This summer's been drier than normal.  On a positive note the tomatoes grew quite large without splitting from too much rain.  Our green and yellow beans continue to produce.  If I skip one morning's picking, the bushes are heavy with beans the next morning.  I've given some away to friends and neighbors, blanched and frozen ten quart bags, steamed them for our evening meals until Cliff says, "oh, beans again!"  I didn't know the yellow and green were going to be so bountiful.  Next year I'll pickle the green.

Last Saturday Barb and I bought two pounds of okra and this morning we pickled in her kitchen.

With fresh cut dill from the garden, garlic, mustard seeds, and hot apple cider vinegar, we tightly packed six jars with okra, poured the hot pickling brine into the jars and sealed them.

We did this, had fun, all without popping the Cabernet cork.

A couple of weeks ago when Barb and Mike were coming to dinner on the porch, I tried a new potato salad recipe.  They're great guinea pigs.  This recipe called for Greek yogurt in place of mayo.  The picture looked appetizing and hunger makes everything look good.

I made it using garden fresh cut dill and whatever else the recipe called for but it didn't suit my taste buds.  Two pounds of garden potatoes were too much to waste so I decided

to wash the distasteful dressing off the potatoes in small batches.

After soaking up the moisture with paper towels, I went back to my old standby mayo, mustard, horseradish dressing recipe.

It looked the same but tasted so much better.  Barb is privy to the fiasco but the men had no idea what they were eating.  They just want food and lots of it.