IT\’S STILL SUMMER

Summer is here in Kentucky. Tomorrow we should have a heat index of 112-115 degrees. They say it will be the hottest it\’s been in two years. I know where I\’ll be. Someplace cool.

Honestly, I love the summer fruits and vegetables. My husband plants a pretty good sized garden. I can and freeze several vegetables, and we eat a lot of them straight from the patch. We enjoyed asparagus. Blueberries are bearing well. I\’ve frozen several packages. Strawberries! We\’ve had strawberries and they will taste good this winter.

When June comes, we look in the grocery store for \”Grainger County Tomatoes\”. These are the best, and they are early. Grainger County, Tennessee is where they come from. Grainger County is a small county south of where we lived before we came to Kentucky. The economy was poor several years ago, and they started raising tomatoes on the banks of the river. The ground is rich river bottom land, and the tomatoes are the best hothouse tomatoes I know of.

When I was growing up, my mother always prepared a macaroni salad when the first tomatoes and cucumbers came in. That is something I do as well. I love the salad.

It\’s a simple salad to make. I use about a cup of uncooked macaroni and cook it in boiling water for the time on the box. While it is cooking, I cop up a tomato, a cucumber, and some onion. Each amount is to your own taste. Drain the macaroni, add salt, and add Miracle Whip. I probably like mine a little wetter than most folks because I love Miracle Whip. Sorry, but I do.

Mix,, refrigerate, and serve with your meal. We have had one dish already, and I\’m sure there will be more.

I\’m not a fancy cook. Something simple and easy is what I like. I hope you enjoy this simple macaroni salad.

Kathy Cretsinger

kathycretsinger@gmail.com

Callie\’s Mountain

Coastal Promises

Bogged Down by Murder, Nothing Shady Ever Happens in Shady Valley Series, Book 1

Death by Doubloons, Nothing Shady Ever Happens in Shady Valley Series, Book 2, Releases October 5, 2022

Dead Ringer, Nothing Shady Ever Happens in Shady Valley Series, Book 3, Releases 2023

Murder and Goad Yoga, Nothing Shady Ever Happens in Shady Valley Series Book 4, Release 2023