• Salad with Avocado and Pickled Onions

    I was scrolling through Facebook the other day, and Smitten Kitchen posted a recipe for a salad that looked really good. I decided I wanted to give it a try, so I made it for dinner last night. I made a few changes. I used romaine hearts instead of iceberg, I used feta cheese instead of cotija, and I used more pickled onions because I love pickled onions. I served it with a roasted chicken for Ted and myself, and with fake chicken for Maya. Delicious. You can find the recipe and her beautiful photos, here. Smitten Kitchen’s Baby Wedge Salad with Avocados and Pickled Onions Pickle your onions: Combine…

  • Friday Five

    It’s been a busy week around here! Here are a few things that are going on. Look at this Big Dumb Cup. My friend Neva gave it to me for Galentine’s Day. It holds 32oz, so I will not be dehydrated. I like having it at my desk. One of my bloggy friends (I forget whom) recently read Land of Milk and Honey, by C Pam Zhang. Based on your recommendation, I listened to it this week while out taking walks, cooking dinner, that kind of thing. I liked it a lot. The writing was lyrical in many places, which is interesting in a dystopian novel. Here’s the blurb from…

  • Monday Morning Musings

    It’s 6am on Monday morning. Usually I write my posts the day before and schedule them, but today I am writing in real time. I don’t have anything earth shattering to share, but want to post something, since it’s been awhile. How are you this Monday morning? Have you ever gotten Wordle in one guess? Do you use the same starter word every day? Do you even play Wordle? Any home repairs that are just too much money to contemplate?

  • Blustery Weather – Crab, Grapefruit, and Avocado Salad

    California was recently walloped by some fierce weather, especially down south. Our neighborhood got some rain, and some gale force winds. The winds knocked down some trees in our neighborhood, which always makes me sad for a life cut short. In better news, the wind also knocked a bunch of grapefruit down from a tree on one of my morning walks, and I grabbed as many firm ones as I could carry (3). I still had some leftover crab in the fridge, but not enough to make crab cakes*, so I decided to make a first course for our dinner instead. The result was a delicious and refreshing dish, above,…

  • Miscellaneous Monday

    Today’s post is just a bit of randomness. Before we dive in, the picture above is from Tug Dogs, an amazing dog training company a couple of hours from here. I first heard about them from BARK, the Keeshond rescue that connected us with both of our darling dogs, Mulder (2015-2023) and Genevieve (1998-2012). One thing they do at Tug Dogs is to take in dogs that have behavior issues, diagnose the issues, and help the dogs to feel safe and secure, so they can help them to understand how to live happily in a confusing human run world. I follow them on Facebook, and the funny picture above was…

  • Lessons from January

    The photo above is just a house on one of my morning walks. I wanted to show you how pretty the citrus trees are this time of year. This yard has oranges, tangerines, and lemons. Lovely! I took on a few challenges in January, and lessons were learned. TL;DR – I crushed my goals and am continuing them into February. I participated in Dry Damp January, I did Adriene’s 30 Day Yoga Journey, and I did a 30 day Fitness Challenge, that I counted as Strength. Damp January reminded me that I sleep better without wine. I get into bad habits, like having a glass of wine while I cook…