'TIS SUMMERTIME, AND THE EATING IS DELICIOUS

Cucumbers, resting in brine, lend a "harvesty" odor to the kitchen. They remain "brined" for seven days then go through a daily process of being bathed in a hot, spicy solution for seven more days, for they are to be the renown 14-day pickles, so coveted as a relish any time of the year.

They are so cool and fresh I almost hate to pour that first boiling solution of salty water over them. And I don't for a while. I run my hands through them in the big container, inspect again the tiny warts on the skin, wonder again if they have a purpose. I look at the little white formations in the split ones that would become seeds if left to fruition and pause a moment to give thanks again for the abundance of seeds in every growing thing our Creator has provided millions more than are ever used. He did not mean for us to run out of seeds.

The cucumbers were a gift from a friend, which makes them all the more appreciated.

On a kitchen window sill, where the light can shine through them, are small glasses of crabapple jelly. There are few hues in the spectrum that can rival that of crabapple jelly. Jewels of Araby, I poetically call them. I can't imagine any mosaics or stained glass in those "other world" mosques to be any prettier. There are few things that can rival the taste of crabapple jelly spread over a hot buttered biscuit either.

Hard to rival, too, is the contentment of sitting on the pre-dawn steps, such biscuit in one hand, steaming coffee in the other, as you watch two doves meandering their measured way down the sidewalk. I pretend they are coming to bid me good morning, but they are really coming to inspect the ground under the goldfinch thistle seed feeder. Many seeds are scattered on the ground by the finches as they poke their beaks through the small holes of the cylindrical feeder. For every seed they pluck out, another falls to the ground and the doves are thankful. They move about so quietly, if you didn't see movement, you'd hardly know they were there. I guess one could "woolly" an old saying about killing two birds with one stone into feeding two types of birds with a feeder meant only for one.

The crabapples were also a gift from a friend, although I had the privilege of picking them. The blue-white, dusty bloom on their rosy sides, testifying to their tree freshness, made them a joy to pick and hold lovingly in my hand for a moment.

My two patio tomato plants have performed wonderfully. What porch railings are available are lined with the red jewels from time to time. I had expected the tomatoes to be the small ones, but no, they're just the right size to peel, slice, salt and eat along with a roasting ear. A roasting ear does marvelously well in the micro-wave oven. Cut off the ends, peel away a few of the shucks and put into the oven for about eight minutes for a medium sized ear. No steaming water heating up the kitchen and the silks come off easier than ever. A small potato, baked at the same time can make a meal that could easily turn one into a vegetarian at this wonderful eating season.

I've done something new too, in the epicurean field. Why not, I asked myself, make a peach dumpling? I marveled that I had never thought of this before.

I peeled a ripe peach, split it open, removed the seed. Into the two half cavities I put brown sugar, butter and a dash of cinnamon which is optional, then pressed the peach back together.

I made a dough of Bisquick, enriched with a little more shortening, rolled it out, wrapped it around the peach and put it into the conventional oven. Good! I suppose, if one wanted to get fancy with it, say at a party, it could be covered with a peach glaze. Try it.

The sweet potato plant I put into the hanging pot has the most luxuriant vine you ever saw. I wonder what is going on down in the center of the pot. Can hardly keep from probing. I might put four turnip seeds in another pot. A person hates to face starvation this winter!

REJOICE!