Last night after our picnic, our children didn't want to go home but wanted to take a chance on being able to see fireworks. We had watched ominous-looking clouds pass by all day. So the Lord blessed us and we got a prime seat by the high school, arriving a few minutes before the display. The breeze was blowing and the weather was absolutely perfect with no mosquitos. I was truly amazed at the fireworks display...it was beautiful and magnificent! Usually the display starts off slowly and lasts for 15 minutes with a grand finale. But last night the whole 15 minutes was spectacular. I am so glad we went.
I tend to avoid public places where there are many people close together. There is usually the rock music or the immodesty or the foul language or some other thing to avoid. But last night there was nothing offensive. Thank you, Lord!
We got our latest issue of No Greater Joy today and there is an article written by Gabriel Pearl about making your own knife from a piece of scrap or junk steel. Allen enjoyed the article and set about looking for some junk steel in our garage. He didn't find any, but he did find an ax that needed some TLC. Here are the before and after pictures. I think it looks nice! The girls picked raspberries for an hour and got 6 cups of wild raspberries. We also grow heritage raspberries that are sweeter and have more of a red color. The wild berries are good for cooking.

So for dessert tonight, Maggie made little raspberry tarts that were delicious. She used cream of coconut milk for the creamy part.

For dinner, Maggie and Anna made the same salad that they made at Missions Camp last week. It was sooo yummy! I almost forgot to get a picture before the last of it was gone. The dressing made the salad as well as the toasted pita bread.

Fatoush:
6 pitas
3 T olive oil
salt and pepper, as needed

Dressing:
4 T fresh lemon or lime juice
1 T red or white wine vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
8 T olive oil
salt and pepper, as needed
2 T thyme, chopped
1/2 t cayenne (don't skimp!)
2 t sugar
Vegetables:
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 oz flat-leaf parsley, chopped
6 plum tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced
8 oz radishes, diced small (really small!)
1 green pepper, diced
Cut the pitas into small wedges. Toss with the oil, salt and pepper. Bake on a cookie sheet at 300 degrees for about 15 minutes, turning halfway through the baking. They should be crisp but not crumbly.
Combine the dressing ingredients thoroughly and adjust seasoning if necessary. Reserve separately.
Combine the veggies with the dressing and toss until coated. Fold in the pita wedges. Adjust the salt and pepper. If the salad is too dry, sprinkle with a little bit of water to moisten.
Mom's comment: My favorite part of the salad is getting a little bit of each veggie in every bite. So when cutting, dice everything the same tiny size. Also, I didn't realize Maggie had cut the pitas in wedges. They came out so many different sizes, so I would rather have had the pitas cut in small 3/8 or 1/2" uniform size instead of wedges so I could've gotten a taste in every bite. The wedges were so big that I ended up eating them by themselves. (You can see by the picture that Anna got tired of chopping when it came to the radishes and cucumbers!) Also, serve the pita separately if you are gonna have leftovers because they will be soggy the next day.
One more comment: In our home we use health food store cayenne which is much hotter than regular store-bought cayenne. McCormick's cayenne has about 2000 heat units, whereas our healthy cayenne has 90,000. The reason we use the hotter cayenne is because heart disease runs in both of our families (both Dads had bypasses) and cayenne is excellent for avoiding the need for bypass surgery. I was pleasantly surprised that the cayenne did not trigger hot flashes for me but my throat only felt a little warm. It sure was delicious!
Maggie also made shrimp and chicken penne to go with the salad. It was a perfect combination. Ruthie and Lizzie had fun working under Maggie as Assistant Chefs.This afternoon we went to get our allergy shots and then did the shopping for the wedding reception on Saturday. While at the Commissary on base, we ran into two church families and had a fun few minutes of fellowship. Then we stopped by a home (built by my Dad and brothers!) of a freecycler who gave us some Popular Mechanics magazines. Allen and Mike are really enjoying them.

Tomorrow is Mike's last day of vacation. If he holds to tradition, he will wake tomorrow and realize that and then run around the whole day doing serious work! Tomorrow is my day to make the potato salad, fruit salad and spinach dip for Saturday. I will make the tea and lemonade Saturday morning.
Enjoy your weekend. Many blessings ~ Kathie