Cucumber Lime Mint Popsicles

It is officially summertime. You can tell, because every single day this week, it has rained. And not just rained, but dumped buckets on our yard. This generally lasts for about 10 minutes and then, back to that famous Florida sunshine. That's the thing about Florida in the summertime - if you don't like the weather, just wait 10 minutes and it will change.

In addition to the daily rainstorms, it has also been hot. Sweltering is probably a better way to describe it, actually. Temperatures in the 90s, sometimes breaking 100, are not unusual, but combined with the humidity, it makes for a steamy atmosphere. Steamy, not in a sexy way, but in a shirt stuck to your back, hair the size of a Texas beauty queen, kind of way.

When it gets like this, there is only one thing to do: Make popsicles. I've gone through a popsicle making phase over the past few weeks, combining mostly traditional ingredients like fruit, yogurt, and simple syrup, but I wanted something different.

Cucumber Water has always been something that in my head, I know I love, but I never actually make it at home. We had an over abundance of cucumbers, thanks to a farmer friend with a bumper crop. With those cucumbers, we made pickles until the entire house, and my skin, smelled like pickle juice for days. I infused some vodka with cucumbers. And of course, we ate cucumbers sprinkled with sea salt and pepper for lunch and dinner, and sometimes breakfast.

In the haze of the heat, I became obsessed with the idea of making popsicles out of cucumbers. The idea to just shove a stick up the end of a peeled cucumber and pop it into the freezer might have crossed my mind, but I wanted other flavors in there, too. I know that Cucumber Mint salad can be simply heavenly, and I know that when you combine mint and lime, you basically get a Mojito. So I put all three into a blender and the result: refreshing, light, crisp. Lovely.

Cucumber Mint Lime Popsicles
Ingredients:

• 2 Cup diced cucumber (approx. 3 small cucumbers, that have been peeled and seeded)
• 2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice (one medium lime)
• 3/4 Cup Mint Syrup - recipe below

Place all ingredients in to a blender. Puree until smooth. Pour into popsicle molds. Let freeze for 1 hour, then insert popsicle sticks. Continue to freeze for an additional 3 - 4 hours.

Yield: 6 Popsicles

Mint Syrup
Ingredients:

• 1 Cup Water
• 1/2 Cup Sugar
• 1 Tbsp. fresh Mint Leaves, roughly chopped

Combine water and sugar in a saucepan. Heat over medium heat, until sugar dissolves. Add chopped mint leaves and bring to a boil. Boil for 1 minute. Set aside to cool.

Before adding syrup to the blender, strain to remove mint leaves.

Just a Nice Saturday

Things that did not go according to plan on this, the last Saturday of June:

• We did not make it to the Watermelon Festival, since there was a crazy thunder and lightning storm going on this morning.
• I did not get to sleep in, not even a little bit, since Nubbins has decided that she absolutely must knead my head and hair by 5:00 am each morning. Thanks, Nubbins.
• I broke our Sun Tea jar, because sometimes, I don't think before I act. A little tip for you: If you have a jar full of hot water and tea bags in the sink, don't pour a pan full of room temperature water into that sink. The result: a sad, sad cracking noise and the need for a new tea jar.
• The living room didn't get cleaned, even though we have company coming tomorrow and they will be sleeping on the pull out couch. Not sure when that's going to happen, since I'm going to church tomorrow morning for the first time in a really long time AND we're heading to Mom's house to help clean out the garage in the afternoon. We might need to get the air mattress out, just in case we don't get around to cleaning.

In spite of everything above, today was a really good day. We went to the Dollar General and attempted to "super coupon" our way through the store. We succeeded in getting a really good deal on shampoo and conditioner (with 2 free samples of moisturizer/styling cream as a bonus) and on cat food, but not much else. I am proud of myself, though, because the girl ringing us up had trouble get the coupons to scan. There were people in line behind me, and in the past, I would have just said "Nevermind, don't bother with the coupons" because I wouldn't want to keep anyone waiting or annoy the cashier or the people behind me. The thing is, we are really trying to live on less right now, and I'm not going to let a little register issue be the cause of more stress for me.

This doesn't seem like much of a revelation if you don't know me, but I am generally a people pleaser and hate to inconvenience anyone. And to a point, I still am - but for something that normally would have sent me into a shame spiral (I can't believe I am waiting in line and making a big deal over a $1 off coupon!), I think I handled the situation very well.

After our shopping trip, we had our Cowboy Shooting friends Hollifer A. Dollar and Kay Sadeeya over for lunch and a Crafty Girls' Day/Wii Shooting Games Guys' Day. This afternoon was planned because Kay liked a picture on Facebook of these fancy-schmancy high heels that were super sparkly and covered with rhinestones. They looked something like this:



I said, "Those look easy! Let's make some!!" So, we did. Here's what mine look like:



A bit more understated than the ones that inspired our craft day, but I love them. I guess it's time to finally learn to walk in high heels, huh?

Blueberry Yogurt Pops

Three ingredients, one blender, 6 popsicle molds, and a freezer. That's all it takes to make these and they are so refreshing and light, especially on a hot Florida summer day.

Ingredients:

• 2 Cups Plain Greek Yogurt
• 1 Cup Blueberries (fresh or frozen)
• 2 Tbsp. Honey

Place all ingredients in a blender and puree. I used the "Smoothie" button on my blender and it blended perfectly.

Pour into popsicle molds. Let freeze for about an hour and then insert popsicle sticks (or in my case, lollipop sticks) into each popsicle. Continue to freeze until firm, for about 4 - 6 hours.

Yield: 6 - 8 popsicles.

'Til The Cows Come Home (Or Not)

So, running cows...yeah...it helps when the cows cooperate. We didn't see any cow action on Wednesday, but I did get some pretty good pictures on the farm.

 

This was as close as we got to the cows all morning. They said "Hello" and then a quick "Good-bye."

But still, we waited for them. Just chillin' on a dirt road.

After we blocked off the road, we had a visit from the grader.

Mike tried to convince him to go back home, but he had a job to do. So we unblocked the road, let him pass, and re-blocked the road. And continued to wait.

I passed the time by wandering and taking more pictures.

    

My continued quest to put together a Trees On Sky coffee table book...

This road leads to cows, but it didn't lead cows to us. Pretty view, though.

You're Turning Violet, Violet!

Do you know what picking 40 pounds of blueberries does to a person? Well, for one thing, it makes them quote Willy Wonka over and over. "I've got a blueberry for a daughter!"

Our friends Ms. Sylvia and Ms. Sheila have the most beautiful farm. And on that farm, there was a dog (two, actually).

E-I-E-I...Puppy Smile!!!

Also on that farm, there were some blueberries. Technically there still are some blueberries. We didn't pick them clean, but we came darn near close.

Now to decide what to do with all of these blueberries. A bunch of them, probably about half, will be frozen in their perfect, ripened state, to be used throughout the year.

I've already made one batch of Blueberry Muffins to take with me when I go move some cattle later today.

Yes, you read that right, and no, I have no idea what I am doing. You can bet the camera is coming along for this adventure.

Git-R-Done (At 375 Degrees for 45 Minutes)

Larry the Cable Guy Beer Bread. Do those words belong in the same sentence? When I found this mix in the dollar section at the Piggly Wiggly, my curiosity was peaked.

A box of mix, a can of beer and some butter. OK, Larry, let's see how this goes.

As instructed, I poured the melted butter over the batter in the loaf pan. I just had to take a picture. Paula Deen and/or The Pioneer Woman, eat your heart out.

After baking the bread for 45 minutes, here's what it looked like:

The butter made the top crust extremely crispy.

Everything looks better in natural light. :-)

The bread turned out moist and dense, with the sweetness of cornbread. 

Total Cost: The bread mix was $1.00, the can of Ultra was $0.79, and the butter used was $0.25, bringing the cost of the loaf to $2.04.

Verdict: The Official Mother-In-Law Reaction was "That is kick ass good!" I think this would be excellent with some shredded cheddar cheese mixed in, too.

Apparently, Larry has an entire line of mixes and packaged foods available - if I see this, or one of his other mixes, again and it's only $1.00, I would probably pick it up for the convenience factor.

It's Been One Week

Things I have done since becoming unemployed last Monday:

• Spent time with my best friend while she is in town.
• Made a list of cheap meals to cook at home.
• Cried. A lot.
• Laughed. Even more.
• Posted entirely too many status updates.
• Read entirely too many status updates.
• Pressure washed part of the house.
• Gone to bed early.
• Stayed up late.
• Slept in until at least 7:00 a.m. each morning.
• Yelled at my mom (sorry, Mom!)
• Put myself on restriction when it comes to spending money.
• Leaned on Murphy, physically and mentally.
• Made waffles on the heart-shaped waffle iron.
• Resolved to write more, which means blogging every day.
• Conducted my first Publicity Committee meeting as chairperson.
• Realized how lucky I am to have the family and friends I have.

It has been an interesting week. On Friday, I actually spent about 30 minutes debating in my head as to whether it was actually Thursday. Not having to get up and take a shower and get dressed; not having to be somewhere at the same time every day; not having to look at my Outlook calendar for appointments and meetings...yeah, not having to do those things has totally thrown me off.

But. BUT! While I might not always be sure of what day of the week it is, there is something I am sure of - this is a good thing. This is the chance for me to really figure out what I should be doing with my life. I'm too old to have a Quarter Life Crisis (unless advances in modern medicine raise the average age of death to 120+), and I'm too young to take the first thing that comes along.

All I can say is, it's not going to be OK - it is going to be better than OK. I am going to be better than OK. Stay tuned - it's about to get fun!