Cold Cream of Cucumber Soup

I was able to pick a few GIANT cucumbers from the garden I told you about in my last post and this recipe was the perfect way to use up the cukes and eat something cool and refreshing on yet another hot summer day!!

Cold Cream of Cucumber with Dill and Yogurt

Serves 4 and is vegetarian!

3 cucumbers, each about 5 inches long, ends trimmed, unpeeled, cut into large chunks

2 sour dill pickles

1 cup plain low-fat yogurt

1 cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon lemon juice (I was out, but lime juice worked just as well)

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh dill or dried dill

salt and pepper

Put cucumbers, pickles, yogurt, cream, lemon (or lime) juice and chopped or dried dill in a food processor. (I have a very tiny food processor, so I did cucumbers in multiple batches, and a batch of the pickles. I then mixed everything together in a mixing bowl. Just make sure your cukes and pickles are blended up into pulp.) Season with salt and pepper.

Cover tightly and refrigerate until well chilled, 2-3 hours.

For the adventurous: The recipe also suggests that you could add chopped sweet red onion or shredded carrots to the mixture. It also suggests that mint could be substituted for the dill.

It literally took me about 15 minutes to put this together (plus the chill time). It turned out delicious! I bought some Naan bread and threw it on the grill for about 1 1/2 minutes each side and served that with the soup. Perfect combination.

So, go out in your garden (or a friend's garden, or take a trip down to your local farmer's market) and find some cukes and get cookin'!

How Does Your Garden Grow

So, I'm excited to report that this time next year, I will have my own garden.

But, right now I have to settle for nipping veggies and peppers out of a friend's garden (with permission of course!) What am I going to do with said veggies and peppers, you ask? Well, in the next few weeks I'm going to share a few recipes with you that will help you use up some of the generous gifts from your garden.

Stay tuned...

Wind Through My Hair, Bug Up the Nose

My history with motorcycles is really a love/hate relationship. Until this weekend, the only time I had ever been "on" a motorcycle, I wasn't even riding it, just sitting on one and burned the holy hell out of my leg, resulting in the two huge scars I now have on the inside of my right leg.

So let me rephrase...My history with motorcycles is really a hate/hate relationship...Until my dear beau stepped in. You see he has a motorcycle, a cute little 1980 Honda (that is all I know about it, and I'm sure he would appreciate me calling it 'cute'.) This made me nervous to no end...that is until I finally rode on it on Sunday.

And let me tell you, I get it! I get why so many people love to ride motorcycles. You feel free (and much cooler than those squares in their cars) :-) I say this, but I was quite a nervous wreck on our first ride (and I still won't let him go above 40 mph).

So, last night (after a long day of me feeling on the verge of tears and a nervous breakdown), we took the ol' girl out on McDowell Creek Road, twisting around the curves, heading down dirt roads and curling up into the Flint Hills to see a view of Manhattan that few get to see. And it worked...I calmed down, let the breeze whip my hair around and kept a smile firmly planted on my face (even when a bug flew up my nose).

So let me rephrase one last time...My history with motorcycles is a love/hate relationship (approximately 85% love to 15% hate).

And it gives me the chance to wrap my arms around a good lookin' hunk of man! Who could turn that down?!