Remember: Always be yourself because the people that matter don’t mind and the ones that mind don’t matter.
Indeed time for a walk and a good walk it was…. Coming up on 275 miles so far this year! Today the target was Von’s market as we needed supplies for tonights “Cham[agne & Pretzels” visit with Jan Mongel but today we are going to bring Paul’s famous “Banana Boat”!
Time for a stroll
SOmetimes the flowers are just amazing and this was was pretty special. The lighting was right on the money plus the rose had just got a bath from the sprinklers!
Could not pass this one up!
One of Paul’s favorite spots, the tree/berry garden. Right around the corner, these folks converted their front yard into a delightful “farm”. Berries, grapes, and several trees are a nice change from the grass yards that surround the area! The grapes are looking excellent!
Grapes are getting ready
Click for the closeup but these are LOADED with berries about to become ripe. In our backyard we have a smaller version of these guys. I’ll bet the jam and jelly maker is getting the supplies ready for the bug canning event!
Loaded
We love the signs as we would not know the different without directions!
Did You Know: The olallieberry (pronounced oh-la-leh, sometimes spelled ollalieberry, olallaberry, olalliberry, ollalaberry or ollaliberry) is the marketing name for the ‘Olallie’ blackberry released by the USDA-ARS (in collaboration with Oregon State University) that was a selection from a cross between the ‘Black Logan’ (syn. ‘Mammoth’), developed by Judge James Logan in California, and the youngberry, which was developed by Byrnes M. Young in Louisiana. According to Judge Logan, ‘Black Logan’ was from a cross between the eastern blackberry ‘Crandall’ and the western dewberry ‘Aughinbaugh’. ‘Youngberry’ was from a cross of ‘Phenomenal’ x ‘Austin Mayes’. ‘Phenomenal’ in turn is a cross of the ‘Aughinbaugh’ western dewberry and ‘Cuthbert’ red raspberry and so has a very similar background to Logan’s ‘Loganberry’ and shares a parent with his ‘Black Logan’.
The original cross was made in 1935 by George Waldo with the United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS), who ran the cooperative blackberry breeding program between the USDA-ARS and Oregon State University from 1932 until the 1960s. Selected in 1937 and tested in Oregon, Washington and California as “Oregon 609” (OSC 609), it was named “Olallie” and released in 1950.
Time to harvest
Random Memories: When we used to go Santa Barbara, there was a place that specialized in olallaberry pie. For whatever reason this pie was outstanding with a real zing to it. Some trips, Paul would sit and eat half a pie at one sitting, that the remainder home and finish it off that same day! Needless to say after all those berries, all systems were go! The dark dark color and thickness of the pie was fantastic.
Our dear neighbors… They also use every square foot
Nope, not a edible but quite pretty in its own right…this little yellow fella stood out in the bright sunlight!
Wild and wooly
Not to be outdone, the understatement of Mr. Purple was refreshing. No idea of the flower but we are certainly admirers of its beauty.
Beautiful purples
After a nice meal at home and working in the yard for a few hours, we got cleaned up and headed for our monthly “Pretzels & Champagne” evening with Jan Mongell. Bob Z. joined up this evening where Paul prepared the banana boat.
Did You Know: Banana boat was a term, a descriptive nickname, given to fast ships also called banana carriers engaged in the banana trade designed to transport easily spoiled bananas rapidly from tropical growing areas to northern markets that often carried passengers as well as fruit
Cut banana peel lengthwise about 1/2 in. deep, leaving 1/2 in. at both ends. Open peel wider to form a pocket. Fill each with 1 teaspoon chocolate chips and 1 tablespoon marshmallows. …
Grill over the stove top burner, covered, over medium heat until marshmallows melt and are golden brown, 5-10 minutes.
Sailing sailing… Oh, there are NO calories in a banana boat because of the peel!
Jan and Bob really enjoyed the dessert…in fact, Jan ate about 1 1/2 of them plus she decided to add cinnamon sugar to the concoction making for a sugar high!
Paul made “banana boats”
The visit is designed for us “old farts” to just visit without music or dancing…just time to get together a talk about nothing!
Champagne & Pretzel night
After the visit ended about 9:30 PM, we headed home to watch some TV before crashing!
