Yoo! Hoo! Calling All Sugar Pies!

Written by Aunt Ruthie on April 12th, 2010

205 Comments

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1. the vintage housewife April 12th, 2010 7:41 am hey sweetie..oh my word i am the first….ekkkkkkkkk! well you just know i love all kinds of goodness traditions…and i love to chit chat with ya about all of those…but i am too excited to think…oh my oh my i can’t believe you are ready to finally do this…oh my i am screamin’ with delight…blessings sista…i can hardly stand it…Aunt ruthie in print cantcha scream gals! i love ya honey! lets chit chat soon! Cat

2. Kelly Howard April 12th, 2010 7:42 am Yahoo!!! I am tickled pink over this news! Bring it on!

3. Amanda April 12th, 2010 7:43 am Summer….ahhh! Picking fresh raspberries and rhubarb and then going home and making a pie for my husband while he uses my hairdryer to get the fire going in the grill! Haha!

4. Joni April 12th, 2010 7:46 am Hi! I see you’ve been VERY BUSY! Do you take the time each day to write a little when you’re writing a book? I’d love to know more about the process! XOXO Joni

5. Beth Lang April 12th, 2010 7:49 am Until 8 years ago I lived on a farm in SE Montana. My favorite summer time memories are the summer storms in SE Montana. We have no mountains and few trees so you could see a storm coming for miles. At night the lightening show was more awesome than the 4th of July fireworks. The flashes of lightening would light the night up brighter than day, and then BOOM! the thunder would sound, the windows would rattle, and the whole household would wake up to watch the show. And the smell after a rain…AMAZING. It is really hard to describe the smell, everything was so fresh smelling and clean smelling. The electrical storms are one of the things I miss about Montana. We don’t get many here in Oregon. Farm life in the summer is busy but wonderful. In the summer I like to use lighter colors in the house when decorating, like light colored slipcovers on the furniture, lighter fabric and colors for the curtains. It seems to make the rooms feel cooler and lighter. When packing a picnic lunch I love my picnic basket but for foods that have to be hot/cold a cooler is a must. I put my dishes and cutlery in my picnic basket (along with some table decorations) and a couple of smaller coolers (one hot, one cold) for the food. I am so loving your blog and am excited for your book to come out. Have a great spring. Beth

6. Marla Robison April 12th, 2010 7:50 am I LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT! How exciting to see your wonderful creativity in print! I can share your fun info with my friends at coffee! woohoo! Soooo enjoy your blog! How encouraging and uplifting! Thanks for the time you take to pour into others. Love the contest…can’t wait to see what awesome ideas you will be sharing with us! Lots of love my friend, Marla

7. Marci Blubaugh April 12th, 2010 7:51 am One of my favorite things is to fix a summer supper from the garden. We go out and pick some fresh ears of corn, several juicy ripe tomatoes, green beans off the vines and anything else that is ripe. We then come in and cook it all up and have the freshest and best summer supper ever.

8. Mrs. G April 12th, 2010 7:52 am Looking forward to a good summer read! p.s. I miss the music on your blog. Please bring it back.

9. Joyce Stewart April 12th, 2010 7:52 am What exciting news…makes me happy as a june bug to hear that we have one of your wonderful books coming our way. You are always such an inspiration. Can’t wait to sit on the front porch with a glass of sweet tea and soak in every delightful page.

10. Heather April 12th, 2010 7:52 am I’m so excited for you and your project. Can’t wait to see it! Here’s a quick recipe for Sun Tea. Its a simple iced tea recipe that I’ve used for years. In a large pitcher or better yet, a super large pickle jar (cleaned out of course), pour some hot water and 6 tea bags. Add some lemon slices and mint. Sit it out in the sun for about 4-6 hours. Slowly the tea will steep and you will have a beautiful natural tea to add sugar/sweetener/lemon juice and ice, lots of ice. Truly summer in a glass.

11. Florida SugarPie April 12th, 2010 7:57 am What a fun idea!!! I love you, Aunt Ruthie! Here is my summer idea: Many of us are not stay-at-home-sugar-pies. I, myself, am a reluctant working mother. We have to work extra hard to keep our homes havens but it is so worth the extra effort. One of my summer-fun ideas is to pick up the family after work on a Friday evening and head to the beach for a picnic! There is no work or school the next day and luckily, we live on the coast of Florida. (If you don’t live near a beach, a lake would be a lovely substitute.) We go to the beach with something easy and quick – pizza or a bucket of fried chicken. I lay out the blanket and we eat while watching the sunset! Sometimes the children bring bathing suits and have a swim. It is a lovely way to spend family time for working parents. We can still bring love, joy and beauty to our homes even if we’re working! Thanks so much for your blog, Aunt Ruthie. I look forward to the day when I can be a keeper at home, but until now – I do what I can for my family, when I can! God bless! Alison

12. frenchgardenhouse April 12th, 2010 7:58 am How exciting! Congratulations, it’s a brilliant idea. I can forsee a whole series of books from you sharing all the gifts God has bestowed on women. :) Can’t wait to see it….xoxo Lidy

13. Angie April 12th, 2010 7:58 am Going blackberry pickingI I can still remember the smell of those big, fat, sweet blackberries warmed in the good ol’ Oregon sunshine & the taste….pure heaven. I was born & lived my first 40 years in that great state & back in the 60’s & 70’s you could still pick them in patches in a field or along the roadside without worrying about pesticides & such. We ate our fill & still brought enough home for my Gram to make into blackberry jam or Momma to make into a pie! I live on the East Coast of Canada now & there are no blackberries here, I sure miss those days.

14. Oklahoma Granny April 12th, 2010 8:06 am What a sweet offer! A few days before heading out on a camping trip I brown several pounds of hamburger, drain well and package in small freezer bags. The packages are then put in the house freezer awaiting the time they will be transferred to our travel trailer’s freezer. These packages of precooked meat are a quick start to some of our meals, ie spaghetti, chili, hamburger stroganoff, taco soup, etc.

15. Terrie April 12th, 2010 8:09 am I am so excited and can’t wait!!! You are such an inspiration and I know your book will be too.

16. Rachel Faulkner April 12th, 2010 8:10 am Hi, Ruthie. I’m from Alaska, but, my most memorable summertime memory was on a summer visit to Council Bluffs Iowa. My host had set me up to sleep in the glassed-in front porch. One night we had the most spectacular lightning and thunder storm. I was able to snuggle beneath a quilt and safley watch that storm for hours. I wll never forget that night.

17. Amanda Venegas April 12th, 2010 8:11 am I also remember putting clothes on the line with my grandmother. Talking with her while putting her old embroidered linens on the line, the sun shining in our faces, the old red wagon with a laundry basket on top, her old wooden clothespins and the flowers she planted blooming next to us. Then we would go inside and eat fresh homemade bread with fresh homemade strawberry jam on top. Mmmm! I would think as I ate that bread that it tasted like summer. When I was sleeping at night in summer-scented sheets I decided when I grew up I wanted to hang my children’s clothes up in the sunshine and make them bread and strawberry jam.

18. DeNiece April 12th, 2010 8:12 am I am soooooooooooooo excited, I just can not wait for the new book….

19. DeNiece April 12th, 2010 8:12 am Aunt Ruthie I just love your blog and like you I too love the summertime as well, when I was a little girl my mother as well as my grandmother use to make a special drink for us kids (lol you like the country accent lol) which they only made doing the summertime and we use to love to play outside in ran up in down yards playing in trees and making mud pies (I miss those days) when we did all that we would go to my house and it never fell if (usually right after school let out for the summer) they would have a wonderful drink for us and we loved it..as a mother now myself I fix it for my children and they always ask me is it time for the blue juice yet. Ever if it was like April and we would got one warm day we would say the same thing my children say now, but my mother would tell us not yet. So I thought it was a lovely memory to share and also I am including this easy recipe that has been passed down from family to family. Summertime Magic Blue Juice Ingredients: Blue food coloring, Clear glasses, Lemonade Directions 1. . Add blue food coloring to the water before freezing it into ice cubes. 2. Add the blue ice cubes to glasses of lemonade and watch what happens as it melts. As the colors in this summertime drink change, your child will be amazed. Sometime I have added different things and here is some of the ideas but there is many things that you can do with this drink to make it your own. For even more color, make some bright yellow cubes and add them along with a blue cube. You can also freeze a few blueberries or other small pieces of fruit into the cubes for an extra treat.Here is a treat that will not only be welcomed on a hot day, but which will spark play and conversation as well for everyone. DeNiece Barnes: This is my blog address http://www.organizedhomemakingforchrist.blogspot.com

20. Cammie Delph April 12th, 2010 8:14 am I have family spread all over the mid-south, from Kentucky to West Virginia. Long before I was born and still going on today, my whole family (aunts, uncles, cousins, mammaws and pappaws) all gather at my Uncle Tex’s house in Mount Vernon, Kentucky every Memorial Day weekend to spend time together talking and reminiscing of good ole’ days gone by, eating Mammaw’s chicken & dumplins, passing babies around and watching the older babies and kids play. About sunset, my cousins and their dad get out their guitars, a big upright bass, and a banjo and play the best bluegrass my ears have ever heard! The air is crisp, the sky is beautfiul, the fireflies are out and we’re eating our dessert and listening to sweet harmonies. This is one of my favorites times of the year!

21. Debbie April 12th, 2010 8:15 am Since I am a schoolteacher, I absolutely love summer! This summer will be even more special since I won’t have to find a summer job and because I have a precious granddaughter to spend all that extra time with. She is my first grandchild and I plan on spoiling her as much as her parents will allow. I love the leisurely mornings and the long quiet evenings on the deck. I love listening to the birds singing in the morning and watching them come for their dinner each evening. I love the extra time to read and even the extra time to clean and decorate my home! I love the fact that I can spend more time in God’s Word and that I can have a longer quiet time with HIm each day! Summer is definitely a wonderful blessing! Can’t wait!

22. Debbie April 12th, 2010 8:18 am I forgot to mention that I am super excited about your book! I love your website! Can’t wait for the book!

23. Donna April 12th, 2010 8:18 am My favorite memories are those nights when it was just too hot to sleep, swimming until late, catching fireflies and making iceceam cones to eat and enjoy the warm breezes. One other is going to a drive-in movie, eating clam cakes and popcorn, giggling in the backseat….we always brought our bedpillows and went in our PJs. There was always a pillow fight and lots of laughter.

24. Judy Mapston April 12th, 2010 8:19 am This is great news!!! Thanks for sharing!! Love your website!!! Summer memories for me are swimming in one of those little plastic pools with my 3 sisters in our backyard. We would sing “Would you like to swing on a start” by Bing Crosby, then we would all jump in the pool. Laughing and giggling.

25. Kimberly Bastin April 12th, 2010 8:20 am When I was a little girl, I would count down the days until my momma and dad would pack up my little purple suitcase, load me into the backseat, and drive to the middle point between Memphis’ sliver of the Mississippi River and the mountains of northern Arkansas. There my grandmother would whisk me into her towncar, and we would return to her home that I visited every summer. My weeks with her would be filled with a blackberry and tomato pickin’, pear preserve makin’, sweet tea sippin’ nostalgia that I could only experience in the arms and kitchen of my sweet grandmother. We would drive through the rolling Ozarks on our way to town, throwing our hands in the air as though on a rollercoaster as the old truck flew down one side of the mountain and strained to climb up on the other side. We would find turtles crawling along the gravel road behind her house, of which I would proclaim the poor reptiles as my “pets” for the duration of my visit. We would catch lightnin’ bugs in the evening and honey bees throughout the morning. Old mason jars served as my netting of choice, and we would gaze at the glory we had captured in the jars. When it was time from me to head back to my home in Tennessee, I would climb into my father’s truck and wave to my grandmother. I would always try to hide my tears, but years later she confessed to seeing them and hiding a few of her own after each visit. There is nothing quite like that sweet Southern summertime.

26. Judy Mapston April 12th, 2010 8:20 am Sorry meant to say “STAR” not START… duh!!!

27. Lisa Ellen April 12th, 2010 8:20 am One of my favorite summer memories is when my children were little. While they were napping in the afternoon,I would feel up the little blue baby pool with water and when they woke up let them enjoy playing in the pool.Because the water was nice and clean and warm then I would bathe them and shampoo their hair right in the pool.They enjoyed it so much and it saved time by bathing them in the pool. I love your website and comments. I look forward to the book!

28. Betty Lou April 12th, 2010 8:22 am So excited about your cookbook! Not that I need another one…LOL! My family enjoys this recipe year-round, but it’s especially good in the summertime because it’s easy to prepare and soooo yummy to eat. My 90-year-old father-in-law LOVES it, so I named it after him. NeeNee’s Favorite Cheese Spread 1 8-oz. package light cream cheese 1 jar Kraft Old English Sharp Cheese Spread 1 tablespoon mayonnaise 1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese 1 tablespoon onion, grated (or equivalent using instant minced onion) Combine all ingredients; mix until smooth. Refrigerate. Great on crackers and nacho chips. (Note: Use regular cream cheese if you prefer a cheese ball.)

29. Lemonade Makin' Mama April 12th, 2010 8:23 am Yay!! I’m so excited to read your book Aunt Ruthie! What a fun time for you. Okay, so my favorite Summer thing, of all time, is Picnics! We turn just about everything into a picnic if we can. I have found, that owning a large picnic basket, and keeping it fully stocked with picnic essentials helps our family create impromptu picnics all Summer long. In our basket, I always keep the following; a large blanket, plastic or paper dishes and cutlery, a few snacks that don’t need refrigeration, water bottles, and cups. I also keep a garbage bag and a frisbee or small ball in there as well. It’s no trouble at all to quickly make a few sandwiches and grab some fruit and lemonade, toss it in, and you’ve got an afternoon of fun if you can find some open beach area, or park. While I’m setting up the picnic area, my man tosses a frisbee or ball with the kids. (I’ve also been known to stock our basket with a few bubbles and sidewalk chalk too.) If you’re going to be running errands all day, this makes a fantastic alternative to fast food, and takes very little preparation if it’s already mostly stocked in advance. Blessings, Sasha Brodeur

30. Kathy Lee April 12th, 2010 8:23 am Aunt Ruthie, One of my favorite memories as a child was to eat homemade ice cream on my grandma’s front porch.I would help turn the crank. My cousins and I would gather on her front porch every sunday after church and have a wonderful time playing and running around without a care in the world. Now I try to recreate the memories with my own eight grandchildren on my back porch.When I spend time with my grandchildren I think of the old hymn ” Count your Blessings,Name them one by one……. Congratulations on the book.I can’t wait to read it. I count you as one of my Blessings.

31. gisele chapman April 12th, 2010 8:25 am I am so excited about your book. Reading your blog is like a breath of fresh sunshine!!! I love good ole’ summertime. My favorite thing about summer is cranking up the grill and entertaining my family and friends. As a Pastor’s wife, I do lots of entertaining. I love to read your blog for inspiration. God bless you in your new endeavor.

32. Kate a' la Southern Belle Simple April 12th, 2010 8:34 am An easy summer punch: 2 liter of ginger ale and 1 can of Welch’s white grape peach juice concentrate…so easy and totally refreshing. I’ve used it for showers and teas and people always want the recipe. Love your blog…I just stumbled across it. Feel free to visit mine as well!

33. Janice Uhlin-Rowe April 12th, 2010 8:35 am Dear Aunt Ruthie, I am so excited for you and this wonderful new adventure! I cannot wait to read your lovely new book about summertime, and wanted to send you one of my favorite summertime memories from when I was a child, so here it is: I grew up as an only child, but was fortunate enough to live right next door to my extended family. My two great-aunts and one great-uncle who had never married had been born in that house next door, and lived there until the day they died. Of course, them having no children of their own, they lavished a lot of attention on me spoiling me like crazy with trips to the beach, sleepovers at their house, afternoons of playing dress-up in their wonderful 50’s clothes and tea parties in front of the fireplace. But my most favorite memory has to be that of spending time in the “back shack”. That was what we called the screened porch that was attached to the back of their garage. My great-grandfather had built it and it was the perfect place to read my Little House on the Prairie books those hot summer afternoons, or for our whole family to gather for dinner after grilling out and making some homemade potato salad. But my most favorite memories were of my camp outs back there with my Great Aunt Anna. She and I would drag the old green cots up into the back shack, with some sheets and blankets, and prepare to spend the night up there watching the fireflies, listening to crickets and enjoying the cool breeze– especially since we didn’t have any air conditioning in the house anyway! We would play the color game in which we would take turns naming every color we could think of, the more unique the better, and we would talk of what the next day would bring– picnics, visiting cousins, etc. We always had such fun and it was a special time for me and my Great Aunt whom I loved so dearly. Such love she showed for me by being my fun companion since I had no siblings, and dragging all that paraphanalia out there to sleep up there with me– all while being in her 60’s! I love her for that and cherish those memories so much! Thanks for giving us the opportunity to share bits of our summertime-pasts with you!

34. Heather Wilson from Bizy Janes April 12th, 2010 8:40 am That is so exciting!!! Here’s a fast recipe: When I was a little girl, during the summertime we would pour our favorite pop or kool-aid into a tall Tupperware cup and put it in the freezer. Then after a few hours, or so, we get it out and use a spoon to enjoy a ice cold pop-sickle. Sometimes we would crush it all up, or just pick at it slowly.

35. grace aka katmom April 12th, 2010 8:40 am Perfect timing! I can hardly wait….I am not real ‘puter savoy so I will probablly have to wait for the printed version…unless one of my ‘farm babe’ girlfriends shows me how! In the mean time I will go outside, hang up a load of laundry, and then go out to my garden & work on my ‘dirt manacure’… Thanx for sharing your home & joy with us! & Congrats! Just a katmom, livin’ on 5 acres of dirt w/her prince charming of a hubby.

36. Renee Stone April 12th, 2010 8:50 am When I was a little girl I loved to visit my Aunt Virginia in the Summer time because she always had such fun activities for me. She couldn’t afford to buy me toys but she always seemed to find ways to make the simplest things such a big deal for me and I had so much fun with her. I know that she found joy in seeing me so happy. She would take long sheets of plastic and lay them across the grass and turn the sprinkler on so I could slip and slide. She had a big hammock in a shady tree, which I always thought she put up just for me and I loved to swing in that hammock for hours, at least it seemed like hours to me. Aunt Virginia made an outdoor kitchen just for me and let me use real pots and pans and would sit down and enjoy all of the Summer time treats that I “cooked” for her. To this day I can still smell the flowers in her yard and her delicious Irish Stew cooking on the stove. She took great care to make me feel special when I was a child and for that I will be forever grateful.

37. Denise April 12th, 2010 8:51 am Oh Aunt Ruthie, Congratulations!! I just love summertime and our annual Memorial day family picnic to start off the summer. Every year we gather with our family and some close friends who are more like part of the family. Don’t ya just love people like that? Everyone brings something to eat and hubby mans the grill. We always eat to much. :) Of course there is the volleyball game that is always expected! We get out the croquet game and horseshoes. Later in the day we sit around and talk of other fun things we’ve done when the kids were younger. We cuddle the grandbabies and they drift off to sleep. We’ve even been known to sit around a sing. Every one is pretty tired out and the end of the day but it’s a good kind of tired. It just such a good time of fellowship and fun! We look forward to it every year. I have to tell you, last year at our picnic we had two new visitors. They nearly ran us off but we persevered. They were baby skunks! Cute but no one wanted to get to close, just in case their mamas had shown them how to strut their stuff! LOL! Blessings on you Aunt Ruthie and your new book! one of your sugar pies sistas

38. marydon April 12th, 2010 8:54 am How fun! & a super idea to include your bloggin’ sistas! Anxious to see the finished product. Have a beautiful week. TTFN ~ Hugs, Marydon

39. Kelli Hohnstreiter April 12th, 2010 8:55 am Stumbled upon your blog…and I absolutely LOVE it! Your entries, topics, images/pics are so refreshing. I totally enjoy the vintage goodness. Now I know this is random, but being from Hawaii one thing I grew up with is this feeling of Ohana (family) – no matter who you were, blood-related, married into the family or not, you were treated as family. So I had Aunties and Uncles galore! Allowing people to call you Aunt Ruthie reminds me of this. So thanks, Auntie Ruthie for bringing that little memory back to me :) Now for the awesome opportunity you are offering to your readers: Being from Hawaii, my summers always consisted of those warm family picnics at the beach – Kapiolani Park and Sand Suzy Beach. We’d pitch a large canopy, lay out blankets and lawn chairs. My Ohana (family) would join us as we took in the island sunshine and beautiful ocean, while grubbing down on some “good kine local grinds” (good food). Those were definitely the days. The adults would put “work” on hold and the kids would play their little hearts out, with no care in the world. Thanks again for sharing all on your blog. I definitely look forward to your book and future posts!

40. Beth Spears April 12th, 2010 9:02 am Hi Aunt Ruthie! One of my favorite things to do with my son on a hot summer day, when you need something refreshing, is to cut a lemon in half and then use a soft, old-fashioned peppermint stick as a straw to drink all of the yummy, lemony goodness. It is so refreshing, especially when the lemon is cold. It is such a sweet, simple treat and tastes like summertime! Thank you for all of your wonderful words. Always a joy to read!

41. SouthernGirl April 12th, 2010 9:07 am I am so excited to see this book! ONe of my favorite memories from going to the farm was catching lightening bugs in the evenings. My grandmother would give us a fruit jar with a lid with holes in it, and we would put them in there and when we went to bed watch them glow. Sometime after we went to sleep, my grandfather would come get the jar and let them loose. Somehow some of them would always escape in the house and they would be flashing up there on those high, high ceilings in the farmhouse. Sometimes for a treat we would get to sleep out on the screen porch in the back on the roll-away bed and watch them outside, and listen to the crickets and frogs sing. Such a quiet peaceful place! How I would love to be there now… Here is a favorite summer dessert my mother used to make. Mothers Strawberry Dessert 1 pre-baked pound cake, cut into 1″ slices 1 box strawberry jell-o 1 box lemon jell-o 1 quart strawberries 1 8 ox carton whipping cream sugar and vanilla Mix the jell-o up in separate bowls and let chill till almost set. Cap, slice and sweeten the strawberries. Line a 9″x13″pan with the pound cake slices, cutting to fit the entire bottom. When the strawberry jell-o is slightly set, fold in the strawberries and pour over the pound cake slices and put in the refrigerator to set. Whip the cream until thick, put in vanilla and sweeten to taste. (Probably about ½ t. of vanilla, I never measure it) Whip up the lightly set lemon jell-o and fold into the whipped cream well. Spread this over the strawberry mixture and let set until firm. Cut into squares and serve! Best of luck with the book! Janet

42. True Mountain Women April 12th, 2010 9:08 am Thanks for letting me share my joy…… After a big Sunday Dinner. We head outside. Then a big family/neighbor game of touch football or daddies trying to figure out hop scotch with big feet. Before we know it the day is cooling down ….The kids and grand kids are running with the dogs and playing games. Giggles galore. The adults, young and old, sitting, swinging or laying on hammocks. They are talking about the good people. The Good out number the bad ten times. But you never hear about em. But they are all around us. We talk about em. We remember em. Those who.. 1. Going down the dirt road hurrying to the store- when ya spot your neighbor pulling weeds. You have to yell and throw up your hand at least but 9 out of 10- You stop and see how they are doing. And pull afew weeds while ya jawing. 2. Dropping a $50.oo bill in the mail for that hard working friend that is trying to stay afloat on unemployment. No return address of course and it is never mentioned :.) We all had times a 50 would be a blessing- Shoot plenty a times a 5 was greatly appreciated. 3. Pulling over and turning down the radio when a funeral procession was coming down the road 4. Welcome new neighbors with a cake and invitation to next Sunday afternoon. 5. The neighbors who wander over to sit and join in. We all get revived for the next week of work and to survive hearing about the negative. The Good People and Sunday afternoons refresh our souls and spirits. (The deserts and tea/lemonade are pretty good too!) We see the world as good again. until after church next Sunday. Want ya join us next Sunday? PS. The little ones climb up in laps towards the end of the day, to learn what Sunday Afternoons are for. They will be talking about the good in 50 years because that is how it has carried on for hundreds of years……. Thanks for letting me share my life, Leslie True Mountain Women

43. Kim Adams April 12th, 2010 9:10 am Ah……….to me summer time means fond memories of our big Apple Picking family reunions in Kentucky at my great aunt and uncle’s orchard, a tradition that ran from the early 1940’s until just before the death of my Hungarian born great grandfather in 1977. My memories are of all the wonderful food prepared by my grandmother and my great aunts….and the wagon rides around the orchard….drinking as much Coca Cola as we could hold from those tiny glass bottles, and of course, climbing trees to pick the “perfect” apples for my grandmother to dutifully bake into pies…… The Apple Picking family reunion plans are being put into place this year by myself and one of my cousins…complete with food made by my brothers and cousins from all the classic family recipes. My contribution will include the 21st century twist of adding apple themed games, activities and prizes for fun and fellowship. ( I’m thinking one of the games should be quest to find the Big Apple. What do you think)? As with all families, we’ve had our share of sour apples and crab apples in the bushel, but all are all the apples of my eye!

44. Eileen April 12th, 2010 9:15 am That is a wonderful about your book! Sounds like something I would love to read. My tip is about making fresh lemonade. Always use Pure Cane or Superfine Sugar when making fresh lemonade. It is best for easy dissolving. I use C&H Baker’s Sugar as it is a very fine sugar and is dissolves wonderfully. To add a little fix to your lemonade just add cold club soda!

45. Wife of Rob April 12th, 2010 9:17 am How-dy Aunt Ruthie! Well, being from Mobile, Alabama, I have LOTS of great southern summertime memories….so I’ll share my favorite memory of all time. My Daddy had a HUGE garden when we were growing up with every veggie under the sun, as well as fruit trees like pears, plums, figs and CRABAPPLES! My Momma made the BEST crabapple jelly…it was like sweetarts in a jar. The sugar was as sweeter than sorghum on a honeysuckle bush and on the back end of the sweet was the best part….the PUCKER! Crabapples are an amazing little fruit that most people have long forgotten. But, I loved our big old crabapple tree. It had the best shade for keeping you cool on a hot summer day. It’s where I did most of my childhood “thinking”. And the grass underneath was always the coolest and softest spot in the yard. A few years ago my husband and I drove by my old house on Woodline Drive. Much to my dismay, my “old friend” had been cut down to the stump. It was so sad that my old tree was gone. But I will always have the sweetest of sweet memories of that tree….from my “thinking” or reading a good book to eating that sweetart jelly on a homemade biscuit, I will always carry a torch in my heart for the good ol’ southern crabapple tree! Much love to you Aunt Ruthie! I’m SO excited about your book….I can hardly stand it! Jen Bartlett “Wife of Rob” at A Pair of Bartletts

46. Molly April 12th, 2010 9:21 am Oh goodness, summertime memories are the best! Growing up, I had the tremendous joy of living right beside my grandparents house for the first nine years of my life (I’m 22 now). My sweet Mamaw and Grandad, Ruth and Earl, were the sweetest, most loving couple you’d ever meet, they were married for 59 years. I can remember running (in my barefeet, of course) over to their house on summer mornings. The grass still wet with due, and the pretty flowers, standing tall and straight, greeting me as I walked in the house. Once I walked in the house I would normally find my Mamaw in her cotton blouse, skirt, and worn apron in the kitchen. Once Mamaw was done with breakfast clean-up she would bring out puzzles and games and we would spend the rest of the morning laughing and playing until lunchtime. At lunchtime she would tell me to go find grandad and tell him to come inside! I would always go out the back of the house, and find grandad in his short sleeved cotton shirt, and denim “Pointer Brand” overalls. He was always in his garden, pulling weeds, hoeing, watering various vegetables, it was one of his greatest joys in life. We would walk side by side into the house, put up the gardening tools, and go wash up for lunch. By this time, Mamaw had everything ready and we all sat down as Grandad prayed over our lunch. Once lunch was over, it was back outside to work in the garden! Sometimes we would all head out to the blueberry patch and pick until our buckets were full. Mamaw used the blueberries to make jam and her famous blueberry pie (Oh my, so good!) As the afternoon wore on Grandad would come in and take a break from the hot sun, sitting in his chair dosing, and watching “C-Span”. Mamaw would go outside to work in her flower gardens, and I would float between the two. Once dinner time rolled around, the big picnic table would be set up in the front yard while the rest of the family would gather. We would have chicken, fresh corn on the cob, fresh green beans, fresh tomatoes, cold watermelon and blueberry pie topped with homemade, hand cranked vanilla ice cream. Makes my mouth water just thinking about it! As the sun set and night came on, I would chase fireflies with my brothers, we’d always have a contest to see who could capture the most. Back then, it seemed just like another ordinary day. But as I look back on it now, I can see that those days were magical. But of course any time you can spend the day doing ordinary tasks with the ones you love, those ordinary tasks become something special and to be treasured. I know I’ll never forget my summers spent at my grandparents. It’s something that I never want to forget.

47. Julie Harward April 12th, 2010 9:23 am What a good idea, this looks like a lot of fun! A memory….As kids we loved to play in the loft of our big red dairy barn. We’d climb the ladder up to the end of the barn with the big wide opening. Then we would sit down and wiggle our way over to the middle, grab onto a long rope that was tied to the ceiling of the barn. We’d wrap ourselves around the rope and swing way out to the middle of the loft where we would drop down through a big hole in the loft into a stack of soft straw. We did this over and over, it was so much fun! Dad always kept the straw pile high and soft for us. I lived most of the summer up in my favorite apple tree…a soft place to sit and a salt shaker for the apples and books to read…Heaven! We are constantly dipping strawberries in chocolate too, a Heavenly treat we never get tired of and a sweet thing to share with friends and family! Julie Harward at “Circle Cliff Views”….Come say hi :D

48. Leah Fiandt April 12th, 2010 9:27 am i love this idea and i can’t wait! my tips for summer are: DECLUTTER! put on light colored slipcovers, add fun inexpensive throw pillows, roll up those heavy carpets and add lace or sheer cotton curtains to the windows! it just makes you FEEL less heavy! add strawberries to lemonade to pep it up make sun tea: a glass pitcher (with top), tea bags, lemons and water sitting out in the sunshine! buy flour sack towels and make a fresh new apron AND throw pillows from it. i love these….they scream summer to me…they’re so light and airy and so inexpensive. use vintage blue glass ball jars with sand and small votives for inexpensive outdoor lighting.

49. Noelle April 12th, 2010 9:30 am Hi :-) One of my favorite memories from summers in my childhood is going to my grandparents’ house in Alpaugh, in central California. I loved the warm (well, hot!) dry weather and the smell of the alkali flats. And when Grandma washed my “nuggy” and hung it on the line to dry, it always smelled so sunny and fresh! We also made boats out of paper (colored all over with crayon so they would float) and sailed them in the irrigation canal. Grandma would always read to us (“The Ransom of Red Chief” by O.Henry was one of our favorites) or she would tell us a story (Often “The Teeny Tiny Woman”, and she always got us with the “YOU’VE GOT IT!! at the end of the story). Grandpa delighted in teasing us by sneaking up and scaring us! We still live in Oregon, where it is damp and rainy often through the end of June, and I still find the scents and heat in California so comforting.

50. Sylvia in North Carolina April 12th, 2010 9:34 am HOW-DEEE Aunt Ruthie! Cant wait to read your new book! You are such a treat to wake up to with all your special words of encouragements to us Sista’s! So fun to always see your latest blogs you post. O.K….now, I have the BEST EV-AH Southern Iced Tea recipe I just have to share with you! I make up a batch of this, sit on my garden swing out back (thats covered right now with Bloomin’Jasmine! with English lavender all around… what a bounty of smells for the sences.) “Great way to while away the hours….consortin’ with the flowers…….me,a special friend and our ice tea.” ENJOY! “Southern Iced Tea Punch” 3 Qts. Boiling water 8 Regular sized tea bags 1/2 C. sugar 1 (12 oz. can) frozen lemonaide, thawed and undiluted 1(33.8 oz.bottle) ginger ale, chilled ***Pour water over tea bags and steep 5 minutes.Remove bags,squeeze and stir in sugar and lemonade. Set aside to cool. Stir in Ginger ale just before serving.Serve over ice and have a nice slice of lemon on the side of the glass for presentation.Yields 4 1/4 qts. DEEE-LISH!

51. Nadine Riley April 12th, 2010 9:36 am How exciting – I can’t wait! What I love about summer is going to the weekly farmers market and concert at the park. I will pack-up some homemade salads, sandwiches, crackers, and treats. We then head to the park to have a picnic dinner by the lake and listen to some lovely music. We will also stroll through the booths at the market, looking at all the fresh goodies and homemade items and deciding what will come home with us! It makes for a wonderful evening spent with the family. This is a tradition that we look forward to each summer! Blessings! ~Nadine

52. Paulette Policy April 12th, 2010 9:55 am My friend Donna’s son makes this fabulous quick pie for any season of the year. It’s called Eric’s Chocolate Chip Pie. Here goes, one ready made grahan cracker pie crust, one bag of chocolate chip cookies keeblers is good, one large cool whip. Now the fun part, take a bowl of milk dip each cookie in milk quickly because you do not want them too soft. Layer cookies over curst cover with cool whip repeat layers, you can make two or three layers whatever you want. Then sprinkle with a crushed chocolate chip cookie. Chill overnight. This is so light and so good for a great dessert after a summer dinner or picnic. Oh by the way I just love your site and guess what my nickname is Sugar. Bless you Paulette

53. Lauren Calaway April 12th, 2010 9:57 am Sweet summertime. My favorite time of the year. I love southern summers! Here’s what I think of when I think of summer. When I was a kid, my cousin and I would spend some weekends out an my grandparents. We’d wake up in the morning, my grandma would have everything..bacon, sausage, eggs, toast. The whole spread. Then it was time to make our bed, change into play clothes, and head outside. We lived outside in the summer. My grandpa even built us a little playhouse which we decorated with things from the storage room. My grandparents have acreage, so we would go always go exploring, climb trees, ride bikes..anything. Then it was time for lunch, which was usually a quick sandwich, but it always tasted great because Mimaw made it. Then it was back outside, followed by dinner…fried chicken, mashed taters, macaroni, homemade biscuits, which we would be inside in time to eat the dough. Typical southern meal. Then after dinner, it was time to moontan, a word my uncle coined, we would lay on a big old quilt, which was handmade by some relative, I’m just not sure who. We’d watch the stars and the fireflies dance, listen to the radio, and talk about the future. If it was raining we’d sit on the porch and watch the storms, and listen to the sound of summer nights. And to this day, we still do that, just not at our grandparents, we visit the nearby mountains, and lay out in a park. But those are my summer memories, in the country, with not a care in the world. As I was writing this, my dad called and said my Papaw was going to have open heart surgery at the end of this month, he is 81. Which makes me realize even more how special these memories really are. I hope someday I can give memories like this to my children and grandchildren.

54. Connie Hughes April 12th, 2010 10:00 am Congratulations Ruthie! How very exciting and I can’t wait to read it. I think one of my favorite things to do in the summer is to have roasted marshmallows and hotdogs over a bonfire in my backyard. Luckily we live in the country and can have fires whenever we want. Connie

55. Jessica Gattenby April 12th, 2010 10:02 am OOH my all time favorite thing about summertime is seeing my 2 beautiful kids reach up above their little heads to pick mullberries in June. Oh my oh my the mullberry jams and pies I make when we have a good year! One year we saved a jar and ate it on Christmas morning just so we can be reminded of that wonderful summer memory even in the dead of winter! Mmm mm mm! One of my most favorite recipes for the summertime, after we have had our fill of mullberries of course, is Lemonaide Stand Pie. And is it ever easy! What You Need! 1/3 cup COUNTRY TIME Lemonade Flavor Drink Mix 1/2 cup cold water 2 cups vanilla ice cream, softened 1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed 1 HONEY MAID Graham Pie Crust (6 oz.) Make It! PLACE drink mix in large bowl. Add water; stir until mix is dissolved. Add ice cream. Beat with mixer until well blended. Gently stir in COOL WHIP. Freeze, if necessary, until mixture is thick enough to mound. SPOON into crust. FREEZE 4 hours or until firm. Remove from freezer 15 min. before serving. Let stand at room temperature until pie can easily be cut. Giving Kraft Kitchens credit for this one! It is an all time favorite in this house!

56. Bevy April 12th, 2010 10:08 am barefoot… and the long blades of green grass between the toes. oh, “the barefoot days of summer” … then again, I’d go barefoot all year long if I could. ;) They say the first sign of bumblebees are the show and tell that barefoot season is officially here. yay!!

57. Lori April 12th, 2010 10:10 am Congratulations on the book! So exciting! There is nothing prettier than a white curtain gently blowing in the breeze of an open window on a hot summer day.

58. seanymph April 12th, 2010 10:12 am Hi Aunt Ruthie. I figured the best way to tell you about my favorite things in the summer is to send you to my blog link that I wrote long ago about my summers as a kid. http://mermaidstreasures.blogspot.com/2007/07/summer.html Theres also a wonderful recipe there using fresh from the garden tomatoes that is out of this world. Cant wait to see what wonderful things you have in your book tho since you live in the country. Ive always loved that and now Im finally there too. :)

59. Jamie Tobin April 12th, 2010 10:16 am I LOVE the cd,I am actually getting ready to order it for my little country boy(9) he loves all the older banjo music.I am going to make a little wish list for hubby including all of the above. YOU ROCK MAMA SUGA

60. Jamie Tobin April 12th, 2010 10:21 am It cut me off,My favorite summer is watching my son play out in the pasture and the hens pecking at the Green Green grass.

61. Erica Rae Burlingame April 12th, 2010 10:22 am Oh Aunt Ruthie! I simply am filled with joy AND anticipation over the news of your new book!!! I cannot wait for it to be released ;o) I remember back when I was about eight years old, my grandma had a great big garden out behind her old farmhouse. The garden was surrounded by a white picket fence and this was the place I would always go when we came to visit in the summertime. As I would open the gate to the garden, the old familiar creaking sound would greet me. Once inside, I was overwhelmed by the sight of beautiful flowers, mostly Hollyhocks, and neat tidy rows of vegetables. But the best spot in grandma’s garden was a little pile of sand over in one corner. Grandpa had put it there just for me to build sandcastles in! I would spend hours designing and building, only to turn the hose back on just so I could start all over again. Once I would be satisfied with my creation, grandma and I would make ‘Hollyhock dolls’ to fill up my castles. As long as I live I will never forget the special time I was able to spend with my grandparents. My grandma went home to be with the Lord about seven years ago, and grandpa closely followed. I like to think that she finally has her real castle! I cannot wait to see her again and maybe, just maybe there will be a little pile of sand in the corner of her garden…

62. Mandie April 12th, 2010 10:22 am Summer time, mmmmm. I love summer time. I get to have my kids all to myself. We sleep in, we stay up late, go to the movies, and cookouts. But I would have to say that when I think of summer time I think of the pool. Ever since our children were little we have had a pool whether it was a kiddie pool or the 4ft pool we have now. We basicly spend our days in our swimsuits. And this year my husband bought a boat. He has asked off every Monday from work and we can’t wait to camp at the lake. OOOOOOO summer time, I LOVE it! As far as food goes nothing says summer like corn on the cob. We eat pots and pots full of corn on the cob. Something yummy we do with the left over corn is cut it off the cob. In a pot put cut up zucchini, cut up squash, a couple tablespoons of chopped onions, a tomato chopped, and the corn. All from the garden fo course :). Salt and pepper to taste. Let it all simmer in the pot until the zucchini is tender and enjoy!!

63. Kathy A April 12th, 2010 10:31 am How do I get the music???~~~ Can’t wait for your beautiful book!!!!

64. Maggi Flynn April 12th, 2010 10:46 am Congrats on the book, that is wonderful! When my Dad was a kid, his Father’s side of the family would gather after church every Sunday during the Summer and have a cook out. Everyone brought something to share: cold salads, baked beans, loads of pies and fried chicken. They stayed dressed in their Sunday best and enjoyed being outside with the family while eating together. I scanned in a picture from one such Sunday for you to see. :) (My Grandfather is the one sitting on the ground in the front.) http://i911.photobucket.com/albums/ac317/circle72099/sundaylunch.jpg Congratulations again on the book!

65. Lynn April 12th, 2010 10:47 am Hi! I love this post! I am the oldest of 8 children. I grew up on a Southern Alberta, Canada acreage where 90% percent of our meat and produce was produced during the summers to feed us during the winters. Some of my favorite summer memories is of our whole family taking trips to go pick Saskatoon berries all afternoon long, along the river banks near the Saskatchewan border. We would have picnics there before heading back home by night fall. My mother instilled in us a love of hard work as well as playing hard, with a good love of book reading in between. I remember having to do our daily chores of picking weeds in our acre and a half garden, early each morning, before we were allowed to jump on our bikes and head to the old swimming hole (irrigation pool) at the end of the dirt road where all the town children met on a hot day. After a good swim, we would continue on our bikes to town to visit the public library, located in the school. I still to this day, smell the books and feel the coolness of the air as we entered that old brick building. Amazing what the senses will recall in our brains even years later. We would then take our large treasures of books home with us and find our own private reading spot and read the afternoon away. My favorite spot was under the enormous lilac bush at the front of the house. There was a little area where the bush didn’t grow, creating a little “tent” big enough for me to climb into and lay on the soft cool sandy dirt with a good book. I would read for hours there, listening to the hum of the bees as they buzzed from lilac blossom to blossom. My summer time tips: Get a good clothes line and hang all your towels and linens in the heat of the summer. The sun is the perfect natural disinfectant for linens. There is nothing like climbing into fresh sheets at night, that had been drying in the sunny breeze all day. However, the heat of the sun can also be damaging to skin and hair. My best tip for protecting your hair while at the beach or local swimming hole, would be to wear a good hat, if you don’t plan on getting your head wet. But when you do plan on getting the hair wet, apply a thick coating of a good conditioner in your hair. Just comb it throughout, and leave in. Not only will this protect your hair from getting dried out at the ends, but it will soften your hair like butter. For your skin, where a good sun screen always. That includes your lip covers. Make sure your lipstick, lip balm, or gloss has a good SPF in it. Take care of your feet at the end of each day before climbing into bed. Open toed shoes, flip flops, or sandals can be brutal on the feet. Remove the dead skin, give them a good soak, update the nail polish which should always be worn on bared toes (; D), and slather in moisturizer each night. Your feet will love you for it.

66. Molly Petrey April 12th, 2010 10:52 am Oops, I forgot to give my full name. My comment was the one about living beside my grandparents, and my name is Molly Petrey. Thanks!

67. Cathy Burns April 12th, 2010 10:54 am I’m excited to see your book–what fun! One of my favorite summertime recipes is to make homemade popsicles. My family’s favorite combination is grape juice and lemonade–yum! (We use frozen lemonade concentrate and use less water to make it stronger than normal, so the popsicles have plenty of flavor.) One of our favorite summertime traditions is our children’s birthday party. We have twins who were born two days before Christmas. Because that is a difficult time for people to come to a birthday party, we started a tradition of celebrating their half-birthday in June. We have the party in our backyard, and play lots of old-fashioned, block party type games: sack race, water balloon toss, obstacle course while balancing an egg on a spoon, etc. We provide lots of fun summery prizes for the kids who play in the games, and at the end of the party, we turn on the sprinklers, put a slip & slide at the end of the slide on our playset, and bring out barrels of water balloons. It’s crazy, but fun! One other, calmer, summertime activity I especially enjoy is going on a tea party picnic with my daughter. We have special matching teacups reserved just for mother-daughter picnics. We pack up a few treats and a refreshing drink, find a shady tree at our local park, and enjoy a relaxing break together. It’s a wonderful way to show my daughter that she is important to me and I enjoy spending one on one time with her.

68. Kathy April 12th, 2010 10:57 am Ruthie- I just wrote a post on Homemaking today ( April 12) and I linked your website on my blog- because you are one of my favorite homemakers. A favorite childhood memory- running in and out of the freshly laundered sheets hanging from my grandmother’s clothesline; inhaling the fragrance and thinking that this is a little piece of heaven on earth. And climbing the large cherry tree in our backyard; picking the plump berries and waiting in anticipation for one of grandmother’s famous cherry pies!!!!!!!!!!

69. Georgia Mallory April 12th, 2010 11:20 am Oh, Ruthie! Can’t wait to read all your summertime goodness! I was raised in Southern California but am Indiana born. Mom and Dad left Indiana, relatives and friends behind and moved us to California when I was just four years old so the only opportunity to see and know my grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins was for us to board the train and travel for three days to northern Indiana. I loved the sound of the train clickity-clacking down the tracks….it meant a vacation had begun!! All my extended family would gather when we visited Plymouth. Off to Pretty Lake we would go for days in the sun, boat rides on the lake and tables piled high with yummy food….the supply never ended…fresh fruit, potato salad, baked beans, hot dogs and hamburgers and any other summer fare you can think of!! We ate and ate, ran and played all day and then roasted marshmallows around a fire in the evening. You could feel the family love and closeness! That is where my Mom taught me to catch lightening bugs, pinch off their little lights (did that hurt them?) and make a light ring on my finger!! We also caught them, put them into jars and watched them dance around! Fun, laughter, hugs and family love were the theme of those wonderful summer visits back home!! my blog: http://grandmags.blogspot.com my website: http://www.grandmagscottage.net

70. Darsi Brinley April 12th, 2010 11:32 am This is the first time I’ve ever commented, so first I wanted to say I love your website and your blogs! :) For some reason, I’m especially excited about summer this year. I remember as a girl hanging out at my great grandparents farm, eating cherry tomatoes from the garden, helping grandma in the kitchen baking her famous angelfood cake (which no one has since been able to replicate since she cooked it in a wood cookstove!), slaughtering pigs and being the first in line to get chitlins, wading in the creek with my cousins, playing hide and seek in the adjoining forest, even licking the cows’ saltlicks! :) But my favorite part was wandering the farm looking for that one special spot to be all by myself to pray, dream, play, and pretend…what precious memories! I was reminded even more of this awhile back as I was preparing a Bible study for the ladies at church…in my research I came across this and it blessed me so much! http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=402669653&blogId=531426448 (if you have trouble viewing this, let me know!) So…my idea for this summer is to make my very own trysting tent in the garden…a place to go in Spring/Summer/Fall to be alone with the Lord in His Word and in prayer, just basking in and being refreshed by His presence. Here’s a design I love (pergola tent on the left), altho mine will be a bit smaller: http://www.tentsmanufacturer.com/garden-canopy.html I’m so excited about this because I care for our child with multiple disabilities, and our house is small, so this will be my own little sanctuary! :)

71. Sue April 12th, 2010 11:33 am I’ve been hoping you’d write a book one day, and I’d love a shot at sharing a recipe with you, so I’ll be anxious for that post! Congrats!

72. Patty April 12th, 2010 11:38 am Exciting!!! My mind is thinking about what to share. I have two memories that I would love to share with you. I hope that is okay. We lived in Middle Tennessee for 10 years. In those 10 years God blessed me with a best friend all through out high school. I went to church with her family. Her entire family is musically talented and they play all manner of instruments. They also sing. Her family would travel to nearby counties in the Summer and usually at small country churches for singins’ (that’s what they called them back then) They always invited me to come along. I could make a joyful noise and that was about it, I sat with the rest of the congregation and listened to them. :-) One Summer we went to a small country church for a singin’ and afterwards we made our way to one of their family members home to visit. A home with big shade trees and a covered porch with rockers and a porch swing. Sweet tea to drink. Her family would play their instruments and sing while we were outside. Good ole Southern Gospel music. Very fond memories of pickin’ and grinnin’ and singin’! Some of those singins’ woulde be at a church’s Homecoming service with dinner on the grounds. There is nothing like having dinner on the grounds for Homecoming. :) My other fond Summer memory (from the same town) was going to a friend’s farm ( I can’t remember how many acres but it was a huge farm that had been in his family for centuries. The house his parents built on that farm was still standing and it had no running water. They had a well off the back porch where we got our water. The house was small but cute as a dollhouse. We spent many Summers out there, eating and riding their tractor and they even had a dune buggy. We would ride in that dune buggy all over the farm. One time as we were riding through the woods a snake fell out of nowhere and wrapped itself around the bar on that dune buggy and scarred me to death but they just grabbed it and threw it off. lol At night we would build a bonfire and roast marshmallows and just sit around and talk. Fun times in the Summer. Blessings on your new book!! I cannot wait to read it! Patty (blog: God is Able …. blog address: patty-girlfriendsingod.blogspot.com

73. Sharon Walde April 12th, 2010 11:39 am How exciting to hear that you are doing a book! I can’t wait for it! One of My favorite summer time memorys is going camping and fishing with our boys. We lived near the beautiful Sierras . Lots of mountain lake and rivers. One of our favorite camp meals besides fresh trout was “Hamburger Kisses” as we called it. I wrapped a lean hambuger patty peeled and diced potatoes diced onion season with s & p in parchment paper first and then tin foil. Place right in the camp fire for about 45 Min. We also had it at home sometimes and baked it in the oven, as everyone just loves good old meat and potatos in our family. God bless you in your new adventure! Sharon

74. Carmen -- Old House Kitchen April 12th, 2010 11:39 am First I need to mention that I am sooo excited and can’t wait to read your new book! I can only imagine how wonderful it will be!! I have a few favorite family summer recipes to share with you! Strawberry Pretzel Salad http://oldhousekitchen.blogspot.com/2010/04/strawberry-pretzel-salad.html Key Lime Pie http://oldhousekitchen.blogspot.com/2010/03/spring-and-key-lime-pie.html Mandarin Orange-Pineapple Cake http://oldhousekitchen.blogspot.com/2010/04/mandarin-orange-pineapple-cake.html

75. corie koroly April 12th, 2010 11:42 am Excellent! I suggested you write a book several months ago. From the first time I read your blog I saw you as a writer with a vast audience. I am really excited. You are a talented communicator with faith and a heart of gold!

76. corie koroly April 12th, 2010 11:47 am Hi Aunt Ruthie! I thought of something else…Have you watched the movie “In The Good Old Summertime” with Judy Garland? Oh my gosh its the best! Not to mention “Summer Stock” with Gene Kelly and Judy as well. I bet you have..they are surely inspiration

77. Jane April 12th, 2010 12:02 pm How exciting! I enjoy your blog so much and can’t wait to read your book. I would like to contribute a tip on getting rid of pesky hornets, wasps and yellow jackets in your yard. It can be found here: http://frugalfineliving.blogspot.com/2010/04/getting-rid-of-pesky-hornets-wasps-and.html Jane

78. Ketha April 12th, 2010 12:13 pm Oh My!!! Can’t wait… I’ll be one of the first in line to purchase this book… One of my favorite memory is planting, watching, harvesting and eating homegrown tomatoes, okra, onions, berries and sweet corn. I can taste it now… I also remember going to my grandmother’s and sitting on the porch swing what seemed like “hours” going back and forth, and “harvesting” all my grandmother’s wisdom. There’s nothing like summertime in Oklahoma……

79. Heather Burns April 12th, 2010 12:18 pm I absolutely love visiting your site! I immediately thought of those hot summer days growing up and we didn’t have AC. Therefore, we had lots of cool summer treats. My mom would keep a bag of grapes in the freezer. They are so delicious to suck on on a hot summer day and nutritious too! Great for adding to drinks instead of ice cubes also. Another healthy treat we would have is homemade popsicles made with various fruit juices. I think I might even try that this summer with smoothies frozen instead of juice to get a more creamy-sicle! Looking forward to your book!

80. Diane Stowe April 12th, 2010 12:45 pm Ruthie, I am so glad you are writing a book, how fun. I always get excited when I see a post from you. Like sitting down with a friend. One of my favorite memories is: We live in Missouri and it is very humid here, when I was a young girl in the 1950″s (ouch) people didn’t have air conditioning in their homes and it would just get miserable. On a hot, humid summer night my Mom would get some of her Quilts and take me and my Bro. and Sis out and we would make pallets and sleep outside underneath a tree and maybe catch a little breeze and watch the stars until we dozed off to sleep. People sure wouldn’t do that now. But it is a fond memory. Good Luck with the book.

81. Cori Angelino April 12th, 2010 12:46 pm One of my very favorite summer memories was the year my great-grandmother made a sunflower house for me. She cleared a foot wide border in a circle about 8 feet across and planted the biggest variety of sunflowers she could find. As they grew she bent them towards the center of the circle until they formed a canopy for me to play under. That was my special play-place all summer, for picnic lunches, resting with a doll and a book and even a nap or two. Who could resist the birds sitting in those big sunny faces and plucking out a snack or the breeze coming through the sturdy stems of the flowers. I made one for my girls last year and our only improvement this year will be planting a second shorter variety to fill in the walls!

82. Janet Caldwell April 12th, 2010 12:48 pm Growing up, we had a bit of a strange tradition. When we went on vacation, we packed a “body” in the trunk. My mom’s family started this back when she was little and they would drive from the Detroit area where they lived to Michigan’s upper peninsula for the summer. There wasn’t a lot of room for suitcases, so they folded their clothes and laid them on a blanket, in the truck. Then the blanket was folded around the clothes and the shape resembled a “body”. When I was younger, my parents did the same thing when we drove from Michigan to California one summer. You get the strangest looks when your away and people hear you refer to the “body in the trunk”! LOL! Can’t wait until your book comes out!

83. Pinky April 12th, 2010 12:52 pm I had a rather troubled childhood but some of my GOOD memories of summertime are sitting ion the glider on our front prch and watching the rain pour down out of the sky. Also, we had a great big fan in a window on the third floor and it was the ONLY fan in the house but my room was right next to it so I listened to that sound all summer!!!! Playing hopscotch in the side yard every night after dinner. MY SKATE KEY was one of my most treasured possessions (I know I am REALLY dating myself here:):) I will think of some more but that’s what comes right to mind. I am SO SUPER EXCITED about your book!!!! I just can’t wait!!!! This is such wonderful news!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! XO, Pinky

84. Lana Hayes April 12th, 2010 12:53 pm Aunt Ruthie and Friends, Enjoy this recipe for Bottle Cap Pies with your children or granddarlings. These can be served at a Teddy Bear Picnic with favorite stuffed animals as honored guests. As you are rolling out pie crust save the extra bits of dough. Cut pieces the size of a quarter. Press one into a metal bottle cap, add a bit of diced apple or any fruit, sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar, top with another round of dough and bake on a cookie sheet along with your full-sized pie. These will bake quickly so watch to remove them when they are golden. Perfect for summer afternoons! Ever heard of “Sink Sandwiches?” In the deep South we say “Sank Sandwiches.” Slice a sun-kissed tomato fresh from the garden and make a sandwich with white bread and Miracle Whip. I add salt and pepper. Then, and this is the important part, you need to stand over the sink to eat it so the juice can run down your arms and drip off your elbows into the sink! All I can add is that I hope there are sinks in Heaven because this is as good as it gets. Precious summer memories include lying on my back in the grass and imagining shapes in the clouds. I don’t remember the itchiness, just the clouds and blue sky. I loved sitting under the clothesline between two damp sheets reading my Nancy Drew mysteries. My brother had a fort but I had that special area where I enjoyed the adventures of the girl detective and her chums. It’s no wonder I enjoy a good mystery to this day. Does anyone remember “paying a call?” Sunday afternoons were spent paying a call on someone, friends from church, an elderly shut-in, relatives. We children had to sit quietly while the adults conversed and might even perhaps passed a bit of gossip. Well, I could go on and on but then I’d have to write my own book!

85. Elizabeth April 12th, 2010 1:10 pm Congratulations on your book! I **knew it was going to happen** the minute I first read your blog nearly a year ago!!! Keep spreading the joy! E

86. Teresa April 12th, 2010 1:25 pm Aunt Ruthie, I hope this isn’t too long but this is just one of many memories I have of summer fun. Our summers usually started a little early in the year, about May, with “decoration”. If you have never gone to “decoration”, well it is something you have to experience. For two weekends in a row, my family would leave either on Friday afternoon or Saturday morning and head for my great-grandmother’s house. Once there, we were greeted by all kinds of grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. It seemed like the entire family would gather there, the kids would play, the women would cook, and the men would talk or sleep. My mother had always wanted to be a beautician so when the valley women heard she was at my great-grandmother’s who we called Ma Sims, they would all ask my mother to cut, color or perm their hair and she would do it. She loved it. I can remember we (the kids) would go to the creek and build forts or just wade in the water. There was never a shortage of wonderful things to do if you had the imagination to do it. At night, the adults would play cards, a game called pitch in particular. I never did learn that game but they sure enjoyed it. If they weren’t playing cards, they were playing some kind of music with fiddles, piano, French harp and guitar. On Sunday mornings after breakfast, everyone would get dressed in their Sunday finest and we would go to the cemetery for “decoration”. This is supposed to be where you decorate the graves of past family members and we did that but it was also a time of family reunion. We didn’t just go, decorate and leave but we would stay for several hours visiting. When we went back to Ma Sims’ house, somehow, magically food would be on long tables on the screened-in front porch. The tables were made of saw horses with long pieces of plywood on top. There was every kind of meat, vegetable and dessert you could imagine. Everyone from up and down the valley would stop and eat dinner. I don’t remember the women doing all of the cooking but I guess they did because there was always plenty of food. Thus our summer began and continued with many weekends spent at Ma Sims’.

87. Farrah April 12th, 2010 1:39 pm Woo-hoo Aunt Ruthie! I’m so excited for you and us!

88. Laurie Harris "Mrs. H." April 12th, 2010 1:47 pm Some fun ideas for summer time – Celebrate “Sugar Cookie Day” in July – http://heritageschoolhouse.blogspot.com/2008/07/its-national-sugar-cookie-day.html Make “Summer Dessert Pizza” – http://heritageschoolhouse.blogspot.com/2008/07/summer-dessert-pizza-16-servings-for.html For a quick summer supper try “Summer Sub Sandwiches” – http://heritageschoolhouse.blogspot.com/2008/07/summer-sub-sandwich-4-servings-1-loaf.html A healthy summertime breakfast “Summer Granola” – http://heritageschoolhouse.blogspot.com/2008/06/good-morning.html Bake with “Blueberry Crumb Cakes” with summer fresh blueberries – http://heritageschoolhouse.blogspot.com/2008/06/blueberry-crumb-cake-16-servings-makes.html A list of some of my favorite things about summer – http://heritageschoolhouse.blogspot.com/2008/05/wonderful-things-of-summertime.html LOVE your blog! Looking forward to more fun summertime ideas in your book. :-) Mrs. H. http://www.heritageschoolhouse.blogspot.com

89. Jenn M. April 12th, 2010 2:06 pm Our family likes to host an ice cream social to kick off the summer. We invite a bunch of friends to our back yard bash, we provide the ice cream, drinks, napkins and and utensils, and each family brings a topping or two to share. WOW these are looked forward to each year as the school year comes to a close. Then there’s trampoline jumping, usually a water sprinkler going for the kids to get cooled off in, as well as wash the sticky off! Needless to say our friends know to bring a change of clothes. As it gets dark, we start a fire in the pit. BTW, I CAN”T WAIT for your book, I’m so excited!

90. Lisa Botts April 12th, 2010 2:18 pm My favorite memory of was of cotton picking time. I was the baby of the family so I never really had to work in the cotton field. I could usually be found riding on someone’s cotton sack while they were picking cotton! I do remember that after all that cotton was loaded onto the truck, I would climb up on top of it and lay there in the sun. It was the most wonderful feeling to play in that big pile of cotton. As long as I didn’t strew it everywhere, Daddy didn’t really mind much. Then it was time to take the cotton to the gin and I would have to wait until the next year for my big pile of cotton to play on! What I wouldn’t give for just a few minutes on top of a pile of cotton in the sunshine.

91. Tracey In Paradise,Pa. April 12th, 2010 2:24 pm LOVE LOVE LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT YOU and Your blog!! My favorite thing about summer is tomato sandwiches!! 2 slices of bread Mayo big slice of tomato salt & pepper!! yummo… P.S dont forget the sweet tea!! Hugs Granny Trace’

92. Amy O'Quinn/picketfencemom April 12th, 2010 3:00 pm Ruthann, This is such a wonderful idea, and I’ve been WAITING patiently for it!! You are such a delightful and inspirational writer, and I know that whatever you create for this ebook will be a blessing to many. So here’s my entry: Is it possible to reach back through the years and capture the scents, sounds and sights of those happy childhood days? I think so. Memories are such a blessing, and some of my favorite ones are from the lazy-dazy summer southern Sundays of my youth. Being a little girl in south Georgia in the late 60’s and early 70’smeant wearing ruffled slips under frilly Sunday-go-to-meeting frocks, lacy socks with Mary Janes, the requisite matching ribbon or hair bow, miniature necklace, bracelet and ring—and perhaps a pair of small white gloves, tiny purse, and the occasional bonnet. A white child-sized Bible under my arm and a few coins clutched in my palm for the offering plate completed the picture. Church attendance was required, not optional, so to even consider that we might not go was as foreign to me as a trip to the moon. I’m sure my mother would’ve preferred that I have a sweet, gentle spirit to match my sweet little outfit, but alas, I was not always so genteel and ladylike during church services. Various family members have told me that when I was very young, I more often than not put a strip show—starting with the hair bow, moving on to the jewelry, then the socks and shoes, etc. I think I got down to the bare essentials before the benediction. After church, my mama ‘prettied’ me back up and probably gave me a good ‘talking-to’ about the importance of worship (and staying fully clothed during the service). Then my family and I made our way to my grandparent’s home for a big Sunday dinner with the folks, which could also include various aunts, uncles, cousins and friends from church, depending on the given day. Ironically, the first thing my mama did when we got there was to unbutton and remove my dress so I wouldn’t get anything on it during the meal! Wearing only my slip and sitting atop a couple of Sears and Roebuck catalogs or on a big cooking pot turned upside down on a chair pulled up to the grown-up dining table, I was as happy as a jaybird. Free at last! *Note: Y’all know that other people might call their meals breakfast, lunch and dinner, but we have breakfast, dinner, and supper down here. The offerings on my Grandma’s table ranged from fried chicken, roast beef and gravy, rice, dressing, potatoes, creamed corn, butterbeans, peas, green beans, sweet potato soufflé, fried okra, rolls, biscuits, carrots, pickles, and congealed salads to sweet tea and any kind of pie, cake or dessert imaginable. My Grandma was especially known for her fried apple tarts, and when we had dinner at church, everyone knew to grab one BEFORE fixing their plates with the real food—else they might not get one at dessert time. But of course, we never had to worry about running out of fried apple tarts or anything else at her house. In fact, there was usually plenty left over for a big supper that evening. We also liked it when my grandma would poke her finger into leftover biscuits and fill the holes with syrup for a tasty snack for us grandkids. That was some mighty good eatin’! After dinner, the womenfolk cleaned up, then everyone made their way to the front part of the house. Although there was usually a baseball game, golf match, or western on the television in the living room, most opted to sit in the rocking chairs and visit in the shade of the front porch where the heat wasn’t quite so oppressive. We talked, played, laughed and waved to the neighbors across the street who were doing the same thing. It was a time to slow down, yet catch up, and it kept the family ties strong. If I could gather up the brilliance of sunshine and visions of Sunday finery, the smell of honeysuckle and fried apple tarts, the sound of children laughing, birds chirping and bees buzzing, the clink of dishes being washed in soapy water in the kitchen sink, the low gentle hum of the voices of loved ones who have now passed on, and the rhythmic creaking of the front porch rocking chairs, I would have captured the essence of summertime. But that’s what precious memories really are—the collections of a lifetime—to remember, cherish, and share with future generations.

93. Sue S. Martin April 12th, 2010 3:08 pm I am SO VERY excited & can hardly wait to see your new book! Downloading it will be fantastic but I will also be waiting in line to buy it when you have it published! Your blog is totally awesome! Love the pics from the 50’s! My fav! :) My dining room is done in 50’s style all black, white & red, with Coca-Cola accents! Thanks for all your effort and wonderful posts! Here is my favorite summertime recipe, it is loved by children as well as adults. This is the most refreshing summertime treat ever, so delightful on a hot summer day! FROZEN FRUIT SLUSH This recipe makes a large amount of fruit slush, you can choose to only make half at a time but it is great to make the whole recipe and freeze in individual serving size containers to have on hand when needed. Perfect to pull out at a moments notice! 1 – 5lb. bag frozen fruit mix (I buy mine at Costco) 1 can crushed pineapples with juice 3 large bananas (sliced) 2 – 6 oz. cans frozen orange juice (thawed) 1 – 6 oz. can frozen lemonade (thawed) 12 oz. 7 UP 1 cup sugar Add water to mix the orange juice and lemonade according to the directions on the cans. Add sugar – stir until dissolved. Now mix all ingredients together and freeze! Remove from freezer – thaw partially, until it becomes slush. Then serve! Best ever! :)

94. Kathleen Grace April 12th, 2010 3:16 pm One of my favorite things to do in the summer is to have a party with a bunch our friends. They come over and we grill and eat outside by candlelight and then we watch a family movie projected on the side of the barn! Loads of fun for everyone involved, and you can have a really big party no matter how small your house is because it is all outside. Kathleen Grace http://www.kathyscottage.blogspot.com

95. Pam Moore April 12th, 2010 3:24 pm Hi hun! So excited about your book, that is so wonderful!! :-) I have lots of special summer time memories..but a simple one from my childhood is picking fresh tomatoes out of my grandparents garden. Then I would sit on the steps of their back porch with a salt shaker in one hand and a juicy red tomato in the other hand. I still remember how delicious those tomatoes were and I didn’t even mind the juice dripping all over me! ;-) Take care and God bless you! HUGS

96. Nicky Crayton April 12th, 2010 3:42 pm We spent a lot of time on my Grandad’s farm. Somehow he always knew how to make me feel all grown up. One day Grandpa asked me if I wanted to drive. I couldn’t have been more than 5. I was a risk taker and took him up on the offer. He sat me on his lap and I grabbed the steering wheel, which was as big as my arms could stretch wide. Off we went bouncing down the drive in old blue. Both of us laughing from our toes. It was spring and Grandpa always smelled like seed,dirt, a little old spice, and blue jean overalls that grandma had pulled from the line. I love that smell.

97. Tonja April 12th, 2010 3:46 pm Oh Aunt Ruthie I am so happy for you and so proud of you…can’t wait to read the book….the best times I remember about summer when I was little was going for rides with my family dad always took the back roads to my uncle’s house or where we was going just so he could hear me laugh cause going over the hills always tickled my tummy… and helping my dad while he worked on his race car and then we all would load up and go to the figure eight races….or just going out for an ice cream cone late in the hot summer evenings…..but we was always have fresh tomatoes and corn and all the other goodies from the gardens….listening to old records while sitting on the porch… all the joys of summer is so refreshing but being with your loved ones makes anytime of the year the best…. Have a Blessed day…. Sweet Blessings…. Tonja Woods

98. Shelley Petrosino April 12th, 2010 4:34 pm One of my favorite memories of summer is going to my Grandparents house in Oklahoma. For this California girl it was like going to a different planet. Hunting fireflies. Eating watermelon with my cousins and spitting the seeds anywhere on the ground we wanted. Sneaking and feeding the chickens after my Granny already did, just because I loved the smell of the feed and the attention of all those hens. But the best memory is my cousin telling me that it was hot enough to fry an egg in the road. So I went to the hen house and grabbed an egg, cracked it in the road and waited for it to cook. It didn’t, but we sure did get in trouble when Grandpa found out. Good luck on your book and blessings to you.

99. Trish April 12th, 2010 4:43 pm Woooo Hoooooo I am sooo excited for you!!!!!!! thats wonderful news. Trish xox ;)

100. Ann April 12th, 2010 4:53 pm Living in Australia it sometimes seems that it is summer all year round, so different to the English summers of my childhood of crowded beaches and noisy amusement parks.On summer weekends we like to leave early to head for the beach just a short drive from our home. We strap surfboards to the roof of the van and ‘boogie boards’ for the younger children are piled in. Dad and the older children head out to catch some waves with the serious surfers and the younger children splash around and ‘pretend’ to surf on the water’s edge. The beach is deserted apart from a few early morning walkers with their dogs leaving behind a trail of footprints and paw prints. By 10 am as the day trippers and tourists arrive, we are on our way home with more sand to sweep out of the van and shells to make into necklaces on a rainy day. Our morning tea treat could be hokey pokey ice cream or a fat juicy mango each, taken from the tray we picked up at a roadside fruit stall. This luscious tropical fruit readily available is a sure sign of summer. I use them in smoothies and cakes, add them to salads and I make a mango and mint salsa to accompany lamb or homemade meat patties for the barbecue or ‘barbie’ as we call it here. Australians love their barbies – in summer some people cook all their meals on the barbecue! It really is a way of life here – you can smell the barbecues in summer as you drive down the street! Barbecues are a wonderful way to extend hospitality to friends and neighbours, very few people turn down an invitation to a barbecue and everyone contributes, bringing along meat, salads and often desserts such as pavlova.I like to decorate mine with mango of course! If you would like a taste of Australian family life in a semi tropical region please drop by my blog http://www.eightacresofeden.com I would love to meet you!

101. Sharon April 12th, 2010 5:43 pm I grew up in the blue ridge mountains. When I was a child we would play outside until dark catching lightening bugs, and playing tag and hide and seek. mama would call us in and we would be so tired wed fall right to sleep. We had a playhouse in the woods and we would beg mama for old pots and chipped dishes to put in our playhouse. We had to do chores each evening. I would bring wood in for mamas cook stove so she could cook breakfast, then each morning I gathered the eggs from the henhouse. We also raised pigs and we would have great big slices of country ham for breakfast. We would go camping in the summertime and sleep on a mattress in the back of daddys pick up truck. Mama would fry big pans of potatoes and fried chicken over an open campfire. Daddy would tell us ghost stories and scare us half to death then wed laugh will wed cry. We never had much but we knew were were loved and I didnt know I was poor. Oh how Id love to go back and have a summer day with mama and daddy.

102. Diana Turner April 12th, 2010 6:31 pm I have lots of fun memories of growing up in the country. Me and my 2 sisters… along with 2 or 3 cousins would get up early (yes even during the summer break from school) to head out to the woods to play all day! We’d bring along (well, sneak out of the house) one of mom’s older pots and some type of canned food to heat for lunch over the fire we’d make in a rock circle under the rock cliffs. We’d stay out all day long playing in the woods. Our imaginations in those woods were the most fun playground ever. We’d even wondered a hill away once and found and old shack that hadn’t been lived in for many years. We found out forest playground treasures there of very old dishes that we stored back under the large rock cliff that was our “house”. A current summer idea for our large extended family these days, is an auction each year of items everyone brings and donates. The proceeds each year are deposited into a reunion fund and pays for rental of the facility the following year, as well as paper goods and the meat for all (usually chicken and ham). This annual reunion auction has become the highlight and people look forward to the fun and laughter it never fails to generate! I can’t WAIT to see all the great stuff you bring us in your book Ruthie! Blessing to you and yours. :)

103. Miss Merry April 12th, 2010 6:55 pm My favorite summer memory with my children was a summer when I had a part-time job in the morning. I would come home and pack up a picnic lunch, all five children and five inexpensive little cameras to record our adventures. We would visit parks, nature areas, old cemeteries, memorials, anything within a small radius that I could find my way to! I purchased a bicycle guide to our area which charted short trips to historical places, and tours that pointed out the small stuff – remnants of old stone bridges, roadside markers, a smattering of Amish school houses in the countryside. We once happened on the “Art Train”, a real train that carries museum exhibits around the country for everyone to enjoy (I think we were lost on our way to another park). All five are now in their late twenties and early thirties and still have their scrapbooks of the photos from our summer of one-tank-trips.

104. Wendi Bridwell April 12th, 2010 6:58 pm I am very excited about your book! I can just imagine it full of wonderful things from cover to cover. As a child we would travel from Indiana back to my grandparents farm in Virginia. Oh, the memories I have of those trips! The days were full and very busy, but did not feel rushed. They just seemed to flow. Many mornings were spent in the garden picking fresh peas and green beans. In the heat of the afternoon we would sit on the front porch and shell peas and snap beans. I can still hear the dink of the fresh peas hitting Mom’s (what we called my grandmother) metal bowl. Then it was time to head to the kitchen. It didn’t matter how early or late the menfolk came in for dinner, it was always hot and ready. After enjoying a homecooked meal and handwashing the dishes it was time to head back to the front porch. A cold, juicy watermelon would be sliced open. Seeds would be spit on the ground and the rind thrown over the fence to the cows. The adults would soon settle down while us kids chased lightening bugs. Much to soon it was time to head to bed. A sweet lullaby of crickets and night sounds would put us to sleep. Before I was ready it was time to say good-bye. The farm is no longer there, but the memories are. Lying in bed with the windows open and the crickets singing takes me right back to the farm.

105. Alicia April 12th, 2010 7:15 pm Thank you for the prompt to recall a warm memory from my childhood. Well, here it is… In the summer Gramma’s front porch was a real gatherin’ place… complete with a porch swing, rockin’ chair and the tick-tick-tick of a slow movin’ ceiling fan. We enjoyed workin’ out in the garden and after the pickin’ was over, the memory that I cherish is sittin’ on that porch with Gramma, her stockings rolled down to her ankles, snappin’ beans…each one of us havin’ our own brown paper bag (rolled down just like Gramma’s stockings) for throwin’ away the ends of the beans, while droppin’ the good part of the beans in a large stainless steel mixin’ bowl, right ready for rinsin’ and joinin’ some ham hocks and potatoes on the stove for the night’s dinner! While dinner was cookin’ we took those brown paper bags down to throw the scraps to the pigs. Ah the memories! Being a kid on the farm in those days…well, I was just about as happy as a pig in mud (or a pig with plenty of fresh bean scraps)! Love those simple sunny summer days and farm-fresh memories!

106. Teronya K. Holmes April 12th, 2010 7:22 pm I grew up in Northeast Tennessee, so, as you can imagine, as soon as the weather became warm enough, usually by late April or early May, we kicked off our shoes and enjoyed running through the cool grass with our bare feet as much as possible! I remember games of “Kick the Can”, “Red Rover, Red Rover”, and “Ain’t no Boogers Out Tonight (my daddy got ’em all last night!)” until way past dark -until the moms all started yelling from their porches for us to come home for supper; catching lightning bugs at twilight and keeping them in a jar with holes poked through the lid through the night so they’d light up our rooms; camping out in our backyard under the stars and waking up covered with the morning dew; riding bicycles all over the community (we could do such things without parental supervision back then!) and to the little country store down the road to spend our quarter on candy; catching the ice cream man to buy a rainbow-flavored snow cone as he drove his magical, musical truck right by our house in the evening; watermelon chilling in the creek all day so we’d have a cool, delicious dessert after supper; playing in the sandbox all day and running through the sprinklers to wash the sand off….and so much more! But my favorite thing was the old wooden swing my dad hung up in the humongous poplar tree in our yard at the top of the hill…this was the place where a young girl could let herself go, swinging higher and higher, without a care in the world, dreaming of those things that young girls dare to dream – of princes and kings, and beautiful things….of fairy tale lands and adventures so grand….of meadows to roam and the sweet hills of home….of family and friends and love that never ends….and the thoughts that THIS must be what heaven is like! :)

107. Kelly Nix April 12th, 2010 7:27 pm As a little girl growing up in Oklahoma my fondest summer memories came from spending time with my family. Early on a Saturday morning my mom would pack a cooler of food and cold drinks for us and we head off to Bixby, a farming community not far from where we lived to pick up fresh fruits and veggies. After we’d loaded up our bounty we’d head home and get to work. Dad would set up a station for my brother and I in the drive way and we’d happily start shuckin’ corn and snapin’ beans for my mom to “put up”. We’d find corn silks that we’d tracked in the house for days! What fun memories!

108. Betty April 12th, 2010 7:29 pm Sweet Sista Ruthann, I grew up in the best time possible…the fifties…most doors were never locked…we could roam the neighborhoods, walk to the movies at night…play out under the street lights. My Mama wore pretty dresses, her pearls or a pin, usually a flower pin, no matter which chores were on her list for the day and oh,yes, she always had the scent of Cashmere Bouquet Bath Powder. As she went about her work, she listened to the radio. Some of her favorite programs were Don McNeil’s Breakfast Club, Arthur Godfrey and the serial…’Second Spring’…Can a woman who has once loved completely ever find true love again, can she ever find true love again? Some mornings we would work in the flower beds. Mama always beautiful flowers, instead of a green thumb, she had two green hands…flowers just seemed to out do themselves for her. My Daddy came home from his business at 11:00 on the dot. Mama would have a southern dinner on the table complete with lacy cornbread and tea. After we finished eating we headed to the front porch where Daddy turned on the battery radio for the local news. As friends walked by returning to their jobs downtown they would stop and swap news about deaths, births, church meetings, etc. When the gospel music began Daddy would crank up the truck and return to the feed mill so other employees could go home to enjoy their meal. I would slowly make my way to the kitchen to wash dishes…and then probably to the library to spend an enjoyable afternoon. Betty McIntyre/Country Charm (Amy O’Quinn’s Mom)

109. Kate April 12th, 2010 7:42 pm One of the best things about summer for me is being able to hang the sheets on the line and seeing them billow gently in the warm breeze. When shortly the linen is dry, it smells of summer and green lawn and then when you hop into bed you can still feel that slight warmth and fresh air enveloping you. It so beats drying in a dryer !

110. Nancy April 12th, 2010 7:44 pm Congratulations and I’m so proud of you for writing a book. I can’t wait to read it!!! Hugs, Nancy

111. Stefanie April 12th, 2010 7:49 pm I just love reading everything you write and seeing how beautiful you make your home. You inspire me so much. One of my favorite summertime memories is going with my mother and little brothers to Alabama to visit my great aunt and uncle’s farm. We only stayed a week but that one week seemed to last all summer! One of my favorite things to do was sit with my cousins, mom, aunt, uncle and brothers and eat watermelon. My uncle would go get one from the field (talk about FRESH!) and he would cut a slice for each of us. My aunt would get out all of her pie and cake tins and we would each use those as our “plate”. Put on a little salt and we had heaven in our mouths! We sure would get sticky, but we didn’t care. I can still smell their house, see the corn in their fields, hear the pigs in the pens…but most of all I can still taste that perfect watermelon. I’m 35 years old and that is STILL my favorite summer memory. Looks like my husband and I need to start making memories like that with our two babies, soon!!!!

112. Erin April 12th, 2010 8:40 pm To me, summertime is all about family. Those who you aren’t able to spend much time with during the rest of the year because of school, activities, shuttling back and forth, here and there. My family’s favorite time during the summer is the week long trip we make every June. My hubby and 3 children, Brady, Drew and Ella Kate pack up our car and make a 5 hour trek to the quite literally middle of nowhere, Spectacle Lake in Tonasket, WA. where we spend the next week catching up and having a hoot-n-hollerin’ time with my hubby’s parents, aunts, uncles and cousins and close family friends. We spend the week fishing, boating, cooking and relaxing but our most favorite time comes at night when we all gather around a huge bonfire with blankets and hot chocolate. We roast marshmallows until they are gooey and golden and we sing campfire songs and listen to the same stories over and over and over again….and laugh at them hysterically as if it were the first time that any of us has heard them! I know that these times are cherished by the older generations in my husbands family, but I am so grateful that the younger generation (the grandchildren) are able to be a part of this every year. It is my deepest hope that one day I will be enjoying my grandchildren there, roasting marshmallows and talking about the “good old days”, reminiscing about days gone by. That’s my summer story…….hope you enjoyed reading it! ~Erin

113. Anne April 12th, 2010 8:51 pm I have the very best summertime recipe. It is not low in calories so you may need to take a long walk after wards. Just follow the simple directions here. I am excited for your new book. How awesome! SUMMER TRIFLE 1 pt whipping cream 1 can sweetened condensed milk 1 sara lee pound cake 1 3oz. pkg. instant vanilla pudding 1 ½ cups cold water 1 ½ pts. strawberries Combine cold water, sweetened condensed milk and instant pudding in a bowl let set in refrigerator. Slice strawberries Cut pound cake into cubes Whip cream until stiff peak’s form Fold whipped cream into pudding mixture Layer in a bowl starting with whipped cream/pudding mixture, pound cake and strawberries. Repeat ending with pudding mixture on top Let set in refrigerator for at least 4 hours This is a single recipe. I usually double this. You may use peaches or nectarines for strawberries. FRUIT MUST BE FRESH DO NOT USE FROZEN

114. Barbra April 12th, 2010 9:52 pm Hi Ruthie ~ What a lovely ‘wander’ back in my thoughts to summertimes past; thank you for directing my path tonight! :o) When I was small there wasn’t big trips with suitcases packed up for our family; I had a little brother with special needs that kept us close to home and that was perfectly fine for us all. Little day trips were treasured and in their simplicity it must have gifted me with the wisdom to always appreciate ‘the small things’……..like…….icecream!! A trip to the dairybar was a roadtrip of delight……a mere few miles from home and yet……anticipated with childlike excitement……..we were a family heading out on an adventure……a summertime adventure!! It’s not hard to remember sitting under those big, shaded trees next to the dairybar; care-free and giggly–each with their own favourite flavour and………2 scoops if you please…..make that 2 b.i.g. scoops!! Ooooooh, this was family time at it’s finest — SO fine in fact that all these many years later (50 to be exact), the dairybar still stands, the big, shaded trees are still a shelter from the summer heat and……….we continue to find our way to make time for ‘2 scoops’ with a little nostalgia on the side!! God Bless and……….great congratulations on your book Ruthie — you DO ‘write like a dream’ so I can only imagine……….it’s SURE to be lovely! Barbra.

115. Cherryblossom April 12th, 2010 11:44 pm Wow Aunt Ruthie, a book, I cannot wait, am so looking forward to it!! It is coming into autumn/winter here in Australia, but reading your post there made me long for summer again, even though I adore winter so much more ;) Thanks xx

116. DianeM April 13th, 2010 3:04 am Oooo…I cannot wait! I love your blog & I’m sure the new E-book will be just as fabulous :) Congrats! As far as a summertime memory…I can still smell & feel that green summertime grass as me, my older sister & our neighbor friend Mary would lie in the yard and watch the clouds go by figuring out what each one looked like. If I could sum up those feelings & bottle them, they’d be labeled ‘carefree’ for those were carefree days for us. Smiles :)

117. Vanessa Covington April 13th, 2010 4:23 am How fun! I know your book will be wonderful and I can’t wait to see it. It is early and my brain is still a little mushy, but I did think of one summertime tip that I will share. My sister-in-law actually let me in on this little secret for buttering corn on the cob: Slather your butter on a heel of bread and then rub the bread over the corn. The butter will transfer onto the corn. You can reuse the bread several times. This is the best way I have found to butter corn on the cob!

118. Celesta Brown April 13th, 2010 5:47 am Here’s the best time-tested idea/memory for summer magic memory making: Pick out the best looking watermelon in the field. Be sure to thump, thump, thump it. Place it in your refrigerator for a few hours. Wait until dusk. Remove the watermelon from the refrigerator. Slice it in half. If you are a good Southern girl, you shall sprinkle liberally with salt. Jam several forks and spoons right into the red flesh. Take it outside to the porch where your eager family awaits. Everybody grab a utensil and dig in. There are few better memories of summer than watermelon with the ones you love. MMMMgood.

119. Ann April 13th, 2010 6:05 am Dear Aunt Ruthie, Oh boy! I can’t wait for your book! I know it will be WONDERFUL! My husband and I started a new family tradition! We bought a small cottage near a lake in Wisconsin. We go up to our cottage with our four girls and two dogs almost every weekend in the summer. The kids swim at the beach, jump off the pier, and make sandcastles on the beach. We go boating and they have learned to be fearless and jump off the boat and swim! They love to go tubing. We sit in the boat at night and watch the fireworks on the fourth of July, tying our boat up with the neighbor’s boat. The girls invite friends up and the entire weekend they giggle! We have family come visit and spend time boating, barbequing, playing games, doing puzzles, reading, and just hanging out! We drink lemonade, eat watermelon, celebrate birthdays, let the men have cigars. The girls take hikes in the forest and have woken up to see deer playing outside our kitchen window. They have decorated the walls of their bedroom with their artwork. I know our girls will always remember those times at the lake cottage. I know I will, too. They are precious and time just goes too fast. I blink and they are bigger. The time at the lake house seems to help to slow it down a little!

120. Rebecca April 13th, 2010 6:40 am I sent you a little award on my blog today! I really love your sincere approach to blogging…your heart shines through the words on the screen to so many! May you be blessed as you seek to be a blessing! Feel free to stop by anytime and pick it up! ~ B

121. Liz Grundvig April 13th, 2010 6:41 am Oh, my favorite summer pastime is a total thing of the past – going to the Drive-In Theater! As little kids, my parents would load us up in the backseat, all bathed and in our pajamas, and head to one of five local drive-ins. Knowing where we were going, our little legs would not stay still, just anticipating the moment we would arrive, select the perfect spot in the very center of the lot, shut off the lights, and open the car door. We’d scram out of the car and run all the way to the front of the theater (it was safe to do that without parent supervision), where we would hop onto the giant steel swing set and pump our feet up-and-back, seeming like we could touch the top of that enormous outdoor screen. The teeter-totters were the same; it felt as if we were flying when it was our turn to be ‘up.’ One time, my dad had the five of us kids, while my mom was getting refreshed at a retreat. With his strong arms, he lifted each of us into the back of his old green Chevy truck (it was legal to sit back there, then) – properly loaded with beach chairs, blankets, ice chest, and snacks – and off we went to our favorite adventure of summer. I still remember him driving to the back, where all trucks were required to park, picking our spot, backing in, and with our truck crested just-so on that tiny mound of asphalt, we watched Viva Las Vegas, starring Elvis Presley and Ann Margaret. Above us the stars kept watch as they twinkled and danced and shot across the sky, and below us, the ever-present cricket serenade. Simply fun and wonderful. By the time my kids were born, the toys were gone, along with three of the lesser used drive-ins, but the Crest Drive-In… it enjoyed a nice life of continual friendship with movie lovers, till they closed it in 1998. Still, my kids got to pop popcorn the old-fashioned way – in a pot – and dump it in a brown grocery sack with the top edge rolled under a couple of times. The salt would be poured in, the melted butter drizzled on, it would be shaken a few times… and we were off for another Drive-In adventure. I miss that, but am thankful for such happy summer memories! And then, I just have to share with your the best-ever summertime cake I’ve ever made, from a recipe a friend gave me years ago. No one can get enough and everyone takes a bite and begs for the recipe (which I give them). I know everyone says their cakes are the best, but you will agree with me once you slip that first forkful onto your tongue. It’s like eating sweet air. Mandarin Orange Cake Preheat oven to 325. For four minutes, beat the following ingredients, then pour into three round 8-inch cake pans (of course, prepare pan with butter and flour): * one box lemon cake mix *4 eggs *1/2 cup oil *1/2 cup sugar *11-ounce can mandarin oranges, including juice Bake 25-30 minutes, till toothpick/knife comes out clean. Mix the following ingredients and frost each layer: *12-ounce Cool Whip *11-ounce can mandarin oranges – DRAINED *1 small box instant vanilla pudding *add a drop of red and yellow food coloring if you want a light orange color; careful, not too much Keep in fridge till ready to slice and bless your guests! PS – Congrats on a book!!!! It’s always been a dream of mine, so my heart is wildly clapping for yours coming true!

122. Angela April 13th, 2010 6:49 am I have to say I love your site. It is so inspiring. I wanted to share one of the most precious memories in my life. I was raised by my grandparents. So when I was a small child we would go to Vidor,Texas I live in live in Louisiana so that was actually a couple of hours just across the line. She lived in a little old house, I never seen her anywhere but in her little kitchen unless we were sitting in the dinning room eating a meal. It seems she must have lived in that kitchen. Always cooking and of course in her little dress and apron. We called her Little Mom. We played all over the place. But my favorite part was going out her laundry room door to the yard. She had a screen door that always slammed shut. Until this day I love that sound. It led to a little porch with 2 rocking chairs. One on each side of the door. One chair for her and one for Poppa. Although I never saw them sitting there. I can picture in my mind the probably did on evenings after supper. Miss it so much. Thanks, Angie

123. P.J. April 13th, 2010 7:17 am When my daughter was a little girl, I planted a whole lot of mammoth sunflowers in two straight rows about 3 feet apart and when they got big, they bent over and made a little “room” in which she and her friends could play with their dolls and have a picnic. They loved it! And, when the sunflowers dried up, they got to put the seeds out for the birds in the winter. She loved it every year when it was time to plant the sunflowers! P.J.

124. Amy April 13th, 2010 8:05 am Ruthie, first off I must say… what a delight you are… you are certainly a ray of sunshine.. in a much needed way…. I may not be able to conrol whats going on in the world… but I can control the climate of my home… You have inspired me… I have had an idea for you… Each summer once the corn has come on and the water mellon to boot… we host a corn and water mellon feed… it’s simple it’s delicious and you boil up that ripe sweet corn and have an old fashioned “Hoe Down”…. Haybales for benches…. Lot’s of butter… and salt and pepper… and finish with a chunck of cold water mellon.. Honestly… it’s a huge hit! On a personal note… contact me via my web site… I was thinking of doing something up for you… my treat… – How’s about that “Sugar Pie”! Amy

125. Lori Crace April 13th, 2010 9:15 am I was lying in bed last night, just thinking about all the little things in life that really amuse me or peak my interest, or just flat out haunt my every waking thought and interestingly enough, they are most things from the past; things that are no longer accessible or stuff from my childhood. I have so many great memories of things I wish were still around and times with my family that are lost to the ether of the passing years. One of my very favorite summer time memories is of my dad taking me and my brother to the drive-in movie when we were kids. I simply LOVED going to the drive-in and face it, when you’re a kid in Seymour, Texas….population boring……the drive-in movies were like Times Square! When I think about it, I can even remember the smells of the concession stand…the salty popcorn, the juicy hot dogs and the fire grilled hamburgers…..my dad and I always surpassed all of that though for the giant movie pickle! We both loved them and these things were huge! We would always pack a big, soft quilt and dad would spray me and my brother down with Off insect repellent….everything is big in Texas, especially mosquitoes! We would get to the drive-in early so we could get a good parking place (right in the middle-not too close, not too far away). Dad would hook up the pole speaker to the inside of the door window, and my brother and I would run up to play at the little park beneath the huge screen, waiting for the movie to start. We would swing on the swingset and catch lightening bugs and rub them on our faces so our cheeks would glow. Then, when the cartoon popcorn, hot dog, and cup of soda began dancing across the screen, dad would flash his car lights so we would know where to find him in the dark and we would come running back to the car. Summer time in Texas can be brutal and night time doesn’t bring much of a break from the heat. Dad would spread our quilt out on the hood of the car and my brother and I would stretch out on it, feeling the coolness of the metal under the quilt. I never could figure out how the actors got up on that big screen and my dad would tell me that they went in a backdoor and walked up the stairs. So, I really thought they were actually back behind the screen! About half way through the movie, dad would take us to the concession stand for snacks (Jurassic pickle-time!) and usually, we would fall asleep before the movie was over. The next day, dad would have to tell me and my brother how the movie ended. It was so much fun! Oh how I long for those times. Even as a young girl, I knew these times with my dad were special. I know people say it all the time, but things sure seemed a lot more simple back then. I really do miss those times and I sure do miss my dad. I wish I could get in a time machine and go back to one of those summers again. I would spend way more time holding my dad’s hand and listening to him laugh. He had one of those really great laughs that would make you laugh just to hear it. If I could have one more day at the drive-in movie with my dad, I would try very very hard to stay awake through the entire movie this time, so I wouldn’t waste one single minute with my dad…….Oh, and we would definitely share one of those HUMONGOUS pickles again! Well, on that note… I think I’ll go have a cupcake…or two. Aunt Ruthie, I love that you are following a dream and seeing it through! Can’t wait to read the book and be transported back to a simpler time~Lori Crace

126. Kerin April 13th, 2010 11:02 am I can hardly wait to read your book! I just know it will make my heart smile! We had a large family,and every summer my dad would pack up all eight of us and head to Yellowstone. We fished and swam in Yellowstone lake. Hiked through the pine trees, and gathered pine cones. We went to the amphitheater at night , wrapped in wool blankets and listened to the park rangers. We made picnic lunches and drove all over Yellowstone park to see all the sights. We fished the Yellowstone river. I caught (and released) so many trout on nothing more than a stick, a little fishing line, and a wet fly. My memories are woven with summers in Yellowstone. Our children are grown up, but we have tried to get them to Yellowstone as often as possible. What a wonderful place to spend summers!

127. Cyndy DeStefano April 13th, 2010 11:09 am I am so excited for you! What a wonderful idea. I wanted to share a quick memory with you. When I was young, every Sunday meant a trip to my both of my grandmas as soon as church was over. They lived only a few miles apart but we lived 45 minutes away from each of them. So on Sundays we would go to visit each one, spending half a day at one and half a day at the other. There were times when I was a teenager that I begged not to go and I wasn’t always happy that my parents made me. As I look back now there are times I’m so very very sad that those days are gone. All of my cousins would be at my mom’s moms. She had a farm, several old barns, lots of bright green grass that was cushier than most pillows, moss growing around her trees that I loved to dig my bare toes in. But the best part of her house was that she had a big porch with a swing on both ends. We would all gather on that big porch and swing for hours. Sometimes we would tell jokes, sometimes we would talk, sometimes we would sing and sometimes we would just sing. We would play games that kids don’t know anymore, like Mother May I, Red Rover Red Rover, London Bridge, Simon Says and What time is it old witch. I don’t have those grandmas anymore and I rarely see my cousins either. I think back to those times and am sad for all that is gone. I am grateful now for every one of those lazy Sunday afternoons. Sometimes it is seeing a porch swing, sometimes it’s the smell of a soft summer breeze and every once in awhile I get the joy of feeling that soft moss on my feet, but every time I am reminded of my grandma, I am reminded of how fleeting time is and how important it is to enjoy those simple simple things for those are the ones we are going to look back on with a mixture of sadness with the joy when they are gone.

128. Dee of FarmhousecountryStyle April 13th, 2010 11:11 am Well Miss Ruthie, I just cannot wait to read your online book! I love everything else you do here so what a bonus for us! I love the summertime when my children are all home with me. We try to pack as much fun as we can into the short summer months. Our summer’s consist of weekly trips to the Ocean since we live on the shore, we are beach people. We live in the pinelands so we have plenty of lakes and creeks as well. A few days out of the week we are at one shore or another! Floating around the pool, summer bonfires in our firepit, family kickball and wiffleball games, chasing fireflies at night, back yard campouts, and camping trips in the rv. We try to fit some learning in over the summer as well, like visiting historical places. Taking a trip to the local library to learn about our destination beforehand is a must. There is amusement park trips and the fair of course. Blueberry picking in the pines is so much fun, we usually go with a group of Aunts and cousins and then come back and each child makes their own mini blueberry pie, oh the memories we have! Something we look forward to each year is the large bonfires at the lighthouse, right on the beach in our local shore town. There is music and dancing, a real wholesome family atmosphere. We are avid kyakers and canoers too and can be found on a sunny day floating down a cedar creek with a group of family friends. A summer recipe my family looks forward to each year is the Summer Salad I posted on the SPS msg. board last year. It is an easy peasy cold noodle salad with veggies, and we have been hankering for it lately, lol!! I also make a bourbon grilled chicken that we looove. I ‘ll be sharing the recipes on my blog in the coming months so stop on by to check it out. Best wishes to you, and congrats on your new venture!

129. Jessica Christiansen April 13th, 2010 11:12 am I am so excited for your book!!! Whether or not I get to be included in it, I’ll be sure to get it! Your site is a great reminder to me of what is important in today’s busy world. I just gave birth 5 weeks ago today to a healthy baby girl and I now realize how important it is to be sure to teach our children good values and that family comes first! Thank you for your sweet reminders and wholesome ideas, thoughts, and music. I actually wondered if I wanted to share this secret or not because it’s one of the best secrets I’ve got as far as delicious drinks go, but it’s too good NOT to share. We did this for my wedding and a few other parties and all I’ve got to say is be sure to have more than enough for everyone there because we’ve always run out with everyone wanting refill after refill. For our wedding, we used the cranberry raspberry concentrate and then the special ingredient is Squirt! It’s just enough carbonation to give it a sparkle but not enough that it burns or offends the non-carbonation drinkers. You really can use whatever concentrate base you want, but be sure to add a touch of Squirt and your summer parties, picnics, and gatherings will be delicious with this refreshing summer drink!

130. Donna Erickson April 13th, 2010 11:16 am Hi Ruthie! I love your blog! So encouraging and inspirational. I do have a question…..How often do you bake pies and other sweets? How do you keep such a fit figure???? Donna

131. Shann April 13th, 2010 12:43 pm Hi Ruthie! What a fun idea you are doing. I can not wait to see your book. I already have plans to curl up with a cup of coffee and soak up every word. :) I am going to share a funny story from my childhood with you. I was a city girl. My cousins lived in the country on a farm. One very hot Illinois summer, I was at their home. They had all kinds of farm animals…horses, cows, chickens, ducks, rabbits, hunting dogs and goats. They had a little kiddie pool for the ducks to get into and swim about to cool off during the heat of the day. Needless to say, it was DIRTY! Feathers, grass, leaves from the yard and poo from the ducks floated about in that little pool. My cousins let their dogs out to run from their pens. The dogs like to chase city kids like me. I was running backwards from the dogs, not paying attention to where I was going, and I fell right into that nasty duck pool! I went ker-plunk down into the water!! Even my long hair got soaked. I don’t believe there was one dry spot on me. That certainly was not the clean city pool water I was used to cooling off in. My cousins and Aunt got a big laugh out of little ole me in that duck pool. It certainly was not funny to me at the time, but now I think it is hilarious. :) Take care! Shann

132. Courtney Ross April 13th, 2010 12:52 pm The best summer tradition–the county fair! For as long as I can remember, we have enjoyed visiting. Fair week always turns off blazing hot with a hazy shimmering heat over the cornfields surrounding the fairgrounds. Farmers in overalls, little girls in sundresses, neighbors and old friends greet one another and admire the hard work countless local kids have put in to complete their 4-H projects. Where else but the county fair can you see prize hogs, beauty queens, award winning pies, and tractor parades all in the same venue? And the food! Ice cold lemon shakeups, buttered corn on the cob, powdered sugar topped funnel cakes, and crispy corndogs all taste divine while strolling under the twinkling lights of the midway. The humble county fair seems to be a celebration of life and community and small towns and all that is good in America. It is the high point of summer!

133. Amanda Creasy April 13th, 2010 3:01 pm Hi Aunt Ruthie, One of my favorite memories as a child was having the garden my mom and dad planted very close to our swimming hole. My brother and sister and I used to pick a handful of plump peas, or a red ripe tomato and feast before cooling ourselves in the clear cold water! It was total bliss. I’m so very excited to see your new book! :-)

134. rue April 13th, 2010 4:53 pm Hi Ruthann :) I’m so excited for you! What a wonderful idea!! I think my favorite summertime memories involve my Grandma Bonnie and Grandpa Ox. They lived only a few miles from us in the suburbs, but Ox had a very large victory garden that he kept all his life even after the war. I remember how fresh the figs and the boysenberries and raspberries off the vine tasted. I remember the aloe they would pluck off every time I didn’t listen and touched that hot dish I was told to not touch. Bonnie was famous for her Texas pound-cake and we would stand on her old 50s step stool (like the one I have in my own kitchen now) to help sift the dry ingredients. Oh and the homemade ice cream! There’s nothing like it and it was so worth turn the hand crank forever. Sweet summer memories indeed. xo, rue

135. Evelyn April 13th, 2010 6:04 pm Best Memories of summer… swimming all day at the community pool getting a pretzel stick and a snowcone as a treat on the way home from the pool Our house all clean and fresh and cooled down from the heat because my mom kept the awnings down, the fans on and the blinds closed…and she had fixed a delicious broiled steak and salad dinner with something luscious for dessert. Her homemade potato salad and grilled burgers…what a treat. Playing outside after dinner…catching lightning bugs in jars, playing hide & seek and freeze tag and being allowed to play outside after it got dark…then home to bed in our undies to stay cool all night. Getting ice cream cones from the O’Boyle’s ice cream truck. Playing hopscotch and catch across the street in the school playground. Having kid picnics under the trees by the school baseball fields…usually pb & j or baloney sandwiches, a piece of fruit and a Tastykake. Reading all kinds of books just for the fun of it…no homework responsibilities. Standing in line to see the latest Disney movie with about 400 other kids and enjoying the air conditioning once you got in. (This was the 50’s…no videos or much air conditioning back then) Doing cartwheels in the backyard with my girlfriends from the neighborhood. Being allowed to sleep in a homemade tent under the stars in our backyard…that was the ultimate treat. There are so many more…but this has just taken me back to a beautiful, happy time of my life.

136. Karen Wright April 13th, 2010 6:08 pm My grandmother, Eunice Anderson, owned the family farmhouse in Houston, Texas. Each summer, my sister and I would spend several weeks there. Our days would be spent playing in the hay barn, picking wild blackberries (we called them dewberries), and playing with the chickens in the chicken house. My favorite memory is when Grandma allowed my sister and me to wallpaper the inside of the chicken house. We spent hours making that little old house look as cozy and homey as possible for the chickens—we were homemakers in training! Just imagine a 1940’s chicken house decked out in 1970’s yellow and orange wallpaper. Priceless memories indeed.

137. Amy Harrett April 13th, 2010 8:59 pm One memory I have of summer is when my Mother would fix Cucumber/Onion salad. No measurements, just a “fix the amount you need”. Sliced cucumbers Sliced onions Place cucumbers and onions in a shallow bowl. Cover with vinegar, sprinkle with pepper, chill and eat. That easy!! Keeps well and tastes better and better the longer it’s in the fridge. Cool and refreshing!

138. Georgia Mallory April 13th, 2010 10:25 pm Oh, Ruthie! Can’t wait to read all your summertime goodness! I was raised in Southern California but am Indiana born. Mom and Dad left Indiana, relatives and friends behind and moved us to California when I was just four years old so the only opportunity to see and know my grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins was for us to board the train and travel for three days to northern Indiana. I loved the sound of the train clickity-clacking down the tracks….it meant a vacation had begun!! All my extended family would gather when we visited Plymouth. Off to Pretty Lake we would go for days in the sun, boat rides on the lake and tables piled high with yummy food….the supply never ended…fresh fruit, potato salad, baked beans, hot dogs and hamburgers and any other summer fare you can think of!! We ate and ate, ran and played all day and then roasted marshmallows around a fire in the evening. You could feel the family love and closeness! That is where my Mom taught me to catch lightening bugs, pinch off their little lights (did that hurt them?) and make a light ring on my finger!! We also caught them, put them into jars and watched them dance around! Fun, laughter, hugs and family love were the theme of those wonderful summer visits back home!! my blog: http://grandmags.blogspot.com my website: http://www.grandmagscottage.net Hugs!! Georgia

139. Latisha Serrano April 14th, 2010 7:23 am I love your blog!!! So full of great ideas, apart from being beautiful! Summer for me and my family was full of fishing trips to the nearest lake. As soon as weekend came near, we would load up the car with fishing tackle and camping items, and head out for adventure! We would spend the day on the shore with our tot sized fishing poles and goey worms. The feeling of expectation while waiting for the bobber to dip was at times excruciating, but oh the excitement of realing in a lively perch!!!! It was like realing in a whale for us little kids! On one such trip we met up with some Aunts and Uncles. All the cousins fished from the shore till dinnertime came and we returned up the steep bluff to camp where the women had potatoe salad and grilled hot dogs ready. After filling our bellies and a quick game of cards, we headed back down to reset our poles. Upon arriving we noticed a rather large garter snake had slithered it’s way to where we had let our poles rest. On instinct we all grabbed our poles and began running back up the path, screaming as we went. But our cousin seemed to be screaming more than all us girls! When we reached the top, we turned to see him run right past us and not far behind was that wretched snake! It was as if the snake were chasing him! Come to find out, the snake had gotten snagged on the fish hook and was not chasing, but rather being drug along the path behind a very frightened boy! When our dads finally figured it out, we all rolled on the ground with laughter. We will never forget the time when the snake chased our cousin around the lake!!!!

140. Jessica Adam April 14th, 2010 8:20 am FIrst of all, I’m SO excited about your book! You always have cute ideas and such an uplifting message. I know it will be great. I believe God is using you to reach some of us mamas who need a great message as a reminder of what He has given us….our families…and how he wants us to cherrish them. Here are a couple of fun ideas for summer. I have young kids and we really enjoyed this one. 1. For a fun change, pour about 2 or 3 bags of flour into a dry kiddie pool. We put our daughter in her swimsuit and brought out a bunch of kitchen things like mixing spoons and sifters and buckets. It is a blast! 2. Ooblek: I’m sure most people have done this, but if you haven’t, you’ve got to try it. Is it a solid? Is it a liquid? Who knows? Take a carton of cornstarch and add water a little bit at a time and mix with your hand. It should be very hard to mix and the end result will be something you can dig into and pick up like a chunk, but it will melt through your hand. 3. Favorite summer recipe: Cold Spaghetti Salad 2 envelopes Good Seasoning Italian Dressing. Mix acording to directions on packet. 3/4 to 1 bottle Schilling Salad Supreme seasoning. Add to mixed dressing and let stand. 1 pound thin spaghetti. Cook and drain. Put in ice water for 5 minutes. Dice or chop 5 tomatoes, 2 green bell peppers, 1 large cucumber, 1 to 2 packages sliced pepperoni, 1 onion, 1 package shredded cheddar or swiss chesses. Mix and let stand over night. Makes a very large batch. Gets better the longer you let it stand.

141. Shannon H. April 14th, 2010 9:45 am Hi there. Read your blog and love the idea of your book. My suggestion is simple. A small decorating suggestion that brings me a little joy. I’ve picked up a few vintage milk glass bottles from thrift stores over the years and love to fill them with fresh clippings from my lilac bush (a gift I received for Mother’s Day one year). They look beautifully understated on my kitchen table come early summer. A friend even borrowed them all for centerpieces at an outdoor ‘Farm Chicks-style’ bridal shower she hosted last summer. Good luck with the book! Shannon Spokane WA

142. Mckee Cox April 14th, 2010 10:07 am I have so many summer and farm memories, but the one that stands out the most is a typical day on our mountain farm. I would have a good breakfast, go outside and swing on my tire swing that was next to the cows field smelling the sweet hay and honeysuckle, and then usually the goats would find a new way to escape, so we would have a contest to see who could catch them first, that was good fun!! And then we would take a dip in the cool clean creek, and pick berries by the old log cabin in the woods! I loved growing up on a farm in the mountains!! Boy do I miss it!

143. Jane T April 14th, 2010 11:24 am Some of my favorite summertime memories are riding our bikes to the park and swimming in the pool, running through the sprinkler, putting up a lemonade stand when our street was being paved, eating popsicles that dripped all over us, and catching lightning bugs in a jar with holes poked in the top thinking we could read by their light, homemade ice cream at the church’s socials, and visiting with cousins we only got to see in the summertime on trips out of state.

144. Jennifer Dodge April 14th, 2010 12:52 pm When I think of the “good ole summertime,” I am instantly taken back to summers spent at my great-grandmother’s house in Glenwood, Alabama. It just isn’t summer until I hear the slam of a screen door, and she had several. We spent hours barefoot in her backyard making mudpies and playing in the dirt with what she called “pretties” – empty avon jars. She would rock on the front porch shelling peas while we caught the biggest black grasshoppers I had ever seen. Boiled peanuts and fishing with a cane pole – it just doesn’t get any better than that.

145. Jennifer April 14th, 2010 1:36 pm I grew up on a peach farm in the South. To me summers were always a magical time, full of hard work, but also so much beauty to be seen in the fields. One of my favorite memories of summer was riding in the purple jeep with my Mom-Mom. She would pick my sister and I up and we would shoot through the fields, the sun burning our shoulders as we drove along to the radio blasting something out with us singing and giggling all the way. When she found the right spot we would stop, hop out and with baskets in hand we would reach into the peach branches and pull the sun baked velvety jewels off of the trees. We worked until the baskets were full. They were so heavy we would have to drag it along the grass to get it back to the jeep. Once we arrived back home at my Grandmother’s house we would work away the afternoon making cobblers for dinner that night. My sister and I would get out the ingredients while Mom-Mom sliced into the juicy peach flesh, droplets of the nectar running down her fingertips and gently plopping into the bowl below. After mixing the peaches with spices we each got to gently ladle them into a giant Pyrex dish. There was just enough left for one more small bowl to be filled and placed in the pink oven. The kitchen was filled with the heady aroma of warm cinnamon, zesty lemon and the perfumed smell of juicy peaches bubbling away in the oven. Buzzz! Buzzz! Buzzz! Went the timer as we all raced over to the pink oven. Mom-Mom carefully opened the door and looked in, the cobblers were finished. Allowing them to cool slightly Mom-Mom would fix 3 tall glasses of iced tea while my sister and I got out bowls and spoons. She would divide the mini cobbler between the 3 of us. Placing a big scoop of ice cream on top that began to run down the sides of the cobbler like a river from all the heat. We each took our bowl of cobbler and tea to the porch and sat in the cool of the afternoon with her ferns around us, dining like Southern queens. The peaches were so tender with their reddish-rimmed edges making the ice-cream turn a pinkish hue before we popped it into our watering mouths. This little cobbler was our secret to share, our treat for getting to spend the day with her. Later that evening, after dinner, we would smile at each other as Mom-Mom winked at us, while scooping out cobbler and ice-cream for dessert. Everyone would say how pretty it looked and how wonderful it tasted, no one new that we had already eaten some, our own secret cobbler on the back porch with Mom-Mom.

146. Karen Seibert April 14th, 2010 4:30 pm Oh Ruthie, I’m so excited to hear about your book. Thank you for thinking about us and wanting to share your inspirational ideas. I look forward to each and every post and I just know your book will be precious! I would love to share with you one of my favorite summertime memories. When my children were little they loved to go camping but do to my hubands job, we were not always able to get away as often as we would like. So one summer we decided to camp in the back yard! We put up the tent and during the afternoon we played in water. First the pool, then the sprinkler and even a fun game of water balloons! Later in the evening we put up the volleyball net and if you don’t have one, you can put up two post and a string. We also had a bar-b-que and later toasted marshmallow as we told fun stories around our firepit. After our first back yard camp out the kids enjoyed it so much that it became a summer tradition. I tried to make each time a bit different to keep things exciting. One time we brought out music and we had a hoe down, another time we invited friends to join us but the one camp out that stands out most was the time I ordered pizza for dinner. The rules were we had to stay outside unless we needed to use the restroom. So when I went inside, I actually went in to wait for the pizza man and when he arrived I explained what we were doing and he delivered the pizza to kids in the tent! They were just thrilled. Like a lot of camp outs ours included S’mores and here is a twist on the idea and the kids just love to help make them… S’mores On A Stick 1 bag of large Marshmallows 1 bag of Chocolate Chips 1 package of Graham Crackers 1 bag of Popsicle Sticks Place the graham crackers in a ziplock bag, seal tight and let the kids crush them till they look like bread crumbs. Place in a bowl. Put the marshmallows on the sticks and lay on wax paper. Melt the chocolate chips. This can be done in the microwave by cooking for about 30 seconds at a time and stirring until melted. Next dip the “pops” in the melted chocolate and dip them in the crushed graham crackers. Allow to dry on the wax paper … enjoy!

147. Tootles April 14th, 2010 5:37 pm Ruth Ann, Can’t wait for the book ! My favorite memory is summer time on my grandmas farm. Us kids would all be out playin’ and here would come g’ma with a big tray of floats – not just rootbeer, but grape and black cherry and strawberry… she used shasta pop to make all kinds of beautiful colored floats for us. What fun it was to guess what one was what.

148. Maria April 14th, 2010 9:31 pm My favorite summer memory is of our family camping trips. Every year my parents would pick out a destination for the trip, usually a National Park (Yellowstone, the Smokies, the Wisconsin Dells). In the beginning of each summer, my mom would start a box to save all the goodies we would need. A stack of paper plates, a can of OFF!, spam….Each week a new item or two would be added to the box. Our anticipation grew as we watched the box fill. We started out with a tent but after a few years, my parents began renting a pop-up trailer. We thought we were living high on the hog then because only the rich could afford a trailer!! We would set out on the road for two weeks not knowing where we would end up. We always had a final destination but stopped along the way whenever the notion struck. Dad would insist on leaving home at night though and we would travel in our pjs. I think with six kids piled into a station wagon, driving at night meant peace and quiet for him and certainly less “potty stops”! What a treat is was to be the only one awake when Dad would stop for gas. He would always sneak me a cold bottle of soda – something we rarely had growing up. “Now, don’t tell your brothers and sisters”, he would say. It was such a thrill to share this special secret. I remember those summer vacations so fondly, so many memories of camping, fishing, sight-seeing. We had the good fortune of visiting 27 states and Lord only knows how many civil war battle grounds ,National monuments and campgrounds. It’s funny…it those days there was always a pick-up game of baseball somewhere in the campground. Seems like every kid was a ready-made friend and teammate. My parents have both passed now and as we cleaned out my mom’s house recently, we came across a picture (black and white of course!!) of us posed in front of a sign that said “Welcome to the Smokey Mountains”. I couldn’t have been more than six or seven. “Look” I said to my sister. “See how I have my hands behind my back? That’s because I still had that dang olive loaf sandwich from lunch that I refused to eat.” I later smashed that sandwich under the seat of the station wagon trying to hide it. I’m sure my mom found it but she never said a word. She probably had a good laugh with Dad about it long after we were asleep. I have recounted endless stories to my husband about these wonderful trips from my childhood. And although we opt for timeshare, we still take the occasional camping trip in the back yard. But where ever our vacations may take us, I still start the “box” so that my children can experience the glorious anticipation of summer vacation.

149. Sue Cross April 15th, 2010 5:10 am I love the smell of freshly mown grass, watching bats in the evenings, listening to the dawn chorus, lazy walks in the warm sunshine and getting together for barbeques with friends and family. In the evenings I like to put citronella tea lights (to keep away the bugs) into jam jars and suspend them with wire from trees and around our outdoor table. They look really pretty. Make beautiful, pale pink rose petal icecream! Put 12 fl oz whipping cream, 4 fl oz full-cream milk and petals from 4 scented roses in a saucepan and bring to just below boil. Remove from heat and leave to infuse until cool. Whisk 2 egg yolks, 3 oz (75g) white sugar and 2 tsps runny honey together until pale and creamy. Strain the rose flavoured milk into the egg mixture and return to pan. Cook very gently until slightly thickened, but do not boil. If wish, add 2 drops of pink food colouring. Chill the mixture then freeze. Leave to soften from frozen for 20 mins before serving. Enjoy! We back onto woodland and towards evening it gets quite chilly in our shady garden, even in summer! I give everyone a cosy blanket so that we get still enjoy sitting outside. We usually huddle around the still glowing barbeque and have a competition to see who spots the first bat!

150. Sharon Stout April 15th, 2010 1:18 pm As a child, I lived many years on various farms throughout North Dakota, Minnesota and South Dakota. I am the middle child out of nine children (5 sisters and 3 brothers). My father (who passed on December 4, 2009 at the age of 85) was a dairy farmer for many years. He hand-milked his cows twice a day and his day started at about 3:30 a.m. I would get up with him and head out to the barn with him. I would stand in the pasteurizing room while Dad got the cows in their stanchions. He would turn the radio on and begin to milk. I would come out of the pasteurizing room and sing to the cows whatever song was playing on the radio. These were the best times of my childhood and I loved my father deeply because of these quality times. My father reminisced about this until the day he passed.

151. Robbin Gibson April 15th, 2010 2:02 pm Every summer mom would make us get up before daylight. We all piled in the car and rode to the local farm, where we could earn money picking beans. Mom made us go early so that we could be there to get started as soon as the sun came out and we could see the greenbeans on the vines. The vines and leaves were wet from the early morning dew. I was a little blonde tow-headed girl with very fair skin. The leaves made me itch, and the wetness didn’t help. Bugs flew around and made it worse! We were poor and didn’t have much money, so we had the same thing for lunch every day. At lunchtime, we would gather together and either sit on our buckets or a bean sack, and have lunch together. Every day we had egg salad sandwiches and a jar of koolaid. We were there on the first day of the season and worked until the last day. Our mom made us. Whether we wanted to or not. It was not an option. When the last day of picking was over, we would go out and pick up our paychecks. We brought them home and handed them over to mom. We were so very proud of our small earnings, and it seemed like so much money to us. (There was nine of us in our family that had picked beans every day). Mom kept our checks for school clothes and school supplies, but she did give us each a little money to go the nearby country fair! Amazing, how after working all of those days in the hot sun, amid the wet, itchy bean rows of beans, getting up at dark, and working all day, that little trip to the fair made it all worth it! As I look back at the past, I realize that the true gift of working at the bean field during our summers, was not the reward of school clothes, or going to the fair. The true reward that I can remember, is spending time with my brothers and sisters, and nieces and nephews. True, that bean field was miserable. But , we were all miserable together. There ya go! Misery really and truly does love company! :)

152. Kelly McDowell April 15th, 2010 4:38 pm One of our very favorite things for the summer here, which I’m just itchin’ to do, is to pile the husband and kids in the car and go to a little town that’s down the road just a piece and visit the peach shed. They sell lots of peaches, along with other fruits and vegetables. I gather all the good foods to last us for the week and then we sit on the rocking chairs and enjoy their homemade peach icecream! It’s such a yummy treat, one of those slow, easy summer memories they’ll remember forever. And here’s a sweet Southern tradition to make with the peaches once you get them home. Simple Southern Peach Cobbler 1 stick butter 2 tsp. baking powder 2 c. sugar 2 c. milk 2 c. all-purpose flour 3 c. peaches, cut up Hint: Cut up your peaches over a bowl so you can add the juice that comes out. Place your stick of butter in a 13×9 pan and place it in the oven. Let it melt as the oven heats to 350 degrees. Combine sugar, flour, and baking powder; add milk. Pour your batter over the stick of butter. DO NOT STIR. Drop in your peaches with the juice. Bake 40-45 minutes, until the top turns a golden brown. Enjoy this little bite of summer. Can’t wait for the book. I know if you do it, it’ll be wonderful.

153. Christy Lee April 15th, 2010 9:09 pm My favorite summer memory started when I was just a little kid…we owned a team of draft horses, Clydesdales, named Clyde and Dale. (Those weren’t there regstered names, but that’s what we called them.) My grandpa would come over early in the day during the summer and we would bale hay for HOURS, which was fun because it was a tradition – and then he would say “go get the horses!” So I would walk the mile out to the pasture and catch Clyde. I would throw the lead rope over his neck and climb a tree to get on him, and ride him back to the barn. Dale would follow us! Once there my grandpa would let me help him harness the team while my mom packed a picnic. We lived WAY out in the country but were very close with our nearest neighbors, so we would take our picnic and climb on the wagon and go for a drive. It was always fun, people would drive by and take pictures! We didn’t do it every day during the summer, but it was such a special family time. And I learned how to ride horses by climbing the tree to jump on Clyde. I can’t wait to read your book!

154. Katie April 16th, 2010 8:32 am CONGRATULATIONS on your book!!! How exciting! I can’t wait for it. You have such a unique way of being inspirational and encouraging. I always find that when I visit you. :o) Okay, so you asked about summer…my all-time favorite time of year. I just wait for those days when the summer heat is so hot you can hardly breathe. Ahhh. I will refrain from telling you a million different summer stories and recipes…but it will most assuredly be hard. Just so you know… ;o) One of my favorite summer stories is one my momma’s sweet friend, Mrs. Gracie, used to tell us when we were little. Mrs. Gracie grew up on a farm, and one summer her daddy put her in charge of planting the watermelon seeds. Well, that afternoon when the sun was high and the cool creek was beckoning, she decided it best to abandon her chores and to go with her friends for a swim. So she pitched the rest of those watermelon seeds at the edge of the their swimming hole, thinking her daddy would never know. Well, come July, when it was time to enjoy some watermelon, few could be found in the field. There was her daddy, all confused. But he didn’t stay so for very long. ‘Cause law! Here came those watermelons growing up on the bank of that creek!! I still get tickled thinking of the fear that must have set in when she realized her daddy saw those watermelons by the creek and knew exactly what had happened. :o) One thing is for sure, we have all been there. Haha! Now the recipe I’ll share is one we enjoy all summer long around here…some good summertime ribs! Here is the recipe I use: http://harringtonhouse.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/05/no-name-ribs.html It goes so well with firecracker corn and sun pickles…and, law, don’t dare forget the sweet tea. And something even sweeter than the tea for dessert. And lastly…just a sweet summer thought that will stay with me all my days. It’s putting my babies to bed in summer. When the evening sun is still creeping through the shutters. I can smell a distinctive mixture of line-dried bedsheets and baby shampoo. The sight before my eyes of laying my babies, their skin brown as biscuits from the summer sun, next to those white bedsheets is a vision I’ll never tire of. As I kiss those sweet heads and send up a prayer for them, my mind runs over the words of Robert Louis Stevenson’s “Bed in Summer.” Albeit simple, it sure is a sweet momma moment.

155. Tommie Jo Lombardi April 16th, 2010 9:15 am Each summer, when all my babies were itty bitty, I’d strip ’em down to their diapers and while sitting outside on the porch or on freshly mown grass, I would take pieces of watermelon, remove any seeds, and squeeze the juice into their eagerly waiting little birdie mouths with my fingers! Such pleasure watching that pink juice run down their little chin as their eyes lit up with delight at discovering a new taste sensation! Now, on to the grandbabies with this summertime tradition!!!

156. cheri whittaker April 16th, 2010 9:57 am Summertime is wonderful! When my boys were young I’d pick a “theme” for the day, such as bug day. But – I wouldn’t tell them! They’d wake up to another summer day – and discover a tablecloth with bugs in the pattern, rubber bugs in on their plate, all day long bugs “showed up”.. they would get in the swing of things and pull out their microscopes and look at dead bugs “up close”… My secret ambition was for them to be in constant wonder and awe at this marvelous planet God has given us – to take nothing for granted! God Bless YOU!

157. Valerie April 16th, 2010 11:59 pm Aunt Ruthie, I have a couple of summertime ideas. First I love to decorate with seashells in the summer. One way I do this is to take mason jars (new or vintage), add sand and seashells either from the craft store or your beachcombing, add a candle and place around the house or use outside while dining al fresco. Another fun summer idea is to take my favorite perfume or body splash and keep it in the refrigerator. When I come home from a long, hot summer day I spritz myself with the cool scent. So refreshing.

158. Juli April 17th, 2010 11:43 am Im so excited you’re writing an e-book! I cant wait to get my hands, (um, errr, mouse) on it! My favorite summertime memory will always be hanging out the laundry with my Peper. ( I couldnt say pepe, so I called him Peper. All the grandkids called him that afterwards) He would be out there every Saturday morning listening to German music on the radio, hanging up the wash. I still can smell the air and hear the music in my mind. Growing up with divorced parents my Grandparents became my stability. No matter where I was, or who I was with, I always knew my grandparents were right there where they always weere. On Saturday mornings, it was the back yard doing the laundry. I have my own clothes line now every year. It makes me feel five again. If I close my eyes, I sometimes feel like Im in that backyard again. Oh my, how I miss my Peper. Its amazing how a simple thing like a clothes pin can bring back memories. Congrats on your book Aunt Ruthie, and congrats on your new Grandson to be!

159. Debbra April 17th, 2010 1:48 pm I would love to have a copy of your book. When are you having it pubished? Will you be able to get it from Amazon?

160. Heidi Cockrell April 17th, 2010 7:48 pm Aunt Ruthie I can’t wait to read your book, I love your blog! There are so many fun things we love to do with our kids each summer! Here are several ways that we fill our summer days: fishing (my two year old actually caught her first fish a couple weeks ago!), beach picnics, trips to the park, backyard bbqs, camping, berry and peach picking, drive in movies, watching my children chase fireflies and gardening. We love to do “down home, old fashioned fun” with our children. Whether it is heading to the blueberry patch to fill up buckets (and little tummies) or to the orchard to pick fresh peaches (My husband and I pick, my children are to busy eating with fresh peach juices dripping from their little chins) we have a great time. If there is any product left when we get home we usually spend time making fresh pies, crepes, crisps and freeze some for the winter. I love making memories with my children and can’t wait for the to get out of school for the summer. I hope they will remember all of the outdoor old fashioned fun and pass the traditions onto their children. I still remember the first year we moved back to Ohio from Florida and my oldest two saw fireflies for the first time, they couldn’t get over how they would light up the fields! They would run around catching ligtening bugs and putting them in mason jars, to see who could catch the most before they released them. Here are a couple of my favorite recipes with produce from our garden: Fresh Salsa: Cut up tomatoes (cherry tomatoes are great – just cut in half) I use about 2-3 cups of tomatoes Chop up a huge bunch of fresh cilantro Chop 1/2 a medium onion Salt and Pepper to taste 2 TBSP of apple cider vinegar 2 TBSP oil Miss all together and refrigerate for a couple of hours – if you can wait, we usually don’t – we usually eat right away with Scoop Chips! This is such a refreshing recipe and can be adjusted to taste – if you like it hot add hot peppers. Grilled Corn: I boil my corn for about 10 minutes to soften it up and then finish it up on the grill. Sometimes I just soak it in water (in the husk with the silks removed) and then grill it. Once done I serve it slathered with butter, a sprinkle of salt, a sprinkle of parmesan cheese and a sprinkle of chopped fresh cilantro – so yummy! Now I am ready for a tall glass of strawberry lemonade and a BBQ at the beach :)

161. Lori Turner April 17th, 2010 8:51 pm I was blessed to have my great-grandmother as part of my life for 24 years. She lived in the middle of the country and in the summer I would get to stay a week with her at her house. It was especially great since I got to go alone without my annoying brother and sister. :) She had blackberry bushes growing in her backyard and I would pick them and eat them until I got sick! She also taught me how to snap green beans and cook fried okra, which is my favorite to this day. She taught me alot about hard work and being content with what you have. But the most important thing she showed me was her love for the Lord and her desire to follow him her entire life – which she did.

162. Kari Berryman April 17th, 2010 9:12 pm I can’t wait to read your book!!!! Yay!!!! One of my favorite summer traditions growing up was our Family Movie Theater. Throughout the summer, we’d do chores and receive the little red raffle type tickets when the chores were completed. Certain chores earned more tickets than others. Anyway, at the end of summer, as kind of a going back to school celebration, my parents would buy a bunch of candy bars, popcorn, drinks, etc. (whatever we kiddos wanted), and they would also rent several movies that we had requested, and we’d turn our living room and kitchen into our very own movie theater! We used the tickets we’d earned to pay “admission” and to buy our conession snacks. It was so much fun!!! We felt so “grown up” being able to buy our own admission/snacks. We didn’t get to each much junk food growing up, but we certainly go to at the Family Movie Theater! The Movie Theater can be spread out over the weekend, depending on the amount of movies rented/family schedule. It was one of my favorite traditions growing up, and I hope to carry it on with my children!

163. diamond April 18th, 2010 7:00 am dear miss Ruthann, i am new to your blog but i have all ready read all of your entries!:) i would like to be a country homemaker like you when i grow up.(im twelve)could you leave a post showing me how to become a homemaker?i mean i just love stuff like gardening sewing crocheting and i always have my journal with me incase i catch a recipe or saying or whatevah.so could you please leave a post showing how to be a homemaker?thank you if you can.

164. Renee Wheeler April 18th, 2010 9:37 am Favorite summer memory is going to my Great Aunt May’s house. She always had cream cheese frosting in her yellow refrigerator dish. She would pull that out of the fridge and plate up some vanilla wafers. We would spread the frosting on the vanilla wafers for the best treat ever. The cold frosting along with the vanilla wafers is a treat I still enjoy. Aunt May had a wonderful flower garden with meandering trails all through it. As a little girl, it seemed the gladiolas and iris’ were as tall as I was and it was simply magical. Oh and of course she also had a screened in porch, which says summertime like nothing else!

165. Jenn April 18th, 2010 2:20 pm This is my first visit here at the Sugar Pie Farmhouse!! I LOVE your blog!! What a fun idea for a book!! I can’t wait to see it!! I love love Summer time!! We are a beach loving family!! We love to camp and we love the beach!! Every year we pack up and head to the beach for at LEAST one beach camping trip. We found a great campsite in Cannon Beach, OR that we stay in every year. The camp ground has bunnies to feed, horses to see, a short walk to the beach … where we dig huge holes, go see the tide pools, fly kites, play in the low surf, and search for sea glass! We always have pancakes for breakfast outside! and then have morning beach time… and then go into the adorable town for ice cream BEFORE lunch! and Of course we have a campfire at night, daddy tells funny stories and we play an animal game and make smores… but… our smores are special… Graham crackers, Nutella spread and roasted marshmallows! Beach camping is our favorite summer family tradition ~ among many other fun day or weekend exploring trips we take! We live on a budget … but every year we find somewhere fun to explore… criteria being it must be somewhere Outside…. beaches, trails, waterfalls, lakes, parks… We love spending family time outside together! We love exploring new places… and always have to find a new ice cream or bakery to have a sweet treat at on our adventures! I am off to find your follow button! Very happy to find you today! Blessings on your new book ~ what a wonderful idea~ can’t wait to see it! Jenn ~ Seizing My Day PS I love me a good pie!! =)

166. beansieleigh April 18th, 2010 4:40 pm Oh your book sounds wonderful!! Can’t wait!.. As for what I love best about Summer?… I love that my kids are home! While most other mothers can’t wait to send them back to school in the fall, I’m practically in tears because I don’t want them to GO!!.. Well, I know they need their education, but I still MISS them! (0; Well, other than that, I love the smell of fresh-cut grass, and the smell of barbecue grills cooking! I love roasting marshmallows, and going out with my kids for ice cream cones. And yes I love flip flops! I just did two posts on how to make your own fancy flip flops! Would they make a good Summer idea/contribution for your Summertime book? I’ll have to check out those Yellow Box ones! ~tina

167. Patty April 18th, 2010 6:48 pm Congrats on your book Ruth Ann! One of my favorite summer memories is heading to Monegaw Springs for a week or two with Grandma. Grandpa had built a “Summer Cabin” for their family to get away from the city heat years before he passed in ’51. Grandma never learned to drive a car, so when you finally got there, you stayed there! When I was a child, My cousin Becky and I were inseparable. The Cabin had no phone. There was electricity but no TV; gas heaters, refrigerator and stove, but no running water or indoor plumbing. There was a wonderfully cool back porch (that was actually on the front of the log cabin) with a porch swing where we’d set up a cot or pallets on hot summer nights. The water we drew from the well was the coolest and sweetest ever. Every drop used to drink, cook or clean with had to be drawn up at the end of a rope in a long skinny bucket. You lowered the bucket down the pipe and waited for both the gurgles, because if there was only one or more than two, the water would be “riled” and you had to wait thirty minutes or so for it to clear and to try again. After the gurgles you pulled hard on the rope and wound it up as you brought the water to the top to fill up the clean bucket for Grandma. We heated water in the sun for our bathing and washed in the big tub Grandma kept nailed on the side of the wall. The west window of the cabin had a heavy shutter with a board to hold it open that had to be lowered at night and raised in the mornings. You always looked down the hole in the outhouse and up at the ceiling to be sure there were no snakes lurking to catch you with your pants down! You tried to keep a garden hoe (or cousin Cindy’s mop) handy to get rid of the snakes. There was a once-famous sulfur spring down by the creek. We’d walk down past the old buildings of what had once been a thriving little town, on the red dusty gravel road over the bridge covering the Little Monegaw Creek to throw rocks in the creek, if Aunt Gin & Aunt Freida weren’t fishing. We’d try to remember to bring a cup to taste the “stinky” water from the medicinal sulfur spring. Uncle Jerry always had a wonderful garden with onions, lettuce, green beans and new potatoes. We’d feast on garden produce and always be on the lookout for a neighbor that might have corn, tomatoes, blackberries and watermelon for sale if their’s were “ready” before Uncle Jerry’s. We always had plenty to eat, but Aunt Gin and Grandma would plan tomorrow night’s supper before we could get tonight’s put away. Special occasions called for homemade ice cream. Lots of cousins would show up and someone would crank the old ice cream maker. Aunt Gin always hid a special ice cream treat in the freezer for late night raidings. It worked until one of my sisters found her stash! The older cousins and adults always came up with a “penny ante” game or two. You were a serious card player if you brought your jar of pennies with your jammies in your brown paper sack you called luggage. All the cousins remember The Cabin fondly. Oh to go back again!

168. Tammie Scholl April 18th, 2010 7:06 pm I am so excited to hear that you are writing a book! I can’t wait to get my hands on it! I read in one of your blogs that you are expecting a grandchild. Just to let you know (not bragging or anything) my daughter and son-in-law just gave us the most precious gift – TWINS! A boy and a girl. They are so precious!

169. Angela C April 18th, 2010 8:15 pm How exciting that you are working on a book! Sounds perfect! One of my favorite summer family trips was the year we first went to Branson, MO! I just loved Silver Dollar City and the feeling of being sent back in time and the excitement of seeing how things were made way back when. I was amazed by the candy makers pouring out home-made peanut brittle, salt water taffy, etc! Carpentry, carvings, bluegrass music, train robbers, and underground caves oh my! We embraced everything and soaked it all it in. We later found out my brother was allergic to horse while going on a horseback ride in the Ozarks. Poor thing had welts all over his body! Everyone was friendly and felt immediately like family. I think that’s why I adore your blog so much! God bless, Angela

170. Libby Reese April 19th, 2010 12:05 pm I have a story to tell that’s been toled and re-toled to me over the years since it’s one of my favorites, I hope you enjoy it. My grandparents both grew up on farms and I love hearing about what they did every summer. One year my grandmother went with her 5 brothers to pick blackberries and somehow she got left behind when the others left, she toled me she didn’t even know they left because she was so concentrated on what she was doing. When she did find out, she tried to find them but they had gotten home already and her mother seeing she wasn’t there sent one of her brothers back to find her, when he got back to the berry patch she wasn’t anywhere to be seen and he ran home to get help to find her. During the whole thing she toled me she wasn’t the least bit worried, and still not worried because she was sure one of her brothers would find her, she found a place to sit and she waited. When her brother got home and said he couldn’t find her, her mother sent all 5 brothers to look for her. they finally found her in the woods just behind their house, but it wasn’t her brothers that found her it was her mother. When her mother went to put the cows in the barn she found my grandmother asleep where she had sat down before and she wasn’t 10 yards from the back door of the house the whole time.

171. Melissa Kaufman April 19th, 2010 2:58 pm Summer has always been a special time for me as my birthday is the 4th of July. As a child, everyone was always out of town so big parties were out of the question. I was fortunate enough to have a mom and dad who went out of their way to make my day special even if it was just the immediate family! From the time I was born until my early teens, my mom would dress me in red, white and blue. Burgers and hot dogs were thrown on the grill and potato salad, jello salad, chips and freshly chilled watermelon was brought outside in celebration of all things family. There’s nothing like a good meal to bring a family together is there? After cake and ice cream was served and presents were opened, mom, dad, Brian (my little brother) and I would pack into the car and drive around our small town to find the perfect place to watch our local fireworks show. We often came home tired and sunburned but happy no less! I’m 34 now and my parents have long since divorced but those memories remain as some of the best times we had as a family. Thanks for letting me share! Many Blessings, M.

172. Libby Reese April 20th, 2010 6:27 am Oh dear! I feel so embarrassed. I just remembered that the story I toled didn’t happen to my grandmother. when I was little I read and re-read a book with that exact story in it. I feel so ashamed. I’m so sorry for doing that.

173. Dee Brownfield April 20th, 2010 8:52 am Oh, your site really took me back!!! years back!!! I remember going to my Aunt’s when I was really a young’un, and we kids would run to the barn to play!! well …. we found some eggs!! what do you do with eggs? … you throw them!! I got hit with one …. and it was rotten!! YUCK! to this day, I can remember that smell!! and you know what I did to try and “get rid” of the horrible smell?? I laid down in the hay and smelled hay!! oh, how I love the smell of hay to this day!! and my Aunt wouldn’t let me change clothes either!! we were really in for it!! but, see, I remember the fun part of that excursion!! Another Aunt made meal sack skirts, dresses, etc for my cousins!! I envied them!!!!! new clothes, beautiful clothes!! oh, poor me … what did I have? I’ll tell you what I had!! a sister and two brothers that I love and adore!! we lost our Mother at the age of 38 and she instilled in us the power of Love …. a gift that some never get in a lifetime. How blessed are we?? VERY!! Thanks for letting me “remember”! and for sharing your site … which is awesome!! I am just trying to get my site up and running … this computer stuff takes me awhile!:) Pink Hugs, Dee deeslittelpinkie

174. Julie Guenter April 21st, 2010 7:12 am For some reason, when I think of childhood summers, the first thing that comes to mind is trips to visit Grandma and Grandpa in Royal Oak, Michigan. Being from south texas, where the heat and humidity are oppressive 6 months out of the year, going North was a real treat. My grandparents were very simple, country folks and grandpa worked in the coal mines most of his life. Their simple, little tar-papered house was like heaven to me those summers and it was a short walk uptown to the movies, or Kress five and dime. Grandma was the best cook in the entire world and every evening Grandma would lay out a huge spread for supper; always homemade buttermilk biscuits or cornbread, fried ham, pinto beans, fresh vegetables, tomato dumplings….so good, and she always had relatives dropping in to eat. After supper, as sunset approached, Grandma would remove her apron, and we would head out to the porch to sit on the old glider. It would be very cool there in the evenings and I would put on a sweater, and sit next to Grandma on the glider. Grandma would tell me story after story about her life as a child growing up in a small mining town in the mountains of West Virginia, and about her assorted, rather eccentric friends and relatives…we would laugh and laugh as I sat there with her or often stretched out with my head in her ample lap and she smoothed my hair with her gentle hands. I remember that Grandma was the only one who had hands that felt like my mom’s. As the sun went down, Grandpa would turn on his transistor radio and listen to the Tiger’s baseball games and to this day, if I hear the sound of a baseball game on the radio, I go immediately back to those cool summer evenings, sitting on the glider or drifting off to sleep in grandma’s bed with sounds of baseball through the bedroom window. Grandma and Grandpa have been gone for many years now but what a gift they gave me in those precious memories. You know, my mom, who is now 83 tells me that I am the one individual in the family who cooks like Grandma…what a compliment! Hope and pray I can make a home as loving and welcoming as she did for my children and grandchildren.

175. Jennifer Michie April 21st, 2010 11:04 am Hi Aunt Ruthie, I am not presumptuous enough to think that you would pick me, but just in case, since I can’t seem to follow directions I am re-submitting my previous comment with my full name. I am so excited that you are working on a book, I can’t wait to see it all put together… I grew up on a peach farm in the South. To me summers were always a magical time, full of hard work, but also so much beauty to be seen in the fields. One of my favorite memories of summer was riding in the purple jeep with my Mom-Mom. She would pick my sister and I up and we would shoot through the fields, the sun burning our shoulders as we drove along to the radio blasting something out with us singing and giggling all the way. When she found the right spot we would stop, hop out and with baskets in hand we would reach into the peach branches and pull the sun baked velvety jewels off of the trees. We worked until the baskets were full. They were so heavy we would have to drag it along the grass to get it back to the jeep. Once we arrived back home at my Grandmother’s house we would work away the afternoon making cobblers for dinner that night. My sister and I would get out the ingredients while Mom-Mom sliced into the juicy peach flesh, droplets of the nectar running down her fingertips and gently plopping into the bowl below. After mixing the peaches with spices we each got to gently ladle them into a giant Pyrex dish. There was just enough left for one more small bowl to be filled and placed in the pink oven. The kitchen was filled with the heady aroma of warm cinnamon, zesty lemon and the perfumed smell of juicy peaches bubbling away in the oven. Buzzz! Buzzz! Buzzz! Went the timer as we all raced over to the pink oven. Mom-Mom carefully opened the door and looked in, the cobblers were finished. Allowing them to cool slightly Mom-Mom would fix 3 tall glasses of iced tea while my sister and I got out bowls and spoons. She would divide the mini cobbler between the 3 of us. Placing a big scoop of ice cream on top that began to run down the sides of the cobbler like a river from all the heat. We each took our bowl of cobbler and tea to the porch and sat in the cool of the afternoon with her ferns around us, dining like Southern queens. The peaches were so tender with their reddish-rimmed edges making the ice-cream turn a pinkish hue before we popped it into our watering mouths. This little cobbler was our secret to share, our treat for getting to spend the day with her. Later that evening, after dinner, we would smile at each other as Mom-Mom winked at us, while scooping out cobbler and ice-cream for dessert. Everyone would say how pretty it looked and how wonderful it tasted, no one new that we had already eaten some, our own secret cobbler on the back porch with Mom-Mom.

176. Rebecca Lawlor April 22nd, 2010 2:24 pm I am not sure if this is what you are looking for or not, but I wrote this for my Grandma’s Genealogy book this month. Hope it helps :) I remember going to the old Middleton, Idaho farm as a young child. The drive down was long- sometimes cold, and we could feel the car lazily slow down as we entered the smaller towns of Idaho. I had memorized the turns and felt the motion from them as I lay in the back of our van or station wagon until it drove down a long lane and pulled up to the left side of the farmhouse. I remember Grandma waiting on her back porch with a light on ready to greet us. The first room we entered was chilly, like the cold settled there. It had her washer and dryer with a window next to it that let in light from the kitchen that was connected to it. The room was a bit eerie for me as a child because of the door that led down to the cobwebby old basement, but there was a sense of fun in that room as well. Grandma’s old board games were there, and it was the room the Easter Bunny would hide our Easter Baskets in. We would often go to the farm for Easter, and I still can’t think of a better place Easter could be held. The chilly room would lead into a dining room where a large buffet and table sat waiting to entertain. There was a small desk that held nik nacks and items from around the world and a bell collection. A Long dining room table with beautiful chairs filled the space and then it opened into a sitting room. The sitting room had a black and white TV that we used to watch- or listen to LDS conference for Easter. There was a can that when you turned it upside down it made a cow sound. I remember a bookshelf by the back door that exited to a patio. The Cuckoo clock was always a big hit and we used to beg Grandma to let us pull it one more time to hear it. The farm kitchen, connected to the dining room and the tv room. It always reminds me of the country breakfasts we would eat there. Bacon, sausage, eggs fried in grease with biscuits and homemade country gravy. It is still one of my favorite meals. For dinners we often did enchiladas, and we even had Tacos for Thanksgiving- that was quite a delicacy for Idaho at one time. (although it was strange not having a turkey) The hallway from the kitchen and the tv room led to the bathroom where the water came out blueish green from the bathtub faucet. Down further the hallway led to three bedrooms. Grandma’s room was pretty, lacey, in a way, but practical. Much like her. I remember an old clock with numbers that would flip and it was noisy as the numbers changed. The bedroom next to hers was where my parents always slept. I liked to look out of its window and see where Grandma would burn her trash in a large barrel. The last bedroom was, ‘mine’. This had a few toys, an old smokey the bear doll- hat included, and a few other dolls that I dared not touch for fear they would fall apart. A large bed that I often shared with my sister, and cold hard floors that kept me in the bed longer in the mornings. It also had Grandma’s sewing machine on the top of chester drawers. I remember a bowl full of thimbles and thread. Was the sewing machine green? The farm itself felt large and as if time flowed different there. The cow’s bellowing gently in the morning would wake me. I loved, as a child, to go to the old farmhouse that sat below Grandma’s house on her hill. This was an old, decaying building that almost looked like it could be haunted, but it felt to gentle and kind to be that way. I would walk on the broken brick ground where grass had grown in between and an occasional cow pucky laid dried and hard. The light would cast through large trees and branches that covered my path. The wind blew softly and it spoke of old memories that seemed to chime in my heart with light laughter. I wondered how my dad and his brothers lived in this home. It didn’t feel like it could keep out the snow. The inside would echo, and was empty all but a large wardrobe that we could hide in and play in. We never went in that home unless Dad was with us. Besides, there were too many wonderful places to explore. Bird calls were our background music. Beautiful Magpies that the farmers hated flew near us, watching us, laughing at us. An old white silo sat tall and powerful nearby. An old chicken coop that looked about to fall on us, and Rocky’s garden. Not to mention the many ditches and irrigation canals that we would try and jump over. All this surrounded by a electric fence my brothers would dare me to touch so I could test if it was on or not. JR, a friend of Grandma’s, let his cows wander the land in exchange for the best meat I still crave, and we would dare each other to see who could sneak closest before scaring the heard away. It was beautiful to watch the herd in springtime with the new babies trying to earn their sturdy legs. All along the farm there were ruins from a time before. An old rusting plow, massive Tree stumps that were the only remains of ancient trees, and bits of tools here and there covered with weeds. Occasionally, large haystacks that were two times taller than my Dad were put there just for our enjoyment. (or so we thought) Climbing and jumping, and sliding down them was great, but ended with us covered in itchy, pokey, straw in our clothes. A dirt road, that looked as though wagons had cut it out years ago led to the railroad tracks. Cattails grew in abundance hidden from the path if you knew where to look. The railroad tracks were fun to play on, I don’t recall ever seeing a train, but we would lay our head on the tracks trying to hear a rumbling and feel a vibration that would indicate its arrival, and leave pennies to be flattened. Until the pennies were eventually left cold and round still waiting for its flattened destiny that never came. Soon the tracks were removed all together. At the end of the day Grandma always came to wait for our return on the top of her many cement steps. We would slowly trek our way back to the house. A chill biting at our nose as sunset erupted across the open sky. Grandma was happy to see us, while wrapped up in her knitted sweater, but it was as if she waited for more than us, for night to close in maybe. I never knew at that age. I could go on about the farm. The toads we would catch in the window wells, the badger hole in the back of the field we tried to dig out, the many childhood games we would invent to entertain the day away. The hours of walks and listening to the reminiscing of the grown ups, stories of Grandpa May, and of when my dad was little he tossed a rock and it bounced only to smack Grandma’s prize rooster in the head and killed it. However, with all of its wonderful memories for me, and having to go back as an adult to help pack it up, it was clear to me that Grandma was the heart of the farm. Her joyfulness, laughter, soft and strong personality, who always saw the good in things with a child like optimism, who liked to keep her hands busy. Whether crocheting, gardening, or doing a crossword puzzle even with her voice trembling loudly the hymns. It was her, the farm was her magic, her spirit ingrained in the blades of grass and keeping Grandpa May’s memories there and alive. When Grandma was no longer at the farm the land died without her. I know my Grandpa May through her, and I know she longed for him for many years. Now that they are reunited I can feel the spirit of the farm renew in my family and childrens hearts. What a blessing it had been to romp on those lands that taught me so much of who I am and where I came from. I am honored even more that I was born on my Grandma’s spring Birthday and I think of her often, but especially during that time every year. Rebecca Lawlor

177. Heather Hansen April 23rd, 2010 10:10 am I don’t do a lot of cooking…at least not yet :) :) I do have special memories of summer though. When Iw as a teenager, I spent a couple of summer’s at my grandmother’s home in Pacific Grove, CA. That was alway a special time because most of the houses are straight out of what look ike Victorian/Edwardian times..so beautiful. It’s easy to get around, the ocean is a short walk away. Anyway, my grandmother and I used to go for walks all the time – along the shoreline, downtown, everywhere. There used to be a bakery downtown called The Scotch Bakery. We would buy the day-old Danish pastries because they were on special. We’d slice them in half, wrap them up and put them in the freezer for eating later :) :) Every single day around 3p.m. or 4 p.m. we’d have tea and a half a Danish. Sometimes we had oatmeal molasses cookies or homemade cinammon rolls. I treasure those summers still :) :) OH, I would strongly suggest you get a link on Facebook :) :) I know that I would sign up and so would a whole bunch of my friends :) :) I love your website!!! I’m looking forward to your next blog :) :)

178. Amy April 24th, 2010 3:39 am Aunt Ruthie, one of my favorite Summer time memories when I was growing up was driving a little ways south in Kentucky to my families summer home. Many of my aunts, uncles, grandparents, and cousins would gather together and have the best time together. No TV, No Telephone, just good old fashion fun and conversation. We spent many an hour playing, planting, harvesting, & canning the fruits of our labor. What a joy it was during the following fall and winter season to open those delicious jars of yummy goodness. We used an old timey wringer washer, and hung all the clothes on the huge clothes lines. OH how good they smelled drying in the sunshine. I can remember some of the most fresh, delicious food gracing our table(s), there were many to feed. No matter how many of us would show up, there always seemed to be enough room. Yes, some of us had to sleep under the starts at times, and wake up with dew on our faces, but those are some memories that will last me a lifetime. Amy P. in Kentucky keepnthesunnyside(at)ymail.(com)

179. Tara April 24th, 2010 4:17 am One of my favorite summertime activities is going berry picking with the family. All generations love it because it reminds everyone of being a child. I am trying to make it a memory for my children also. By my parents house is a blackberry patch that is miles long.

180. lynn April 24th, 2010 6:49 pm Your book will be fantastic, Aunt Ruthie! I can’t wait to read it :) All your posts are so inspiring, with the most beautiful pictures of your pantry, your cute holiday decorations, your darling family. I’m sure your book will be every bit as awesome! You asked for summertime/reunion ideas; a year and a half ago we had a great family reunion in my backyard that celebrated my dad’s 80th birthday and my parents’ 55th anniversary (yes, they got married on his bday!). We had lots of great ideas to make the day special (made it a “year of the dragon” theme as that coincided with his birth year, and he loves all things Asian; made some wonderful food and decorated with an Asian theme; etc., etc.) But my favorite reunion idea to pass along was the Mad Libs-like game I made up. Only we called it “Dad Libs.” I wrote up the story of his life, including my mom in there where appropriate, and left lots of blanks in the story. I posted a sheet of paper with numbers, about 1-35, that correlated with blanks in the story; next to each number, I wrote “adjective,” “noun,” “color,” “number,” etc., depending on what was needed to insert into the story at that point. I asked all the party guests to mosey over to the sheet with the blanks sometime during the party and fill in an item or two. Then after our Asian-flavored dinner, I read the completed “story of Dad’s life” to everyone, with all the blanks filled in with our crazy responses. It was hilarious. I can send you the whole thing if you want it :) We did lots of other fun stuff I could tell you about, too, but that was my favorite. Best of luck with launching your beautiful book, Aunt Ruthie! :) Lynn Bowen Walker

181. Becky R April 25th, 2010 1:15 pm We have a unique family tradition that I thought I would share. No matter the occasion, our family has a wonderful way to say “I Love You”. When I want to comfort my granddaughter, or let her know how much I care, I squeeze her hand gently three times to say “I Love You”. Without a word, she smiles back and knows how much I care. This tradition started with my daughter. When she was young, she hated the dentist. I was allowed to sit in a chair at her feet. When I thought she needed an extra hug, I would squeeze her foot three times, and she knew I was there. This soon became a tradition for us in good and bad times. Anytime we needed to assure each other, it only takes three little squeezes. She passed it to her daughter, and now it is something that we share. It is better than the words, it is better than a note…it is even better than a text! It is just between us and no one else knows our little secret! Shhhhhhh!

182. Mary Crow April 25th, 2010 6:25 pm My favorite summer recipe guaranteed cool-down! Frozen Fruit Dessert 1/2 Gallon pineapple sherbet 2 bananas-sliced 1 pkg. frozen raspberries (partially thawed) 2 cups mini marshmallows -Partially melt sherbet by setting out on counter for 30 mins. Place sherbet and rest of ing. in large bowl and mix together. Place all back into container and freeze. Very easy and refreshing.

183. Mary Crow April 25th, 2010 6:27 pm I submitted a recipe on April 25th but made a mistake on my emai address. Am correcting it here. P.S. I LOVE your site!

184. Christa April 25th, 2010 7:17 pm My favorite summer memories centered around water. Swimming Pools and Beach Trips. I didn’t even need summer clothes. I wore a bathingsuit practically everyday. A few of my friends had above ground pools in their yards and it was very important to be able to visit them all! We lived so close to one another. We would swim around in one pool, then run, being a little cold when we got out, and then jump into the next pool. It felt like the best spa treatment. The water felt so hot because our body temperature was cold. We would stay in the pool until our lips were blue and our skin was as shriveled as a raisin. We would play every game we could think of; make a whirpool, dive for quarters, marco polo or pretend we were Olympic Swimmers. The only time we got out was for sweet treats to eat. We had two visits a day from The Ice-Cream Man. Our poor parents! If you weren’t lucky enough to get a treat the first time. Mr. Softie came at night after dinner time. It was always like a neighborhood reunion, seeing our neighbors poke out of their house for an cool, evening treat. Then we would all sit on our “stoop” (the steps in front of your house) and chat. We would try to stay there until the mosquitoes chased us inside. My arms and legs used to bear those swollen, red bumps all summer long, but I didn’t care. It was the badge I wore that proved it was summertime. I also remember those bright, neon ice pops from those plastic tubes. Your mouth would be colored for hours. Sweet plums dripping down your chin. Biting into lucious watermelon or my mom’s treat for us. She would cut a cantelope in half and add some scoops of vanilla ice-cream right into natures perfect melon bowl. She would give us spoons and we would go at it. Scooping up ice-cream and the sweet melon. Delicious!

185. elizabeth April 26th, 2010 6:52 am Hi Aunt Ruthie! I’m so excited about your book! I’ve been pondering what summer memories/stories/activities to share. It seems I have a bunch only because i’ve had to force myself to love summer after being raised in Arizona where as you know its hot as blue blazes 7 months out of the year! lol When summer rolls around the first things I do is hang my hammock in a shady spot, make some sweet peach tea and pop in the best of Patsy Cline cd. That’s a good start to getting me in the summer mode. Then I get to planning our annual Patriotic Bike Parade that is going on its 11th year here in my neighborhood. I started it back in 2000 when I first moved up here, there were a mere 15 kids that showed up with thier bikes, tricycles, and wagons all decorated in red, white and blue. It was a perfect Norman Rockwell moment.All of us rode from our lil General Store to the park. As the years went by the parade grew and now the fire department plays a big part with driving thier big shiny trucks in it as well. When the parade is over we have an old fashioned bbq in the park with water games and softball. I adore patriotic celebrations and this event brings me great joy!As summer rolls on and we’ve devoured what seems like hundreds of boxes of Bomb Pops (gotta love the red, white and blue!) comes the best part of summer, in my humble opinion, the anticipation of fall! It’s never very far in my mind and I spend a LOT of my sultry summer days thinking about it. Happy Summer Aunt Ruthie and to all the Sugar Pies out there.

186. Judy Lynn April 26th, 2010 10:45 am You have the neatest blog! So happy and upbeat. I bet you’d make the nicest neighbor. Anyway, one of my best memories of summer vacation, growing up in the ‘sixties, was when my three sisters and I slept out in the barn. Even though the big black night was so scary (especially when we heard cats yowling) we always felt safe up in the haymow. And in the morning Mom would bring us a big platter of piping hot pancakes and a pitcher of OJ. It was grand fun for us and it also meant the kitchen stayed neat and clean for a few hours– until we came surging back into the house for lunch!

187. Melissa April 27th, 2010 3:29 pm One of my fondest and dearest summer memories of mine where those from my childhood. While I have had many a great summer filled with memories growing up over the yeras, I will always treasure the summers that were spent at my great-uncle’s beach house in Duxbury, MA, a small seaside community on the south shore of MA. It was the same home that my mother and her siblings got to enjoy growing up. The time for me was the early 1970’s and Duxbury was the place where all the family, both local and from out of state, would converge on the hot summer weekends. The best weekend would take place when my cousin’s from Virginia were up visiting for a spell. I’d be lucky enough to get to stay down at the beach with them while they were in town. We’d take walks down to the “little” beach at the end of the street and go clam-digging for steamers. We’d drag our buckets back up to the house where my great-uncle would dump them into a pot of boiling water. A short time later, they’d be served with melted hot butter. Sometimes, he’d take us to the “big” beach where the longest wooden bridge in the country was. We’d walk about half way across the bridge and take our positions. It was here that I, and many of us learned how to bait a hook and fish. I remember having large cookouts of at least 30 in the backyard and as the night fell, fire-flys would dance around lighting up the evening sky. There was a huge lilac bush at the front entrance of the house and on a hot day when the breeze blew just right, the soft scent of lilac, mixed with the salt air would waft through the whole house with the sweetest of fragrances. Oh how I wish they’d make a candle combing those two scents, it would bring me right back to those carefree days of innocense. Times in Duxbury were a piece of true Americana. The 4th of July was filled with fireworks, picnics, BBQ’s, small town parades, decorated antique cars and trucks, even decorated doll carriages. And, of course, many waving American flags. My great-uncle passed away in the early 1990’s, and the house was eventually sold. We’ve lost several more elders of our family over the years and added some wonderful in-laws and beautiful new children to it as well. We still have a close knit family and many lovely times spent together. But no days will ever be as special, carefree and innoncent as our Duxbury Days. How I miss them and my the many members of my family who have passed, so very much. I will carry them and those days in my memories and in my heart forever.

188. Patti April 27th, 2010 6:07 pm Our Favorite family event to help time fly while traveling with my kids(3) I wrapped small gifts and every 30 min to hr.Depending on length of the trip one of the kids got to open a gift .They would say it is time for a gift ,instead of ARE WE THERE YET? The gifts were mad lib book,joke book, 3 juice boxes, Cassette to insert into player,3suckers, 3fruit rollups,card game, car bingo and etc. .A gift that all 3 could enjoy.It is amazing what you can regift and find in your Junk drawer or in the bottom of the toy box. another tradition was… We made Angel eggs ! We never served “Devil”ed eggs to our kids

189. Becky April 28th, 2010 8:04 pm Hi Ruth Ann, My family’s reunions would have to be one of my favorite summer memories. We have had a weekend long reunion for 30 years (our family has about 80 people now). We always have a theme. Some of the themes have been: Olympics (we actually had competitions, 1950’s Theme, Christmas in July, Chocolate, to name a few. We have done everything from dog shows, talent shows, tour of homes, video competitions, and fireworks shows. We have mementos through the years such as hats, fans, cups, aprons, and lots of T-shirts. But, there are some things that are at every reunion: great food, games being played, scrapbooks from every year where we each write a message for the year, and of course, there is always lots of hugs, love, and laughter. It is also a tradition for my aunt to open her “free to family barber shop for the weekend” and my other aunt to bring her boxes of drastically reduced AVON products. The one consistant tradition we have is that the reunion is held in the summer and I can’t ever remember having bad weather, but when you are having such a great time with loved ones, you don’t notice if the weather isn’t so good!

190. Debbie April 29th, 2010 4:43 am My mother just passed away I am looking at her hand written recipes I would be willing to share some of her favorites. I am making copies of all her hand written recipes for her grandkids for christmas and placing an apron or item from her kitchen with it. They do not know this but it’s a way of sharing what she left behind, other than her aboundance of love

191. Diana April 29th, 2010 12:35 pm Playing tag in the moonlight, june bugs, catching fireflies, bike rides, bare feet and mom’s homemade vanilla ice cream. All reminders of God’s wonderful gift called summer!

192. Paula Braman-Duarte April 30th, 2010 7:33 pm I’m new to your blog and just love your cheery illustrations! Can’t wait to download your upcoming book. Some of your black and white pics look like ones I have of family from long ago! I have always been a fan of the Donna Reed show and have fond memories of some of the individual episodes from so long ago (am dating myself, I know!) Remember when Shelly Fabares (sp.?) sang Johnny Angel at the school dance, ohhh. Looking forward to dropping in often, thank you for this charming site. I want to go to the Ozarks on my summer vacation and go to that cooking school, and shop, and sightsee, and everything…bye! Paula

193. Becky Ransom May 2nd, 2010 9:42 pm Aunt Ruthie, I,m really not much of a cook, but I do know what a good cake taste like. Years ago I learned a very cheap trick that will impove the taste of any cake you bake. We all love the picture of a wonderful cake cooling on a rack, with steamy goodness making our kitchen smell fantastic.. Right? But that is where all the moistness in our cake is going. Out our country window! The next time you bake a cake and flip it on a cooling rack, gently lay a piece of wax paper over each layer and let it cool. Just covering the top only. You will have the best, MOIST cake you have ever had. The wax paper does stick just a little, but it is so worth it. When I tell my friends this trick they have never heard of it? My daughter used this in one of her demo classes in college, her professor (who loved to bake) said he would try this at home and if it worked she would get an A. She got an A ! Hope it makes the grade for you too. I know your book will be special and I can’t wait!

194. Jade @ No Longer 25 May 5th, 2010 3:31 am I am so excited about the book! I need some serious summer inspiration, we’ve just got our own house and garden which we move into in a few weeks. It’s still grey here but I need to read about some summer goodness. My favourite summer memories are when we were young playing with my wee sister in the sandpit and the treehouse which my Dad built for us. It seemed like we played outside for endless hours in the summer inventing our own clubs and secret missions. I’m so lucky to have a sister and have so many memories of growning up together, there were times we argued of course but I only really remember conspiring together and making up new adventures. Have a lovely day, Jade

195. Tanya Madden May 5th, 2010 7:54 pm I’m so excited for your book…You have the cutest, sweetest feel good blog!! Music too!! I love it. I’m going to share how my family of Momma, Daddy, and our 4 kiddos turn a ho hum summer night into a camping extravaganza? They are now 23, 21, 19 and 16 but when they were little tikes, we would set up camp in the backyard complete with tent, fire pit, chairs, flashlights, smores, hotdogs, sleeping bags, etc. Then we would spend the night 20-30 feet from the house (indoor plumbing facilities were the best!) and to them, it was like being in the Grand Canyon….The excitement of little ones brings it out in all of us. Great memories and fun fun fun!!!

196. Katie May 6th, 2010 5:30 pm Hi there, Ruth Ann – I left a comment earlier on here, but I thought of something else that is a fun little summer treat…strawberry picnic queens. They are so pretty! They really look like little crowns. If you’ve not had them: Cut the tops of each berry so that they can sit flat and upside-down. Starting at the tip, cut an “X” down into each one, but not so far that you actually cut it into four pieces. Stick your finger down inside the “X” to make a little space for the filling that you pipe into it. Filling is homemade cream cheese frosting. Cute, cute, cute! And easy and sweet to boot! ;o)

197. Cindy May 6th, 2010 10:23 pm One of my favorite memories was picking apples with my sister and friends and twisting the stem to find the name of the beau that we would someday marry.. The rules are that you had to say the alphabet while you twist the stem until it breaks. I was always very careful because I wanted to break mine on a “J” ..I had a crush on my uncle Joe and wanted a slick dark-haired man who kept his cigarettes rolled in his sleeve and always worked under the hood of his car…I was born in ’58 so this was a ‘Fonzie’ boy before there was a Fonzie..Anyhoo, I always ended up breaking the stem at a ‘C’ or maybe an ‘D’ but well, Iironically I have a dark haired man from Yap- a small south pacific island and his Christian name is Joseph. Isn’t life funny?

198. Laura Lane of Harvest Lane Cottage May 7th, 2010 12:08 pm Nothing says summer like fresh from the garden vegetables. Last summer, we had the opportunity to pick lots of fresh sweet corn. It took me quite awhile to blanch, wrap, and prepare the corn for freezing. I cut some of it off the cob, too. Oh my, it was good even before it was cooked! For dinner, I made up my own recipe which my family raved over. Sausage Succotash 1 lb breakfast sausage, steamed and crumbled 2 T butter 1 chopped zuchinni 2 quarts of fresh corn, cut off the cob 2 small onions, chopped 1 small green pepper, chopped 3-4 small Roma tomatoes, chopped salt & pepper Melt butter in skillet, stir in the onions and peppers, saute for a minute or two and add the sausage, zuchinni and corn. Saute a few more minutes, then add the tomatoes. Stir often. It’s done when you think it’s done. It’s just a matter of how tender you like your vegetables. Nothing says summer like fresh!

199. Summer May 8th, 2010 9:59 am Dear Aunt Ruthie this is your daughter, One of my favorite memories in the good ol’e summer was when we had my daddy’s birthday. We put together a little picnic at Lake Taney Como. We drove through the swerved roads to the beautiful atmosphere. My dad put the smelly bait on the hook and hoped the Lord would bless him with a fish! My mom and I set out the lawn chairs and felt the cool misty breeze of the lake. It was wonderful! All the siblings arrived and the boys went down to the dock. Us girls stayed in our chairs and had little conversations. That is just one of my most memorable memories! Can’t wait to see that wonderful and intriguing e-book of yours! Love Always, Your Daughter Summer

200. Nancy Moix May 12th, 2010 11:10 am Childhood summer memories swirl in my head……sitting atop the hand-cranked ice cream freezer on thick towels while my brothers or my dad did the cranking, having my grandmother push the bed all the way up next to those huge windows she had in her house and listening to the bugs and creatures of the night until the wee hours when it cooled off enough to fall asleep, playing Red Rover and Freeze Tag until the street lights came on and we knew to run home, helping grandmother with the wash — standing outside at the wringer washer pulling the clothes through the wringers while dodging the rooster and chickens wandering around the yard…….not to mention watching her “harvest” a chicken from the yard for Sunday dinner!

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