Tuesday at the Picnic Table: Zucchini Season!

Yep, it's that time of year!  We just got back from a few days away from home, and this is what greeted us in our garden.  These are all from 1 plant!!  Tonight I'm going to use them in one of my favorite recipes.  I saw this Rachel Ray recipe on the Food Network's website a year or 2 ago, and it's become a big hit with our family.  I'm not a big fan of asparagus, and it's more of a spring vegetable anyway, so I adapt it, and tonight, even though I have plenty of basil in the garden, I'll use up the last of some store-bought pesto that we have around.

It's super-easy.  You basically just cook up some penne (or similar) pasta, throwing in cut up short "spears" of vegetables in with the boiling pasta during the last 2 minutes, then toss with pesto.  It's so good, and healthy, and a great way to use up garden zucchini, beans, or even peppers.  I just use what's coming out of our garden, and it's always turned out yummy.  I've never had it cold, but I bet you could make this ahead, and refrigerate to eat at the picnic table pot luck as well!  I'm linking up to Debbie, at "A Quilter's Table", Tuesday at the Picnic Table".  Come join us!

Over the week-end, my husband and I took our 2 sons to a week long resident camp on Lake Coeur D'alene, Idaho.  I've never been there, and didn't have to work hard at all to persuade my husband to take a rare day off during fire season to slowly drive back, just the 2 of us, spending a night camping nearby, in a tent for 2!!  It's the first "trip" we've taken just the 2 of us in 14+ years!  It was only a day, but such a treat!  It's going to be a very quiet week around our house the rest of the week!  Here's our campsite, and the view from right behind our tent of Lake Coeur d'alene.

The lake is incredibly beautiful!  My boys are going to have such a great time!  I really want to go back when it's a little less crowded.

Here's a picture I took of a canola field, near Moscow, Idaho, on the way back.  It reminds me of the pictures that Monika takes ;-).

We stopped in downtown Moscow for a little break, and I really fell in love with this college town!  On the way back we swung through a(nother) new wind power farm, near Dayton, WA.

Finally, we headed home.  This is a picture I took on a separate trip, on I-84, just East of Pendleton, from the edge of the Blue Mountains.  The dark green in the top middle of the pictures is our town.  This gives you an idea of how small it is, and the surrounding area.

Enjoy!