janie, I haven't written about it much here yet- but I did at another site... I have a family made up entriely of finicky eaters. My family have actually broken my heart more than once with things they won't try, things they don't like, things they have literally spit-out (we're talking adults, here!) and comments they make, and such... As a foody, I don't really truly like everything- but I could never be rude enuf not to taste something- and if somone goes to the trouble and expense to cook for me, I can certainly fake it for them- to spare their feelings. My family? Nope. They believe in total honesty- even if it's brutal! That's just their way. Their palettes aren't very sophistocated either, so what I'm able to cook and share with them is pretty limited. They also watch pro-wrestling... these two things combined make me think maybe I was adopted!

If you were my brother I think I would be pulling any trick I could think of to get invited to dinner as much as possible.

Jons brother looks like Cooter from Dukes of Hazzard and sounds like a hillbilly Eeyore and watches bull riding. He does a fair amount of bull flinging if he can get anyone to listen to his tall tales. That little sucker always suprises me with how keen of a sense of taste he has considering he smokes about three packs a day.

Oh yeah..I dont have to be adopted.
I would settle for belonging to the mailman..paperman..milkman :o

I know janie- I'm right there with ya. I feel your pain! There are some mighty good mail men out there with hearty appetites who'd love a good home cooked meal! Ha!

I got about 10 -12 pounds of cucumbers last night. Some of them are pretty big. Im gonna use the smaller ones to make more pickles.
Jon's Dad wants to can green beans Thur.
Its supposed to be 95+ with high humidity tomorrow. He only has a small air conditioner in his bedroom window. We are going down very early in the morning so I can help him pick and he can teach me how to can with a pressure canner. God help me lol.

I went to Jons aunts yesterday and she gave me a couple really pretty crook neck squash. I stopped by Jons Dads and gave him one and kept the other. Im going to grill mine for dinner.
Jons other uncle was so angry. He had three huge watermelons in his garden and the deer got them all. They had a granny smith apple tree that they had told me to come and get all of the apple I wanted from when they are ready. They were telling Jons Dad that the deer had gotten every one of them they could reach. They had stood on their back legs and jumped to reach as high as they could! The said to tell me the ones in the top of the tree were still there and for me to come get them when they are ready to pick. Its a dwarf tree. Stupid deer..I was really looking forward to drying those apples and putting some in the freezer lol.

I tried growing parsnips for several years to no avail, Janie. Seems like parsnip tops are the second favorite food for the deer around here. The tops would be beautiful when I went to bed, eaten down to the ground the next morning.

I used to tell people that I didn't really like venison. It was just my way of getting to eat my parsnips.

I'll be very happy to come out with my crew this fall and help thin out those deer for you. We can both get to eat your apples that way.