Sum-summa-summertime.

This post isn't really about baking, but that's ok. Some times I do think about other things besides sugar and butter. Weird, I know.

Back in April, Jason and I decided that we would create a garden. And that it would be awesome, and full of tomatoes and basil. Neither of us had ever gardened, much less vegetable gardened, but we were fairly confident that we could figure it out. I bought a copy of The Square Foot Gardener and off we went.

Fast forward to now, and things are going quite swimmingly. Jason went a little crazy with his homemade "topsy-turvy" tomato thingys. We now have 13 tomato plants. For 2 people. I make fun of him now, but who'll be laughing when we have a huge bounty of beautiful tomatoes later this summer? Not me. I'm excited to eat from our own garden and to use home-grown herbs in some baking recipes.

I'd like to introduce you to Mater, our 3 year old Boxer. Mater James is his full name, actually. Or MJ, as we like to call him. Can you tell that we love this dog a little more than is probably normal or healthy? Anytime you wish, he would be happy to sit on your lap or give you a hug. He can be found most days in our yard doing this:

So, that is what we've been working on, before the stifling Missouri heat sets in. Some day soon, our friends will be getting the call to come over and eat big juicy tomatoes while sipping on a mojito with fresh mint from the little pot on our porch. You can thank us later.