A few tips from my summer kitchen

I thought i would share some of the neat homemaking things I have adopted over the years that I do in July and August.

Water melon smoothy!  Freeze water melon and then blend it up with what ever kind of milk you like.  I add a little half and half and rose water or lavender water that I buy form the   A wonderful warm weather treat.   I buy my flower water at Shiraz on Oakland.  

Eat you weeds!  
I repeat eat you weeds they are so GOOD for you and take no effort to grow!  They plant themselves!  If you garden than most of you have the best greens growing in your garden already. I go to my local community gardens and glean the unwanted food there.  I put likes below so you can find out more about them and look up how to identify them.  My three favorites are:

Purslane.  
High in omaga 3's !  Purslane is a relative low growing plant that loves the hot months of summer. I let it act as a ground cover for any empty spots i have in our garden.
I saute it, eat it freash in salads or alon with vinegar and oil on it or use it i might any green with eggs, in soups etc.

Chickweed. 
Another "weed" that acts as a good ground cover, it can get a bit carried away when it has enough moister but it is so easy to weed up i never consider it a problem.  I eat it in salads and sauteed mixed with my other morning greens. 

Lambs Quarters. 
I use LQ  as I would kale or spinach. My favorite is to make garlic oil.  Steam the Lambs quarters and then add fresh anise hyssops, basil and soy sauce to creates a great Tia flavor. 

Mint Vinegar.  
Now is a great time to pick a bunch of that mint that is taking over and stuff it in some vinegar.  I use mostly in marinades. use the meat in Chicken fajitas, yum!