Cheesecake is a success!

So this morning the first thing I did was to try a taste of my homemade cheesecake with my dad lol. It turned out better than I expected! Although I think I might want to add a bit more lemon zest next time.

The juneberries in my yard are nice and ripe, but it seems the birds got to get a taste of them before me. I haven't been noticing these little changes in my yard. Working all day has its drawbacks I guess... but what's left of the berries are still good. :) I guess I wont be making jam until the raspberries are ripe in about a week or so.

Fireworks and Hydrangeas

I went over to a friend's place for fireworks and barbeque last night! I met some friends that I haven't seen in a long time. It feels nice to do something simple with friends for once, no going to restaurants or whatever but instead hanging out over a grill and just talking and eating... and throwing water balloons lol. Hotdogs burgers and s'mores in the yard are all I need to have a good time with friends, I don't need to go to nice restaurants and go shopping to have a good time. :)

One thing I like about summer is watching the hydrangeas bloom in my yard. At least all that rain came in handy, although it kept me immobile for a while the water definitely helped the flowers. It's also interesting how the flowers change colors, last year the flowers were more green-ish and they made good dry flowers, but this year they are pink!

Raspberries!

I went to pick some raspberries from a bush in my garden (showed above! it's my favorite plant in our yard lol) while the weather was nice. It's so sunny today but with such a cool wind! It's very refreshing. I plan to get enough berries to make some jam soon. They are also very good if you freeze them and drop them into some pancake batter for a quick berry pancake breakfast. Also good for baking too! I guess they don't have to be from your garden, I freeze fresh fruit to use in cooking all the time. This method works great with blueberries. :)

今日は天気がとてもよかったので庭のラズベリーを少し収穫しに。。。

我が家自慢のラズベリーの木は私が小さい頃からたくさん実をつけてます！

でも今年はちょっと実の数が少ないかな。昔は実の重さで枝が折れたくらいなのに。。。

取れば取るほどたくさん実がなる木なので一生懸命実がなってないかチェックしてます。笑

たくさん集まったらジャムを作るつもりです。

冷凍すればかなり便利！ホットケーキを作るとき凍ったまま生地に入れるとジューシーなベリーホットケーキになります！後マフィンなどの焼き菓子を作るときにもいいです。

家ではこのために大体ラズベリーとブルーベリーが冷凍庫にはいってます。

一人暮らしを始めるときには絶対この木を持って行きたい！なんとか株を増やせないかな〜。

I've heard before that if you don't pick the berries often, you get a smaller harvest. I did notice that the last few years I rarely picked the raspberries except for quick snacks, and the number of berries this year is saddening. I remember in my childhood how every summer the branches of the huge bush would sag from the weight of the fruit and my dad had to put wire supports under them. I'm trying to pick more and take better care of the plant to ensure bigger harvests! When I move out of the house I'm definitely taking a sapling of this bush with me. I don't know if this will produce good fruit but it's the memories that count.