Bugs Bunny decided to check out the flora in his neck of the woods on a long hike. I have to say I was influenced by the late great Crocodile Hunter when it came to Bugs' wardrobe!
So many folks are on summer blog breaks, I wonder if anyone will participate in the art date this week! I won't be giving it up in any case! :)
Here is my oil painting for this week. The flora that I associate the most with Canada is the maple tree. We have them all over the property and they look especially brilliant in the fall. I decided to add our baby squirrels Algie, Spunky and Frasier to this painting. :)
Let's get down to the food shall we? I tried Joyce's Polish Pizzas (Zapiekanka) last week and they were really delicious, thanks so much Joyce! :)
I made my Potato Ham and Gruyere Tart and served it with fresh spinach from the garden! Yum! :) It's SO NICE to be able to eat fresh homegrown food!
Canada Day was July 1st and I'd been planning a red and white feast for a few weeks. This is the spread!! Tomatoes, watermelon and strawberries gave me the red I wanted...the potatoes and the cheeses represented the white.
This was surprisingly delicious in its simplicity. Watermelon and Feta Skewers. The mix of sweet and salty was a success!
The main course was a Caprese Panini. I used my Homemade Quick Mozzarella for this sandwich with local juicy tomatoes and fresh basil from the window garden. A sprinkling of good Balsamic vinegar and it's amazing! The corn was so sweet too!
Potato salad is so summery, I had to include it! I made some with my Homemade Mayo.
The coup de grâce of the evening was Strawberry Shortcake with fresh local strawberries! Thanks again to Joyce for that recipe winner! The only change I made to her recipe was to add some Fragoli strawberry liqueur to the strawberries.
The weather is hot and humid lately - just how I like it! We've had a lot of porch time, watching the squirrels and snacking on Rice Krispie Squares and my Knock-Off Tim Horton's Iced Coffee. I'll update everyone on the squirrels this weekend. They are in "escape mode" now. We were told once they were off the mother's milk, they would do their best to escape, which means release time is sooner than expected!
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July 11th: Next Thursday's theme is Camping/Campfire. Click on the link for ideas and inspiration! Remember it's all about creating. You can showcase your paintings, drawings, photography, sculpting, baking, poetry...whatever you like! :)
Thursday Art Date With Rain. Click on the link for a description of the art date as well as a list of upcoming themes.
Don't forget to add the URL link to you post (not your blog) to the link gadget below to share your wonderful creations!
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All these photos are eye-catching....but that crocodile...yikes...I can't look away! 😬
ReplyDelete"crocky bugs"....so cute! your food looks wonderful! oh i love the painting of the tree with the squirrels! i can't wait to see what happens when they are released.
ReplyDeleteWere you a chef in another life time??? Your food, oh my goodness, your food! The caprese bite thingies make me think, "Oh ya, I haven't done that for a while"- can't wait until I have fresh tomatoes of my own and I'm growing basil, so just need to get some soft mozzarella. -Jenn
ReplyDeleteSummertime food is always wonderful and colorful. You did a beautiful job af displaying it all. I make a watermelon and feta salad but I never thought of potting them on skewers. I might just do that this weekend.
ReplyDeleteOh i ABSOLUTELY LOVED LOVED LOVED YOUR ART dear Rain!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeletethe water is powerful appeal to eyes ,so brilliantly painted !
the maple tree is awesome either ,how lovely to have many in surroundings ,i can see the magic in winters Oh!!!!
your food makes me AWE and speechless ,my boys complain that i am not experimental and here i learn how to be such amazing at cooking with simple easy changes ,i am thankful for this :)
hope hot weather is not being annoying ,how wonderful that squirrels are ready to be released Hurry for them ,wishing them best survival in world outside
hugs!
How lovely to immortalize the baby squirrels in art!
ReplyDeleteHi Sandi :) Yeah, Steve Irwin was really something with those crocodiles! :)
ReplyDeleteHa Joyce "crocky bugs"...I love your flare for NEOLOGY...(big word huh?) :)
ReplyDeleteHi Jenn :) LOL...oh maybe I was a chef in another life, that's a nice compliment!! The caprese anything is so good...if you get your hands on some citric acid, you can easily make the quick Mozzarella at home!
ReplyDeleteHi Arleen :) Thank you :) I like the idea of a watermelon and feta salad! I have spinach and lettuce growing, so that might be a good meal this weekend!
ReplyDeleteThanks Baili :) I always enjoy your comments! Please let me know if you try any of my recipes, I would love to get your feedback! The weather is really hot, I mean, for us. 35C today with humidity, I know you have 50C weather which I just can't understand lol...but so far, we're okay if we don't spend too much time in the sun! Thank you for enjoying my art and the food!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Debra :) I have all of our pets in paintings, and they are no exception! :)
ReplyDeleteAll that food looks delicious! I've been enjoying cold coffees here lately too.
ReplyDeleteThanks Kristina :) The iced coffees have totally replaced my hot coffee every day now!
ReplyDeleteLove your art and your food looks very delicious.
ReplyDeleteLove the idea of watermelon and feta on skewers, must make some soon.
Happy Thursday Wishes.
All the best Jan
Thanks Jan :) The skewers are really delicious, I hope you try them!
ReplyDeleteHUMID....I dislike that so much and it has been that way for a couple of weeks. CRAZY HUMID. I feel like I am melting. Love, all your food cause a lot of it is BREAD and I love BREAD. haha...I meant to also tell you, loved your paintings on the ART DATE. I need to get back to them and comment. Sorry, having issues getting my crap together and moving and doing. Have a great day.
ReplyDeleteThanks Pam :) Oh I don't mind crazy humid as long as I have the a/c's going inside!!! :) Our winters are so long that I drink this weather up. Bread I love...I've often said if I could live off bread, cheese and wine I'd be a happy lady lol...I was happy to see you joined in this week! :)
ReplyDeleteSince I am definitely not an artist in the sense of using paint, perhaps with photos at times (?) I can only say that I appreciate all of yours, Rain. We both enjoy cooking, and so looking at ll the wonderful foods you have shown, and amazingly so uncomplicated, was great, Belated Canada Day wishes to you both. Also will look forward to seeing the squirrels "escape."
ReplyDeleteHi Rain your paintings are delightful, very alive and full of colour. Your food all looks delicious. I hope you continue to post about your squirrels. The ones in my garden have stopped coming so close since i only put one apple a day at the bottom of the garden, i think i was encouraging them too much.
ReplyDeleteHi, Rain! I always enjoy seeing your art, even if I'm late getting to it. I also enjoy seeing your cooking too. The watermelon and feta looks os delicious ~ and how easy is that? I tried making watermelon bellinis yesterday for 4th of July ~ blended watermelon, lemon juice, and sugar with prosecco. I ended up with an unattractive but tasty foam on top when I added the prosecco. Maybe I'll try it with chunks of watermelon and pineapple next time. We've been playing around with different summery drinks. I often think of how you manage your weight; and thank you for sharing, btw! Your strawberry shortcake looks delicious and so celebratory. We had caramelized peaches over ice cream. Hugs to you!
ReplyDeleteYes! We are also eating lots from our garden and my daughter-in-law the chef is taking lots of excess. We always plant far too much. I checked out your homemade Mayo recipe, exactly like mine but instead of the lemon juice I use apple cider vinegar. Gives it a great kick, but later this week going to try it your way.
ReplyDeleteThanks Dorothy :) Artists come in all forms! Your blog is definitely art, I'm very much enjoying your trip photos! Especially the food ones!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Wood Fairy :) Oh yes, I'll be posting more about the squirrels today! Apples, that must be a treat for them!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Louise :) Oh caramelized peaches sound really good!!! And I love the idea of Prosecco with watermelon!! I love Prosecco! Using the Moscato eliminated the need for sugar, it was so sweet and it went down FAST! (too fast lol!) The skewers were really easy and I'm making them again tonight. We have a whole half of watermelon leftover and the flavour combination was so good! :)
ReplyDeleteHi Donna :) It's nice to hear from you :) I'm happy to hear your garden is doing well, it was a slow start here with the cold spring but things are finally growing well now, I'm so relieved! ACV sounds good for the mayo!
ReplyDeleteRain,
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry I wasn't able to join in this week but as you know I'm taking a break from most of my blogging duties this summer. I like your artwork for this week's prompt especially of Bugs. :) I did do a couple of sketches but just didn't have time to work it in with holiday prep and I will at the very least continue to use your inspiration to create new illustrations. I hope to share artwork in a future post. BTW, your oil painting makes me think of autumn. The heat is making us all think about cooler days to come. lol Your food dishes look fantastic! Yum, you always make me so hungry! :)
Hi Cathy :) Thanks for stopping by :) I hope my themes inspire your art whether you post about it or not!!! :) The last few days I was thinking of autumn too, the humidity was incredible. But the thunderstorms helped with that and now it's a refreshing hot summer day! :)
ReplyDeleteI love both your art pieces Rain! Bugs bunny is so cute and so are the squirrels in the oil one! I hope you don't have to release the baby squirrels too soon! They are so precious! Rain, you should really open up your own restaurant!!! Your food is so delicious! Big Hugs!
ReplyDeleteThis is amazing. Yum! I am so impressed!
ReplyDeleteRain,
ReplyDeleteWhenever we get thunderstorms the humidity just kicks into overdrive after the rain especially if the sun follows the storm. It's hard to not think of fall when the weather is that steamy. I haven't even begun on the camping/campfire theme for this week with all my busyness but I'm definitely inspired to create something whether or not I get around to sharing it. We'll see, I would like to contribute at least one TADwR post every couple of weeks if nothing else during my break but we'll see how things pan out. ;)
So many great food here, Rain. That Polish Pizza, I've saved the link to hopefully make someday. And potato salad. Mmmm. Some foods like this I don't make very often at all, but it is a favorite. It certainly does loudly proclaim, "It's summer!"
ReplyDeleteThat food looks all so delicious. I wish I could come for lwftovwrs to your house every day ;)
ReplyDelete