The just past full moon, through the trees, over the house to the west.
Beardog on lookout.
Foggy mist rising as sunrise approaches.
Foggy morning walk…
… in wonderfully cool (39F) air.
Apple cinnamon rolls (mini) with a brown sugar-cinnamon-goat cheese frosting to celebrate the last day of the work week (a GREAT work week), the return of cool weather and the demise (mostly) of the yellow jackets.
The sun finally made it.
Friday morning.
So.
Saturday.
Saturday started with Farmer’s market.
Sunflowers, a mix of cherry tomatoes of various hues, a HUGE zucchini (courgette) and 2 heirloom slicers!
On returning home, Bear hit the side yard.
I missed the photo, but he had a nice roll on the stiff, brown (un-watered) grass.
And then the start of a nap.
But, the yellow jackets.
And the heat.
He came inside.
Meanwhile…
I chopped herbies…
For a chicken dish I’ve had my eye on.
BUT.
After I had the chicken marinating in the herbs and olive oil and lemon juice and garlic…
I went to the bedroom for something…
Bear was sound asleep.
I was dragging.
I put the marinating chicken in the refrigerator and then crawled into bed.
Bear stayed.
This was 1:00 ish p.m.
I came to at 4:55 p.m.
Bear was in the same spot.
Yep…we HIT the wall. I guess we needed it. Funny that it was both of us.
After the prolonged nap, we got up.
Had a good long walk.
I fixed a burger dinner for Bear.
I fixed a pancake dinner for me.
Another long walk.
We went to bed.
8:30 p.m.
Sunday.
A Fried Egg sandwich extraordinare for breakfast.
I finally cooked the marinating chicken… oh-la-la to the MAX! The recipe: My Little Expat’s Kitchen: Chicken with tomatoes and olives
Moving on:
Bear and I hopped in the Jeep and had a drive south to Swan Lake.
The leaves are turning and it looks Fallish…
But it was HOT!
Still.
We hit the wall, we bounced back, we are moving on.
Forging ahead.
I cook.
I eat.
It’s chile season…fresh Anaheims…roasted.
Added to tortilla dough.
Yes, it is still hot and mostly I’ve been cooking early morning, but I needed to cook this afternoon…
…so, I did.
The Bear-boy was in attendance.
*** Homesick Texan’s Hatch Chile Flour Tortilla recipe
****** Wild Thing has GREAT exhaust fans and the humidity is barely double digits and our spot is shaded so it IS possible to “heat up the kitchen” and keep it cool as well!
I was born nearly 58 years ago.
No microwaves, no computers, not even electronic calculators!!
We had black and white televisions. My one set of grandparents had a tv that got mostly snow with maybe a 7 inch diagonal screen in a big box! My other grandparents and one aunt and uncle had color televisions but getting people to not look green or pink was a constant adjustment process and sometimes just ignored.
Phones were wired into a wall outlet and they had rotary dials.
We made popcorn in a pan on the stove. It was a special thing as I remember. Sometimes we had Jiffy Pop which I just googled and is still made! It is advertised as being better than any microwave popcorn…that’s funny!
Last weekend, I visited a specialty vinegar and olive oil store to pick up more white balsamic vinegar: a new obsession. I highly recommend trying it if you like to cook. The store has some kitchen ware and various condiments and goodies. I picked up a package of some of the goodies: Funky Chunky Sea Salt Caramel Chocolate popcorn and cashews. It was good and not horrible ingredients. It got me thinking about popcorn.
I went through a time when I always had some microwave popcorn in the cupboard but have not had any lately…as in years. I remembered that a number of cooking blogs had various flavored popcorn recipes.
Can of worms.
One thing led to another.
I looked at air poppers and popcorn pans with handles and paddles and finally found instructions for making popcorn the way I remember we used to when I was a kid. Oil and a couple of kernels in the pan, heat the oil until the kernels pop, add the rest of the corn, shake a bit until the popping stops.
Guess what??
It still works.
It took maybe 8 minutes start to finish…10 if you count dithering about which pan and what kind of oil to use.
I used a 2 quart sauce pan, 3/4 T of clarified butter (ghee), 3/4 T olive oil and 1/3 cup white popcorn kernels.
I threw on some salt and started munching.
Better than any microwave popcorn.
Minimal clean up, too.
Huh.
Today, I decided to try the salted caramel chocolate version.
Yep, that works, too :)!
A little more labor and cleanup but not bad. I lightened up the amount of caramel and chocolate and salt – one of the benefits of making my own.
Overall, I’m more of a savory snacker and will probably stick to butter, salt and maybe a bit of cheese powder on my popcorn – which I will be making more often – but this makes a fun, sweet treat. And I think a bit healthier than a handful of cookies. It is supposed to last for several weeks in airtight containers.
I am easily entertained…this was fun!
*** I used this recipe except I substitued coconut oil for the butter in the caramel sauce and sprinkled sea salt over all after I drizzled the chocolate.
***the next day: I put the salted-caramel-chocolate popcorn in mason jars, in the refrigerator as even my coolest cupboard is a bit warm at the moment. A taste test this morning reveals that it is good cold and the flavor is even better than the fresh. I am pleasantly surprised!
A good work week with MUCH accomplished.
Time to put my feet up and enjoy Friday evening.
Bear and I took advantage of what I’ve observed is a 5-6 p.m. lull in yellow jacket activity. We had our preprandial walk in the woods and then the temps (86F) and increased buzzing brought us inside to cool off, relax and think about supper.
I had a pasta & salad bowl. It looks like chili-mac but actually the sauce is my vegetable marinara with lentil-ricotta “meat” balls. The romaine is dressed with cucumber-yogurt-olive oil and rice vinegar. Half of a scallion pancake rounds out my dinner bowl.
Bear had kibble and his evening greenie!
Cherries, basil and lemon are waiting to be made into a half-pint jar of cherry preserves.
Actually, the mix plus some sugar is simmering on the stove as I write.
Wild Thing is home from her spa treatment.
She is smooth and shiny and all aglow from the wash and wax.
And ready to convey Bob, Bear and me to Great Falls, MT (220 miles) this coming Friday (8/16…also my birthday!). Mr. Bob has an appointment for a CT Scan.
Big Sky Animal Medical Center has RV parking on site – YEA! The plan is a fairly early departure on Thursday 8/15 so as to get settled and have a relaxing afternoon the day before. The BSAMC person(s) will come out to the motorhome for the pre-exam and then take Bob for the quick 30 minute, sedated CT Scan.
A surgeon, actually Dr. Scherr who did Bear’s first TPLO surgery, is available to immediately do anything the CT Scan turns up.
The hope and prime contender is that as the ear drums healed, they trapped some fluid in the inner or middle ear and that just needs to be drained. And maybe there is a polyp in there causing an issue. Quick fixes I am told.
Yep, there are worse things but no need to go there and the trapped fluid fits with everything.
Meanwhile, Bob is still wobbly but also still eating, drinking, etc. and normally active.
I am so thankful that this facility is available. The alternatives are the veterinary teaching hospitals: Washington State or Colorado State. Although, they are wonderful places, with state of the art equipment, the scenario would be much more stressful for Bob than a pick up from our own motorhome! Big Sky Animal Medical Center will be much more low key and Bob is likely to be sedated and unaware for most of the time he is in the facility, hopefully waking up with Bear and me in the familiar surroundings of Wild Thing. And the cost is about 1/3 of the alternatives which means a bit less stress for me, also :) !
Friday News. Pretty good news. Hope your Friday has good news also.
