Saturday Couchal Photos

Do you think Thistle is comfy? I sure hope she is comfy.

Cricket is very thorough when she cleans her paws. She jams 'em down her throat, and we can hear the knuckles crack.

Mmmmm frito-y goodness!

Super Important Wednesday Update

One (1) of my sunflowers bloomed. So now if we frost, I can say, I grew one (1) sunflower. :)

Also, have you ever had elephant garlic?

When I saw it, I was all, "WOW! This is AWESOME! Finally when a recipe calls for "one clove of garlic", I can follow it exactly and be okay with it! But... it's not garlic. It doesn't even taste like garlic. It tastes like a really bland, mild leek. Now not only do I have disappointment, I have no garlic. DL says that decades from now when we write our memoirs about the hardships and privations we had to endure during the Great Pandemic, I should write about the Disappointment of Elephant Garlic.

Fall is.. not quite... fallling...

Mid last week, my first fireweed turned red. There is always an early one!

And while I was taking the photo, I noticed a sleeping bumblebee, not yet warmed by the sun.

Today (Monday), my first sunflower is (finally) about to bloom!

I also noticed a volunteer pansy! My first ever volunteer ornamental! I don't have any pansies, so this one must've come by bird!

Yesterday and today, we had bluebird skies:

Our weekend "small adventure" (when we don't do a longer dayhike) is this trail from home. For the part near the road, I keep the girls hooked to me and we canicross. We are super fast and have to stop every now and then to let DL catch up.

Look! The first tinge of yellow on the trees:

Walking, walking:

The blueberry plants are red now:

Walking, walking...

A sunny spot in the woods:

The sky is bluetrueblue:

Homeward now!

Here is our main road, looking South:

And looking North:

And here is our road. Home is on the left:

More food photos

I promise this isn't turning into a food blog, but pandemic times make us more navel-gazey, so here we are. Plus, I try to cook with a variety of colors and textures, and that makes my meals visually interesting, if I do say so myself. Here is what I call the "Martin Yan phase" of cooking. It's when all of the prepwork is done, and you say, "I can make dinner in five minutes!"

See? Shrimp chow mein in five minutes!

I got 18 quarts of blueberries this year. It has been a stupendous season! So here is a blueberry-rhubarb pie:

Mmmmm, pie!

I also made blueberry biscotti:

I had prepped dinner before starting the biscotti, so I could minimize the time that the oven was on (as soon as the biscotti was out, dinner went in). So I had chicken brining and veggies chopped and drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with chopped garlic for roasting. As I made the biscotti, the detritus around me gave me great visual pleasure. Look! The lemons, the herbs, the garlic, the wine, the waiting chicken... It all speaks to my many simple blessings--good food, good kitchen skills, a productive little garden, and a great local CSA. I feel blessed indeed.

Here are the veggies. In addition to the garlic and olive oil, they got dressed with thyme, fresh coriander seeds (thanks to those lovely bees and hoverflies I have spent the past two months admiring), and fancy coarse salt:

It came out... well, okay. Ya know, I just prefer broccoli and green leafy veggies, but the CSA gave us beets and cauliflower, so... Well, it's good for both DL and me to eat a variety, and I think that that is another benefit of the CSA. It forces you to eat things that aren't your favorites, so you get those extra nutrients!

My faithful sous chefs like cauliflower and beets just fine!

The chicken came out just fine!

The feel of Fall is in the air

We began to get darkness at night about a week ago, and last night, the sky was glittering with stars. It is still raining frequently, but when the sun comes out, it is long, slanting, golden. This morning, it was positively breathtaking, with the glowing light illuminating the colors of the morning--the green trees slightly dulling, the blue sky, the red tones in the dogs' fur.

Just a few evenings ago was our most recent rainbow:

The ground plants are turning already:

I made a big pot of minestrone, with CSA veggies, tortellini, and mayocoba beans. The first night we had it with grilled turkey sandwiches:

The second night, I made a focaccia. I had some extra thyme!

A fine thyme was had by all (I even had fancy coarse pink salt):

Oooh, we fancy!

Here is a gratuitous photo of Cricket with her octopus:

Also, since cooler weather is coming, I dug out my winter safety glasses. They do not fog up! They are also an excellent reminder to use safety glasses that are intended to protect you in the situation you are in. Thus: Those that shield you from chemicals may not provide mechanical protection, and vice versa; and these, obviously, will provide NO coronavirus protection whatsoever!

Also, do you like my coronavirus-pantsal-decontamination station? It uses solar power!

Good Eats

OK before we get to the food photos, here is a photo of Thistle pondering the Meaning of It All:

And one of Cricket using a pillow oddly:

Since it’s been a pretty cool summer, I’ve been able to turn on the oven with some regularity. Here is a quick way to make a chicken pot pie: Use instant biscuits from a can as a top crust:

Mmm:

Miss Thistle is my faithful kitchen supervisor:

I also decided to take advantage of a free afternoon to attempt to make puff pastry. What to do with it… How about some rhubarb filling?

They came out good!

And perfectly puffy:

My faithful kitchen supervisor was at her post the whole time, of course!