Summer apples are really yummy. I just grafted a number of the Summer apples listed in the previous posts above, i can't wait for fruit. This year my William's pride is fruiting for the first time, I await with great anticipation. Summer apples are a big deal here in Santa Cruz county given that you have to go all the way to Anchorage, Alaska to find Summers as cool as ours. As you can imagine, we get some pretty high quality Summer apples thanks to the cool temps. Viking: Top of the list, flavor is a cross in between lychee and rose, totally yummy, ripens late July just before Gravenstein and has a 3 week window for us here, and will keep under conventional cooling storage for about 3 weeks if picked early. Red June: good but only because there's almost nothing around at that time of the year, ripens before Viking, early to mid July, decent flavor, goes mealy in the blink of an eye. Atlanta: this one is yummy, but doesn't keep well. Ready in late July. Pink pearl: yummy, pink fleshed apple, slightly tart but very aromatic, makes strawberry flavored apple juice. It comes in right around with Gravensteins, keeps very well, at least 6 weeks ripening in our climate. Yellow transparent: early July, excellent if you don't mind waiting next to the tree for the 3 hour window when it's perfect. Picked too early makes it too sour, picked too late makes it mealy. There are far superior selections of this type of apple that have been made in Europe. Transparente de Croncels comes to mind, it's a much larger apple and it's supposed to be one of the best. Pristine: Oh, one of my favorites, delicious, firm, crisp, ripens mid July, and keeps really well, up to 6 weeks. It becomes real fragrant and smells up the entire house. Gravenstein: One of the best all around apples, an apple just doesn't get any better than this one when it's grown in the cooler parts of the Central Coast of California. Ours keep very well because of the lack of Summer heat, up to 3 months in cold storage. They are so fragrant and delicious, everything anyone could want in an apple. Our Summer apples will be late this year - 58F outside as of 3PM and it's almost the 4th of July here. Burr, I wouldn't mind a little Summer feeling.

Sorry for the delay in replying but I was at work. LOL Here's some suggestions I had posted before. My whole family packs lunch about 4X a week and often itÂs our main meal of the day. We tend to like vegetable salads without greens and with some meat, poultry or seafood with them. Her are some things we make for lunches (usually with some type of fruit or dessert with them): -Margarita scallop salad (grilled scallops w/a corn salad) -Grilled portabella and eggplant salad w/sesame ginger dressing -Hummus w/pita triangles and a Greek salad (and sometimes a grilled stuffed kibbee with it) -Ham and cheese on mini-bagels with chicken rice soup -Tomato and mozzarella salad with a couple of slices of French bread and some salami -Tomato stuffed with chicken salad, crackers -Baked chicken breast, baby carrots and sugar snap peas with dip -Caponata and some slices of smoked provolone -A fruit and cheese platter with rolled up slices of ham and turkey and assorted crackers -Shrimp and asparagus salad with mustard-dill dressing, bread soldiers -Cream cheese, blue cheese, horseradish and dried beef spread with garlic melba rounds, pepper cabbage -Cold salmon with a container of yogurt, cucumber and mint sauce and green beans cooked with tomatoes and onions -What we call Italian tuna salad (tuna, little cubes of tomato and onion, mixed with basil, olive oil and balsamic vinegar), thin slices of French bread -Stuffed onions or eggplant or zucchini (good use for leftover meat) and marinated mushrooms -Shrimp and corn salad with mini corn muffins -An avocado stuffed with crabmeat salad with breadsticks -Barley salad topped with sliced London broil steak -Gingered carrot soup with cucumber and onion sandwiches These are summer lunches. In winter, the menu leans more towards soups and stews. I try to either make up a few things on the weekend, and when weÂre grilling, we can throw some portabella or eggplant slices on there for a salad or incorporate lunch for the next day into dinner. For example, if IÂm making pasta with red crabmeat sauce, IÂll get enough crabmeat to make a salad for the next day while dinner is cooking.

If you have recipes that you like that contain beans, try substituting green peas or chick peas for the beans - you could even prepare 2 1/2 batches and add beans to your portion. (How does he feel about lentils?) Get creative with grains! They are so easy. Cous cous, different rices, risotto - you can do a zillion one dish meals with them. You could add prepared meat (e.g.,cooked shrimp) to his portion before serving. Everything that you do with pasta you can do with grains. Lots of meat eaters love wild rice - it is really satisfying. I make the rice and while it is cooking saute thinly sliced celery and mushrooms in a little butter, mix with the cooked rice, pour in baking dish, bake at 350 for 15 minutes (or even longer) - yum! You can experiment on this theme with any grain - the little bit of baking seems to "marry" everything together. Veggie casseroles can be prepared in advance and frozen. I find that freezing in general helps my diet and wallet so that I don't eat unhealthy expensive food out all the time. Making a big batch of artichoke tomato pasta sauce is just as easy as a little one - just freeze in the little bags made for this purpose in the correct portions. Same for soups. Don't forget that old standby, the crock pot. You can make a very hearty stew with potatoes, onions, great bean-less chili for a different taste. Throw everything in the post before you go to work, turn on low or med, dinner is ready when you get home. Polenta pie is super quick and delicious: make your polenta in the pot, stir in any thing you want - diced red/orange/yellow peppers, garlic, jalapenos, a little cheese, any spices, anything not too watery or that wouldn't go with cornmeal. When it's cooked, pour into a greased glass pie pan, sprinkle top with cheese and bake for 15 minutes, until cheese melts. Cut like pie and serve with salad that you make while the polenta is baking. I agree that the prepared (frozen, etc.) vegetarian foods are just as junky as non-veg. Have you ever looked at the sodium contents? Got this off another website: Vegan "Meatloaf" 1 package of frozen TVP (Texturized Vegetable Protein- Ground beef imitation type such as "GimmeLean") 1 bell pepper, diced 1 medium onion (or according to taste) 1 egg OR equivelent in egg-replacer Approx. 1.5 cups of bread-crumbs (Add as you feel needed) A lot of ketchup (the more the better) Defrost TVP. Hand-mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Put in casserole dish, mold to dish. Add more ketchup to cover sides and top( like cake icing). Bake for 1 hour (or until the veggies are tender). Note: When served, it may fall apart, or crumble. This "meatloaf" is best with corn and mashed potatoes on the side! Personally, I love to cook and be creative with food - it really relaxes me. Perhaps since time is a factor, you can start to prepare meals together if you already don't. It's a nice way to be together after a day of work. (If your...

I am looking for tree to try out in the one of the corners. I am very picky about the realistic look and am afraid to order one blind. Does anyone have a recommendation on where to look for a realistic tree? I also want to try something like removing the lamp and having a large vase with flowers in the middle of the buffet. Need to find good realistic looking flowers, probably white or off white and tall for a big vase. Just to try out somethings different.