Sandy's garden in Solon, Ohio

For the Repas-Pacsuta Family Reunion we stayed with my in-laws at their home in Solon, Ohio. My DH said that it would be warm there and so I was expecting something close to Texas weather. We got there and it was a high 90's day, but it was NOTHING like Texas. We were able to sit outside and, yes it was warm, but it was quite pleasant. I very much enjoyed the weather while we were there.

The weather there seemed like Spring in Texas. There were flowers blooming everywhere. Their property extends into the woods. The trees are mostly maples and are full of birds. Sandy said that they had a deer with a fawn, but that it had been weeks since she had seen them. We saw them twice while we were there. Beautiful to look at, but not so good for the garden. Sandy has to usually fence everything off to keep them out of the hostas.

This bed has the Liatris blooming. They were just covered with bumblebees.

You can't really tell, I hoped that the picture would turn out better, but these flowers were just covered with bees. You can make a few of them out. I have yet to see a bumblebee in Texas. In fact, I haven't seen very many bees at all.

A close up the Asters in the garden. Sandy said these come back every year.

Finches at the birdfeeder.

John gong after the Japanese Beetles. He would shake them off the tree into a can filled with soapy water.

Szalonna in Ohio

The Repas-Pacsuta Family Reunion was held in Aurora, Ohio on July 19, 2008. We gathered around my SIL's condo pavilion and sat around the grill cooking Szalonna, which is Hungarian for bacon. A day for artery hardening, but it was well worth it!

Here is a pic of my FIL, John, cutting up the Szalonna for preparation for cooking for the next day. The Szalonna is a smoked slab of bacon on the rind, that is cut into small chunks and off of the rind.

Below is a picture of the fire getting started on the grill and then everyone sitting around the grill cooking it up. Before you knew it everyone was standing around the grill waiting for the next piece of rye bread to be done!

The secret to a really good Szalonna sandwich is to make sure that the bread is a good rye bread and saturated with the bacon fat and then placing the cooked bacon on top. Top with your favorites, in this case, we had onions, bell pepper, and tomatoes, and it is wonderful! This was my first Szalonna tasting. I can hardly wait for the next time.

I told my DH that we need to have our own Szalonna party here in Texas. So, I'm on the lookout for a good Hungarian meat market.