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Wordless Wednesday
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A Tale of Two Tarts
August and September are the best months for tomatoes. I can’t grow them, we don’t get enough sunshine in our yard. I’ve tried many times, and it always comes out that I spend far too much money and time on the water for the tiny little crop that we get. It’s pathetic. So I support our local farmers by going to the weekend Farmer’s Markets, and I get some pretty amazing tomatoes. So awhile ago, a cooking blog that I sometimes follow posted a picture of an amazing looking tomato tart on their Facebook page, and I decided that I had to try it. Happily, a few weeks later, we…
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Recall Stupidness
California is sometimes a wonderful place, with our amazing produce and wine and sunshine and coastline. It is sometimes a horrible place, with our wildfires, droughts, insane housing prices, our never ending homeless problems, and hot hot weather. And sadly, it is often a stupid place, with our ballot initiatives and our recall elections. This history of the process goes back to the early 20th century, when sweeping reforms went through in an attempt to weaken influence of private interests, and give more power to the voter. Sadly, this means we often get to vote on stupid things, including sometimes contradictory measures that confuse the voters. Our recall process is…
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Wordless Wednesday
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Meme Monday
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Meme Monday – Salade Niçoise
I like to cook healthy, light meals. I also like to eat a big bag of salt and vinegar chips by myself, in little portions so it doesn’t seem like I’m actually going to finish the bag, but really, whom are we kidding? No one. One meal that I really like when it is summer and the tomatoes are good is Salade Niçoise. My recipe is kind of old school, and I prefer canned tuna to fresh. Ted prefers fresh, so if he is making the salad, he will grill tuna outside. If I’m making it, I find the expensive Italian tuna in a jar. I like to add avocado…
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Wordless Wednesday – Bastille Day dinner
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Catching Up….
I’m not sure if you will be able to see this video or not…it shows for me. It’s just the view from the house where we stayed last weekend, and the delicious rain outside…not so delightful to those of you not in the midst of a drought. But delightful for me to be sure. It’s been a busy time around here. Or not around here, actually. Last weekend we flew up to Portland to see my family, and also to scatter my father’s ashes, as was his wish. I was simultaneously looking forward to and dreading the trip. So do I tell you about it sequentially, or start with the…
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Wordless Wednesday – Instagram Translation Fail
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Meme Monday
I haven’t found a way to weave this meme in with the content below, but it speaks to me. This weekend was another of easing back into normal. Saturday, I got my hair done. I’ve been pretty comfortable getting my hair done during the pandemic, ever since I heard of a study done on two hairdressers who both tested positive for COVID, and had been seeing a lot of clients (I think maybe they worked at a Supercuts or something like that), and they did not pass it on to a single client. They were able to do really thorough contact tracing and no one got sick. Thanks to masks.…
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Friday Randomness
Today’s post is one of those potpourri type posts, where I have some ideas, but haven’t gotten around to putting them in their own blog posts, so I am going to lump them all together. Ted and Maya were away last week. Ted’s aunt, who lives in Salt Lake City, had a stroke last year. His mom wanted to go visit her, but of course she could not, due to COVID restrictions. Earlier this year, his mom fell and fractured her foot. It is mostly healed now, but Ted and his brother weren’t thrilled with the idea of her traveling alone. She is nearing her mid-80s, and is extremely active,…
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J’s Chicken Milanese
Last year, I posted a recipe for avocado and grapefruit salad, which is refreshing and delicious. I’ve messed with the recipe a bit (OK, not the same at all really) and made it into a light meal, basically a Chicken Milanese. I’ve made it with both grapefruit and orange, and both are wonderful. Here’s my version, with oranges. J’s Chicken Milanese Ingredients 4 large navel oranges 2 or 3 avocados, depending on how much you like avocados and how big they are 1 package baby arugula (I don’t know how many oz those little bags are…5?) 1 lb chicken breast, sliced or pounded thin into 4 cutlets. One of our…
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Wordless Wednesday – Bath time edition
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Wordless Wednesday
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Savory Oatmeal
My grandma used to make me delicious oatmeal, with butter, milk, and brown sugar. Sometimes my mom would make it similarly, and throw raisins in as well. I like oatmeal, but have only had it sweetened, either with brown sugar, or in my middle aged years, seasonal fruit, usually raspberries and blueberries, add a banana if I’m very hungry. I’ve seen people rave about oatmeal with banana and peanut butter, and I tried it once, but it wasn’t really for me. Then Nance posted about eggs in her alphabetical post series, and a discussion ensued about savory oatmeal in the comments. I adore eggs, I like oatmeal, and it seems…