Drool and Shake, a sure sign of rain!

We actually got rain!! Thanks to you all, our prayers were answered with 2 inches of beautiful, gentle rain! For days we have watched it rain all around us; a mile or less away would have rainfall of 2 to 4 inches and we could only lament and hope and pray that we would finally be blessed with moisture. The radar would show it approaching us, and the bright red of the radar screen looked like it was right upon us, but all we had to do was look down at our yellow lab, Mindy to know if we were truly in the path of rain. Mindy is our never fail barometer and for the last two days with the promise of rain being constantly broadcasted, Mindy lay perfectly quiet, appetite in tact. Tuesday night was a different story. When dinner was refused, no water was taken despite encouragement, we knew we had hope. The shaking starts about an hour prior to rain, but the real tell tell sign is the salivating and panting and we had none of that. Our hopes dwindled when at bedtime only a light shower fell. Our slumber was interrupted with a bound of 74 pounds of shaking, drooling and panting standing over us in bed. At 3 a.m. when we would ordinarily not welcome a rude awakening, we were more than happy to wake and keep Mindy consoled.

I 'm sure the accuracy of Doppler radar is a wonderful tool for the weather stations, but our radar, more personal and just as accurate comes beautifully packaged, loving and cuddly, asking only for someone to sit by her side and help her make it through a scary night of rain. The only tools needed are hugs, kisses and a box of Kleenex.

This week you will enjoy:

Cantaloupe
Slicing Tomatoes
Summer Squash
Acorn Squash
Salad Tomatoes
Roma Tomatoes
Peppers
Joe's Long Hot Peppers
Cucumbers
Zucchini
Potatoes
Corn

Recipes Are Below...

STUFFED WINTER SQUASH

large acorn squash
Salt and pepper to taste
1 6-ounce package wild rice
4 cups vegetable stock or water
1 tablespoon butter or oil
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
1 cup chopped onions
1 rib celery, finely chopped
1/2 cup toasted nuts, any combination of pine nuts, hazelnuts, walnuts or pecans, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
2 tablespoons fresh herbs such as thyme, chives or marjoram, chopped
1 whole egg and 1 egg white

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut squash in half, lengthwise, scoop out the seeds and put it in a roasting pan, cut side down, with 1/2-inch of water. Bake about 40 minutes or until just tender. Remove, season with salt and pepper and lower oven to 350 degrees.

Meanwhile, rinse wild rice and cook in stock or water until tender. Drain and put in a mixing bowl. Heat butter or oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add mushrooms onions and celery. Cook until mushrooms wilt and onion softens, about 5 minutes. Add to wild rice along with nuts, parsley, herbs, salt and pepper. Add eggs and mix well.

Put stuffing into squash cavities, mounding slightly. Cover with foil and bake in a lightly greased baking dish 25 minutes or until heated through.