For mid-sommer my husband enjoys making Grav-Lax out of wild Alaskan salmon. It takes 3 days of salting, chilling, and pressing.
I love being able to fill my plate with greens harvested directly from the garden.
My stepdaughter is at the far right, home for a visit. We love having her home because she is a "foodie" and we have spectacular meals in her honor.
Buffets are my favorite way to serve a meal. Each person can take exactly what appeals to them, try a bite of something new, and load up on their favorites.
July is raspberry season in the Pacific Northwest, and this was an especially good year.
We made jam and froze them whole for use throughout the winter. During the school year when I pack the girls' lunches I toss a few frozen berries into their yogurt, which we buy in giant tubs and portion into small reusable containers.
Late July and most of August is blueberry season.
Our favorite farm in the shadow of the mountain didn't disappoint. We made pies, muffins, jam, and froze them whole.
My neighbor Al stopped by with a plate of fresh figs for me. He is so proud of his trees, which he propigates and has filled his entire yard with. He gave me an offshoot which I have in a giant pot for now, but my tree produces only about a dozen figs since it is still young. Al, however, is inundated with hundreds of these luscious fruits, which all ripen over a 10 day period and are too juicy to dry or preserve. Few of the neighbors like figs, but I love them, and he and I can enthuse over their virtues for hours. On my evening walks I pass his house and he's up his ladder picking, and as soon as he sees me he rushes over with handfuls of fruit, and we stand there on the sidewalk gorging ourselves, seeds and juice dripping down our chins, both of us making orgasmic moaning sounds over how delicious they are. We provide great fodder for the neighborhood gossip mill!
Good food in the garden means lots of animal visitors. There was speculation over what animal left this giant poop near my raspberry plants which had recently been stripped bare. Was it a deer, or was it a black bear? It came from an herbavore since it didn't stink and no flies were interested in it. I posted the photo to my Master Naturalist group, and also asked a few of our local park rangers, and the consensus was about 50-50 deer-bear.
OK, I just realized what a weird post this is. Lots of photos of food, and then a photo of poop to end it. Sorry!