It's blurry but I don't care.... first ripe tomato of the season! Woooo! Yay! (And the crowd went wild... yay. Anyone else out there remember Tom Slick? Ok, just me).

It was hiding from me on the other side of my patio plant.

I wish I would have checked the plants yesterday, because we had BLTs and although the hothouse tomatoes I picked up at a local farmstand were OK, it was not the same as a summer tomato. I didn't even know it was turning red until I happened upon it today. Guess it's time to start giving the plants daily love so these things don't sneak up on me. I might also have two ripe cherry tomatoes in a day or two. Yay!!!!

But, it was a small 'mater anyway, so I divided it evenly among some salads for us with dinner. It was perfect.



My tomato plants have kinda gotten a mind of their own right now... they're all veering off to the right, kinda hanging off the deck right now. I tried to fight with them a little today to get them more in line, but I think I picked that fight too late. They were having none of it. So be it. See guys... women don't win every fight.

Oh yeah... and anyone know what the hell this is that is happening to the stalks of the plants?





I know I've seen it before, but I will admit I do not know if it is something that is a part of tomato plants or if it's some kind of pest. I've been spraying my plants with dipple dust every few days to try and keep the pests away (I'm really hoping for a better tomato crop than the past couple years, which downright sucked).

Dinner tonight (in addition to the salads) was a steak, potato and some roasted cherry tomatoes for the hubby, and I had some sea bass, a potato, and green beans with balsamic browned butter. I love that stuff. I planned it because I bought some beans at the farm stand last week, but they'd already gone south on me, so I pulled some frozen ones outta the freezer (thank you, Trader Joes).

Not much exciting cooking this past week. Tried a Gordon Ramsay recipe and ended up overcooking the pork chops. Made some jambalaya from a boxed mix with polish sausage, chicken, shrimp and okra. And other stuff I cannot remember now.

This week we're in for hot weather, so meals will follow that trend. Plan to try a new sloppy joe recipe one night, a recipe for scrambled eggs with crab, and more other stuff I can't remember right now.

Never did go for that pedicure... while I was at the grocery store and the burn was still fresh, I bumped my foot against the grocery cart and holy moly, did it ever hurt. The way the gals usually go at your feet and legs to exfoliate, I figured it wasn't a good idea. But, today I did dye my hair. Sometime in my very late teens, I went from being a total blonde toe-head to having this awful dishwater blonde colored hair. I hate it. I only dye my hair to make it go back to the same color I had for the first 18-19 years of my life. But I hate it right after I dye it... I like a little bit of roots. It'll look good in a couple weeks, right in time for August Party Season. So far, we've got two birthdays and a wedding to go to, and I'm sure that list will grow.....