A fellow in Charlotte this past weekend drowned in his community pool. I guess he was playing with some kids. They were having contests to see how long they could hold their breath under water. He was an adult.
I don't really understand how that kind of thing can happen. I mean, if he ducked his head under water and held his breath, wouldn't he jump up when it became apparent he had to breathe? Could he have had a heart attack under there, or a stroke or something? It just seems like, even if he suddenly inhaled a ton of water, he would have been thrashing around wildly for a minute or so...
I sure wish someone would explain that. It baffles me.
Yesterday I finally had a chance to help out at the farm. I tend to get there late in the morning, so most of the harvesting has been done. Then I get to stand under the trees, next to the lake, and divvy up the harvest among the shareholder boxes. There are 26 shares this year. We also provide for a few restaurants, so we have to get that stuff out and weighed and bundled as well. Our box was extremely heavy yesterday, with tomatoes, potatoes, celery, summer squash, and a HUGE bag of basil.
Yesterday afternoon I cleaned out the crisper drawers and froze most of the summer squash I had in there. I'll use it for soups and stews in the winter. I had planned to freeze some of the celery (I had 4 bunches of it from 4 weeks worth), but I ran out of snack-sized ziplocs. So I just cut it all up into ready-to-eat stalks and left it in the fridge. I'll need to come up with some use for it. The other shareholder that works at the farm (she is not a volunteer...she works so she can get her share free) said that her grandmother used to make a cheese soup with a ton of celery in it. I might look around for a recipe for that. I also have beaucoup peppers. Bell and Banana peppers. But again, I ran out of snack bags, so I had to put them back in the fridge. So today I hope to make a Target run for those items so I can get some peppers frozen. They are wonderful slipped into soups.
My own basil is starting to look kind of bad. The japanese beetles have switched to that poor plant from the Crape Myrtle tree. I'm glad for tree, but the basil is looking pretty peaked. I go out a few times a day and knock the beetles into a ziploc bag and then step on them.
Last night I made a wonderful stir fry. It sure is a lot better when you have homemade chicken stock for it. And of course, most of the veggies were from the farm. I usually add black bean paste to my stir fry. But last time when I ran out, I bought fish sauce instead. The fish sauce was nice, but not as strong. Maybe I'll need to add more.
And speaking of food, I had the absolute BEST pizza over the weekend. Instead of putting tomato sauce on mine, I simmered a fist of garlic in olive oil for a while. Then I brushed the crust with the oil. I sprinkled red pepper flakes on next. Then I sliced a fresh tomato and layered that on. Next went some of the simmered garlic cloves, some banana pepper, a little onion and some green olives. Then I sprinkled a very small amount of the Italian cheese mixture over top. After I baked the pizza, I sprinkled on some fresh basil. Oh man!!!
8:16:15 AM 
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