Dinner Time! Dinner Time! Dinner Time!

Happy Monday, fair readers! It’s a picture perfect day here in Chicago…..sunny with a slight breeze, and temperatures expected to be in the low 80s. Simply lovely June weather, indeed. Far better than the 50 and pouring rain with storms we had on June 1st. I’ll take it!

If it’s the beginning of the week, it must be time to be thinking about our meal plan! Our last weekly meal plan that was posted had some new recipes (some worked out beautifully, some will need some tweaking if they are to be made again) and we may try some new stuff out this week too.  Also, get ready, because grilling season is officially here and we are rocking it out! It is perfect weather for outdoor cooking and not heating up the kitchen.  

Holy Awesome Garden, Batman!

Well, fair readers, as the May weather turned warmer here in Chicago (read: super hot, 100 degrees on Memorial Day weekend), it became clear that it was time to start the garden.  The wisdom on when to start your garden in Chicago varies, from people who get stuff out the first week of April to those of us who are a little bit more realistic about the weather here and wait until May.  Over years of gardening myself, and watching my mom do her planting for approximately 30 years, the well-worn advice of “wait until at least Mother’s Day in Chicago to plant” has great meaning.  There have been numerous years that the call of flowers has been too much for me in April, and I pick a moderately warm spring day to plant them, only to have a freeze come in and undo all my hard work. Please note: as I write this blog post up on the morning of June 1st, JUNE 1ST, it is 50 degrees and rainy in Chicago. We don’t really need to get into the fact that it was 90 for 5 days straight last weekend.  Raises fist at unpredictable Chicago weather.  With my edible garden, I’ve had to learn to stomp down the desire to start planting in April and hold out until Mother’s Day weekend.