The Lemon Cucumber - A Myth?

I have heard fables from my husband about these amazingly delicious cucumbers, "lemon cucumbers" to be exact and how they would buy them at road side vendors in Northern California when he was just a boy.  In all my 30+ years I have never once seen or heard of this mythical cucumber.  In fact, until recently I was unaware that there were varieties of cucumbers such as an English cucumber.  I know, I know, you are probably wondering what rock I grew up under?! 

I will have you know that I did not grow up under a rock - I collected them. 

Since hearing my husband talk about how delicious these lemon cucumbers were I have been on the look out.  Since moving to California I have had the pleasure of enjoying some of the sweetest fruits and vegetables all locally grown.  My world has opened up!  Alix at Cali Cooking Couple (http://calicookingcouple.blogspot.com/) recently let me in on a well known local secret... Larry's Produce.  Larry's is an amazing farmer's market with great selection and awesome pricing.  (Creative Juice also has a great blog post about Larry's, check it out: http://getcreativejuice.blogspot.com/search/label/yummy)

So today Jacob and I were at Larry's picking produce for my bulk cooking project.  When what did I see before my very eyes?!  A sign that read: Lemon Cucumbers .89/lb.  I am not kidding, I stopped dead in my tracks and did a double take.  They do exist!  Where is my camera when I need it?  So of course I snagged a bag full with not a clue what to do with them.  All I knew was that I was going to have one happy husband when he gets home tonight! And as it turns out, he's not a liar after all, LOL.  As if I ever really doubted him.

Lemon Cucumbers - Not a Myth!

According to Cook's Thesaurus, a lemon cucumber is sweet and flavorful, but less acidic.  What I gather from my quickie Google education is that lemon cucumbers are used just as any other variety.  Not often are they cooked, but are used in salads, agua fesca, and smoothies.  I was hoping to find a recipe that was more interesting than slicing and dipping in dressing.  With lack of inspiration and patience to search online, I decided to improvise.  Cucumber-Apple smoothie anyone?  While it certainly wasn't "bad", it is not something I am going to try again - ever. Stick to salads and veggie trays...

So the next time you are at the farmers market or pass a veggie stand, give it a second look.  If you see a lemon cucumber, live a little - get yourself one!

"M" is for Mandy

For a long time I have known that if our second child was a girl her room was going to be "Shabby Chic".  Around the same time my husband and I agreed that if #2 was a girl her name was going to be Mandy Mae; a tribute to both our mothers.  Mandy was the name my mom wanted if my older brother had been a girl.  Mae is my husband's mother's middle name. 

I spent the past week on vacation daydreaming of our little girl's room.  The first piece that I am making for her room is a framed "M".  My inspiration was from a frame I picked up for $2 at the thrift store and had intended it use to for a baby shower for my sister-in-law.  We have since changed her theme and will not use this. Waste not!

Using all supplies I have laying around the house I began my impromptu art project.  The frame is about 12x12 - the perfect size for left over scrapbook paper.  I narrowed down my paper option to four and then I raided my material bin.  I found a pale green fabric that was perfect with one of the papers I had selected. 

By eye balling the size of the frame I tore out the shape of an "M".  Tearing the fabric gives it a nice shabby frayed edge.  To do this start by snipping the fabric where you want to tear it.  This only works for vertical and horizontal cuts, so for the angles I made a full cut and then frayed the fabric's edge by hand. 

Next I used all purpose craft glue and applied it to the frame smoothing it out with a sponge brush.  Be careful to only have a thin layer of glue; too much glue will result in a wrinkled canvas when you lay your paper. After laying the paper I used the same technique to apply the fabric "M". 

That's it!  It was that simple using only items I had laying around the house from previous projects.  This project was competed for less than $5.

Five things I always have on hand:

1. All purpose glue
2. Sponge Brushes
3. A good paper cutter
4. Scrapbook paper
5. Scraps - never throw (fabric, ribbon, paper, etc.) scraps away!