Another Red Berry - Sour Cherries

This is still a small tree but it produced enough luscious fruit to eat fresh and prepare some summer favorite - sour cherry soup. This delicacy may be prepared with or without alcohol and served either as an appetizer or even as a dessert. I enjoy both - why not give it a try?

Italian Supplies

While in Budapest for a few days last week, I've discovered a new Italian food supply store in a neighborhood nearby. Color me happy! :)

Nature's Bounty

From a distance you may not recognize these tiny jewels to be red currants. There is a bumper crop this year and recently I've read that berries are not only rich in vitamin C but also in minerals. Do we ever get too much? Just look at my helper Gigi!

Takes a while to gather enough for syrup but it is well worth the effort. Look around for farms in your area where you can pick your own fruit and enjoy the benefits.

Edible Plants

One of my favorite flowers was planted in two spots in the spring. Nasturtiums are colorful, hardy runners - but to make it even sweeter to have in the garden is that both the leaves and the flowers are edible. The meager spot the first batch has was very grateful with many flowers.
This batch, on the other hand, had much more space and better soil - yet, produced only one flower but oversized round leaves. Go figure :)

If It's Wednesday, It Must be Doors

Still in Budapest for this handsome specimen - close to the basilica, across the way from the restaurant where we had lunch.

All Is Well

Greetings Gentle People. While I don't feel the need to apologize for things beyond my control, I do want to thank all of you who ever so gently nudged now-and-then to see what was up. It was appreciated more than you can know.

Summer heat is on and hope all of you are taking advantage in some fashion or will be shortly. Travel is out of the way for me and it is time to get back into the trenches. Albeit there is a change in the trench and as a result you will be seeing more photos of country life, but I promise you shall not be bored.

It had been a while (quite a long while, in fact) since I've last lived in the country so it was surprising how easily things come back to you. Perhaps the saying is right - you can take someone out of the country but you can't take the country out of the person. :)

As it is a Budapest photo blog the return photo is of one of the windows of St. Stephen's Basilica in Budapest. It was a cool heaven for me last week while in the city and made for a beautiful subject to photograph.