With so many tomatoes from our garden (8 to 10 large tomatoes and a bowlful of cherry tomatoes sitt on the countertop as I write), I’ve been trying to incorporate them into just about every meal. The other night I made vegan tomato caprese. 
It’s usually made with fresh mozzarella, but I substituted the mozzarella for thinly sliced extra firm tofu (drizzled with a balsamic vinaigrette).
Here’s the basic recipe
1 to 2 ripe tomatoes, sliced
1/2 container extra firm tofu, pressed and sliced
1 cup fresh basil, chopped (we used the basil from our herb garden)
Balsamic vinaigrette
Sea salt (to taste)
Coarsely ground pepper (to taste)
Directions: Alternate the tomato slices and tofu while drizzling balsamic (marinating the tofu is another good option for those who want a bit more flavor from the tofu). Add salt and pepper as desired. Top with basil shreds.
I was really impressed with how this summer salad turned out. It’s light and refreshing but also very flavorful. Since it’s so simple to make, it’s a great side dish or appetizer.
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I ended up returning the Gerber daisies to Lowe’s (thank goodness for their 1-year guarantee). They just couldn’t make it in the heat and so much direct sun. I planted a few more petunias and marigolds, as well as a couple of other perennials (of course, I can’t remember their names).
I also pulled all of the weeds from the small flower bed between the driveway and storage shed. It looks much better with color from impatiens and begonias.
While it has been hard work clearing out the beds, planting, watering, weeding, replanting, watering some more, weeding some more, water yet some more, it’s worth it to be able to enjoy the backyard even more. It’s amazing what a little color will do to spruce things up.
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Here are the pictures from our weekend work in the front yard. We cut back the fir tree a bit because it was taking over the crape myrtle.
We also cut back two terribly ugly trees: one was blocking the view from the master bedroom, and the other, at the end of the driveway, always blocked our view as we tried to back out onto the street.
BEFORE:
AFTER:
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I just found out that the North Charleston Farmers Market is no longer at the Westvaco Park– it’s moved to Park Circle! Here’s the scoop:
WHAT: Locally grown produce
WHEN: Every Thursday beginning June 19 (through October 18)
2:00pm until 6:00pm (woohoo– we can actually get there after work!)
WHERE: Felix C. Davis Community Center in Park Circle
Need more information? Contact Belinda at 843.745.1028.
Daniel and I most definitely will be there this Thursday, so I’ll run a follow-up with pictures.
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Daniel’s dad Jack was in town for a long weekend, and he was so kind to lend us a hand in battling the nearly untameable trees and bushes in our yard. Now, you might be wondering how we could have any more overgrown plants in our yard (especially after all we’ve removed), but when the yard hasn’t been maintained in years and years, the amount of yard work is seemingly endless!
To begin, Daniel and Jack trimmed the drooping plum tree in the backyard. It was actually touching the tomato plants because it had so much bulk (in fact, it looked more like an overgrown bush than a tree because the limbs hung so low).
Their hard work paid off though, and voila, we have a tree again! The back two tomato plants should also be happier since the plum tree isn’t blocking the sun anymore.
We also cut back all of the U-shaped boxwoods in the backyard, which really opened up the entire yard. It’s amazing how those boxwoods made our yard feel so much smaller. We also plan (in the near future) to clean up the back fence line (which make for a prettier view). Another of our goals is to have a big wood (or wood composite) deck that extends from the back door into the yard. While that plan probably won’t happen this summer, cleaning up and clearing out the space is pointing us in that direction.
Daniel and Jack also went to work clearing out the brush around the big trees in the back. It looks so much better now!
It’s a slow and difficult process, but we’re getting there! More to come on the front yard adventures.
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I first saw this post on design*sponge and absolutely fell in love with the designs of Heather Moore of Skinny Laminx. Heather’s tutorial is well done (with lots of pictures) and very informative… now I just need to find a kiln!
For those of you who aren’t quite ready to tackle designing your own dishes, check out the Skinny Laminx etsy shop.
Photo from SkinnyLaminx.com
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The hydrangeas are in bloom in the backyard, so I just had to clip a few and bring them inside to cheer up the indoors.
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We had an abundance of banana peppers from the garden (that you can see here). Daniel pickled and canned them (along with one of the jalepeno peppers) yesterday (white vinegar, sugar, mustard seed, and celery salt). Unfortunately, he didn’t get an in-progress pictures, but here’s the end result. We just have to wait two weeks until we can start eating them.
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Our four tomato plants are really doing well. The cherry tomato plant is producing the most tomatoes right now, but I think that’s probably because cherry tomatoes are so much smaller.
I just picked the first big tomato this past week, and it was definitely a big one (and the tomato sandwich I made tasted amazing). This is it next to a Rubics cube:
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We had LOTS of rain today! Hurray! I hope the flowers in the backyard bed will be happier now. Daniel and I also stepped our into the still-damp lawn and picked a few items from our garden: cherry tomatoes, banana peppers, and a jalepeno. In particular the banana peppers and cherry tomatoes have been doing very well. I think we’re going to try to pickle and can some of the banana peppers tonight, so I’ll let you know how that goes.
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It’s usually made with fresh mozzarella, but I substituted the mozzarella for thinly sliced extra firm tofu (drizzled with a balsamic vinaigrette).
