Sunday Letter: 07.29.18

Dear Sunday Letter Faithful,

(Portions of this post are sponsored by Cobblestone Farms. Opinions are my own.)

I always start summer with a mile-high list of dreamy things I plan to do yet life soaks up bits and pieces of my days, and here I sit with coffee in hand wondering what on earth happened to July?

Just yesterday, we were talking about those days when we bravely shot Roman candles with young, bare hands. Today, our thoughts vault to back-to-school and football. Well, mine have.

From Fireworks to Fall

I’m calling it now. I predict northwest Arkansas enjoys an early fall. I’ve already noticed a few signs, like zipper spiders and earlier-than-normal surprise lilies. This past week, I spied a few turning leaves. Yes, I’ve seen both red and yellow. Maybe it’s normal for a few leaves to turn by the end of July. Perhaps the difference lies within me. Even though August sits in front of us like a stubborn, hot-headed child, I can feel fall’s arrival in the early morning breeze.

I hope I haven’t jinxed us.

Bloggers Have All The Fun

Check out the bounty of produce included in my CSA subscription from Cobblestone Farms! Last fall, I was hired to do influencer work for Cobblestone Farms. Part of my compensation included a harvest share subscription which started last week. Seriously, sometimes blogging comes with the best perks like fresh eggs and garlic tied in a rope.

Fresh eating for us this week!

Library Inspired

Second hand books are wild books, homeless books; they have come together in vast flocks of variegated feather, and have a charm which the domesticated volumes of the library lack. (Virginia Woolf) 

Last week I received an email from a man in Ohio who visited northwest Arkansas, saw our Little Free Library, and was inspired to build his own! He sent me a picture of the cute little library he installed along his white picket fence. Sometimes we inspire without realizing.

This is my favorite time of year at our Little Free Library because the black-eyed Susans are in full bloom.

I don’t think my new Ohio friend would mind if I show you his Little Free Library… Isn’t it cute!? This week, I’m going to mail him a copy of my book for his library. Gracie Lee goes to Ohio…

I’ll Gladly Pay You Tuesday

Remember Popeye’s mooching friend, Wimpy? His official name was J. Wellington Wimpy, and he always promised to pay on Tuesday for a hamburger today.

It was a grand strategy that usually worked for him. Not so well for the person selling the burger.

Yesterday, John and I ate Wimpy-worthy cheeseburgers at Barnett’s Dairyette in Siloam Springs, Arkansas. Absolute perfection! Yes, we love a good burger as much as a local box of produce. Balance, y’all!

When I was a kid, my hamburgers usually came from Momma’s skillet, the meat pressed and sizzling beneath her well-used spatula, a slice of white bread often substituting for a bun. The cheese was always American. Sometimes, when we were lucky, we ate lunch at the Yellow Jacket Cafe in Keiser where the hamburgers came with crinkle-cut fries, and the ice-cold cokes seemed to have extra fizz.

It’s funny how everything had extra fizz back then.

Your challenge this week, should you choose to accept, is to find a mom and pop dairyette-type establishment, one that’s been open since at least the 1950s, and sink your teeth into a real cheeseburger. (Feel free to report back with a picture on Grace Grits and Gardening Facebook page!)

School Kitchen Tip:

Select vegetables of uniform size, medium rather than large; sound, firm texture; smooth surface, free from green spots or brown blight, and but few bruised leaves; pods crisp and easily snapped, or fresh well-filled with tender seeds; leaves and stalks crisp, tender and juicy. (The School Kitchen Textbook, Mary J. Lincoln, 1917, Lesson XXIV, Vegetables)

Bye for now, Sunday Letter friends…

Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life. 

[tweetthis]I’ll gladly pay you Tuesday to read my Sunday Letter today #thatsajoke #ad @CSProjectFarm @TheNWAGuru [/tweetthis]

Wimpy: