It’s Friday Garden Photage

As we begin to enjoy the many moments of summer, the Friday photage is a great way to capture what’s blooming in the garden. So here’s a sneak peek of a few favorites from this week:



But to give you more than just photos, here’s a quick shopping tip for those followers that are growing fresh herbs in the garden or in containers.  Now is a perfect time to infuse your olive oil or to make your own salad dressings. Don’t let those wonderful aromas and scents go to flower. Bottle or enhance those herbs with some extra virgin olive oil.

Need some advice on where to find some awesome oil? There are many choices out there and the best by far have been the fresh pressed bottles we picked up in our travels to Italy or France. But on a recent trip to Trader Joe’s, we happened upon ‘Trader Giotto’s Sicilian Selezione Extra Virgin Olive Oil. It’s labeled as 'smooth and buttery – distinctive peppery finish.' And that it is. It’s been drizzled on just about everything excluding that summertime bowl of ice cream. A tad expensive, this oil is meant to be drizzled, not used for cooking – use your basic olive oil for that.

So on that note, let’s wrap it up with a quote from Mark Kurlansky, "Essential Oil," Bon Appétit, November 2008. "At times it seems that the search for good health has taken all the pleasure out of life. It has stripped us of butter, cream, marbled red meat, pork, and goose fat, not to mention alcohol and fine, hand-rolled cigars. And just when you settle on your favorite healthful fish, you're told it's laced with mercury. Sometimes it feels as though we would be better off being less healthy and enjoying life. But then, miraculously, there is olive oil. Olive oil, it seems, is the only really good food we are still allowed." And we are always allowed the essence of flowers. So enjoy your gardens and the first weekend of summer. Ciao!

All Images by Ann Bilowz

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