  I made 14 jars but already gave quite a few away.  We love it with pork and chicken, also over goat cheese served with crackers for an easy appetizer.  (Make sure to use her method for removing the peach skins--it saves hours!  My peaches were not freestone, so I did not slice them first, but instead poured the boiling water over the entire peach harvest and the skins easily slipped off.)

Thank you for stopping by.

If you'd like to make a comment, please click here.

xo Kristen

This post was mostly written yesterday, and posted today and I was learning about the attack in Orlando.  My prayers go out to all the citizens of Orlando.  I'm speechless and overwhelmed that the world has to endure yet another terrorist attack on innocent people.  

Oh my goodness, this blog is going to have some fun this month.  I have five new projects to share--a dress, a pullover, a shrug, a cowl, and this shawl, all modeled by my lovely neighbor, Jessica.  We played dress-up yesterday and did some pretty styling and got some great pictures of all the garments.  I'll be showing a new knit each week. 

The first is the gorgeous Lori Shawl by Carrie Bostick Hoge knit in some vintage Rowan Scottish Tweed DK.  Years ago I bought a half-dozen skeins for half price.  You know how that is, you cannot resist it at the time, then arrive home and realize you don't really have enough to do anything with.  After a decade of being hidden away, I haphazardly paired it with this pattern--genius!  The rustic yarn combined with the primitive texture of garter stitch combined with the most simple of shapes--perfection!  The shape is an elongated triangle and as you can imagine, is a very simple knit and easy enough to touch knit in the dark movie theater.  My husband and I go to the movies every Monday afternoon and I like something mindless to keep my hands busy while sitting for two hours, plus it kept my lap warm too!  I mostly kept this as my movie knit, but sometimes I sneaked it into my regular at-home knitting--sigh--sometimes garter stitch just calls out to me and I cannot resist!

The years-ago discontinued Scottish Tweed is rare enough to find, but there's always some popping up on Rav or eBay and I wouldn't hesitate to grab some again.  It feels like you have real, oldtime YARN in your hand; sturdy and homey and folksy, and seems to say, "I will keep you warm and I will last forever."  It is soft enough to wear next to the neck and would also be appropriate for a sweater worn next to the skin but sturdy enough for outer wear.

I'd like to praise the book that this pattern came from, Madder Anthology 2.  I purchased it two months ago when I was at the KnitWearLove retreat in Pacific Grove.  It's a beautiful book with 15 simple designs with a rustic flair; all beautifully photographed with well-written patterns.  I'm not done with it either: I'm almost finished with Liv and have just cast on for the Barn Sweater and I'm making this Lori shawl again, striped, with a melange of purple yarns I have in my stash.  Jessica and I both gave this shawl a ten.  It's a winner.

I know you like to see what my garments look like on me, an older woman for whom they were intended, and I will make sure when I post the sweaters I'll also share a photo of me wearing it too.

Thanks for stopping by dear readers.