"Summertime...

...and the livin' is easy." 

That's a line taken from one of my favorite arias, "Summertime" from Porgy and Bess. I have the song in my head a lot this time of year, as we enjoy the last long, lovely days of summer before the munchkins head off to school and the first cool pangs of fall are felt on our cheeks. The rest of the lyrics go like this:

"The fish are jumpin' and the cotton is high.

Your daddy's rich and your momma's good looking...

...so hush little baby, don't you cry."

I remember hearing Porgy and Bess performed in the Dayton when I was on a field trip elementary school. Despite being raised in a rather musical family, I'd never heard anything like it - an vocal opera performance; the image of the performance is a very strong childhood memory. Today, I enjoy vocal opera music more out of the appreciation of the performance (like, "WOW! I've never heard a voice so powerful!") than actual love of the sound, but I do have a few favorite opera moments, of which "Summertime" is near the top of the list. 

Here's some examples of how summertime has felt lately in the Morris house: 

Extrava"can"za 2010:

I would like to say my tepid venture into canning was inspired by THIS lovely post on my pal Megann's blog (take a look at those beautiful jars! Handmade labels and all! Bananas!) but the truth is, I've been appreciative--maybe just jealous?--of families that take the time to can for many years. Knowing my interest (obsession?), my hygienist, Angie, who is a skilled canner and gardener, was kind enough to gift me all kinds of canning goodies for my wedding shower last year. Last year, I never got around to making much of them. But this year... 

...this year, we had a bounty of Green Zebra tomatoes. BFF Kaye gifted me some of their heirloom seeds and have REALLY taken off! My garden is nothing special this year -- more of a tomato jungle than anything. It is neither as tidy or as diverse as last year, but fortunately it is just as fruitful. And, for the first month, the green zebras were very tasty with a little drizzle of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and sea salt...but we just couldn't keep up, lest our skin turn green and stripey like our friends depicted below!

So we cooked the zebras down...

And into sealed them into classic jars like this...

 so we can enjoy Salsa Verde for the whole year!

Yum! Special thanks to both grandmas for tips and encouragement. And of course, to RDH Angie for all the canning accessories and good canning vibes!

I also did a few jars of pizza sauce and two jars of blueberry jam. I'm just hoping I don't give anyone botulism...yikes!