Sunday, 8 May 2016
Ooops, not. Maybe it’s just an iris, and it IS Mother’s Day.
So, I was doing some simple cooking. And the cauliflower was purple. White at the base and purple at the…flower part. Nice contrast with the capers, no?
And, speaking of colorful, Thai curry à la Sammy and (Trader) Joe. With no fresh basil. And because of the recall, these are Danish peas. Of all things—Danish. Not merely organic….
Sunday, 1 May 2016
You see it in flowers and in insect wings, the delicacy of MaNachur’s artistic choices.
Thursday, 14 April 2016
As we drove along this small estuary, we decided to stop and behold it…get a bit more closeup, at a well-placed pull-off. And to set foot in Cornwall for the first time on this trip. We parked, and as we began strolling down to the waterfront area, I saw Army Men. Real, not an art installation in the shrubbery.
Three guys, in camo, with helmets and guns (pretty sure) and daubs of drab on their faces. Right in the vista-view pullout.
We spoke the more casual but still uniformed guys down by the water (no helmets or face-paint), and they said, training exercise. While we were in the general area, we saw two large helicopters also. Maneuvers, is that the term?
We made our way to Rame Head, one of many end-of-the-road peninsulas. Windy and sunny. On the high ground behind me is an installation now used by volunteers to monitor activities on the coast, and especially radio traffic for SOSs. I assume many are retired military. They had a telescope and binocs. Couldn’t see the radios.
We stopped in Polkerro for a stroll about town. The Pol- part means pool. We had crossed the Tamar River into Cornwall before the Army Men, and Polkerro is a tourist stop rather than much of a fishing village any more, so many shops had Cornish this and that. On our way out, we succumbed and got hot pasties to go; I had chicken and leek. Yum.
Polkerro harbor. Mighty rusty, the pulleys and whatnot on those fishing boats to the right.
Our daily castle: Restormel. Near the once-stannary town of Lostwithiel. I mention this because stannary is a new vocab word for me—means that the community was a center for monitoring the production of tin, so the royals could get their cut, I assume, and also possibly for minting coins.
This the gate looking out—two gates originally. The second shows the inside of the castle, same direction, from the upper walkway.
This is the administrative heart of the Duchy of Cornwall, and we all know who the Duke is, roight?
Friday, 25 March 2016
We went for fruit and burgers here for our Good Friday dinner. Not Great Friday, mind you, and just a tad less lovely than Fine Friday. The burgers were of bison, and the fruit in both blue and red varieties (both high in colorful antioxidants).
JCB scooped the groceries up from the Buckhead WhlFuds, not our nearby one, where they added three (count ’em) rubber bands to bind the plastic packs holding the two fruits.
My rubber band stash is now robust, if you need one.
Thursday, 17 March 2016
Of course, I have no idea what the last meal was of Paddy-who-became-St_Paddy.
Being far more Orange-men than Irishmen, we didn’t wear green…or drink green beer. Of course, we’re not Catholic either…so there ya go.
As to food, we had a green salad (say: sah-LAHD), and braised pork over left-over rice with some carrots stirred in. I tried to do crock-pot BBQ, but it came out VERY wet, hence braised. It was good, but not even a fake version of BBQ.
Vaguely Irish in concept, but not in meat (pork not mutton) or in flavors (BBQ not…root veg). Then, there are those New-World tomatoes….
Wednesday, 16 March 2016
Sometimes I feel like a lone tortellini in a world of mini-raviolis.
Saturday, 12 March 2016
Not sure what to write about; I’m immersed in an embarrassment of riches.
Above, Xocolatl hazelnut-chocolate spread on Walker’s shortbread, topped with fresh raspberries. Spectacular simple dessert….
And this, well, the redbuds are opening. Even though I took a happy photo.
Thursday, 25 February 2016
Fried oyster plate. Two sides: cole slaw and green pea casserole.
Had to try the latter because I didn’t think I’d had it in any version, plus the waitress said it had bacon in it.
Recipe is pretty close to mac-cheese minus most of the pasta and substitute about one-quarter that volume with peas; vary the flavorings a bit by adding a few sautéed onion slices and some crushed, fried-up bacon.
Now I can say I’ve tried it, and skip it the next time.
Reflected sunset light from a dark parking lot behind shipping containers used for storage. I particularly like the security light, its pole and electrical lines.
Saturday, 20 February 2016
First, I sautéed mushrooms. Then I chopped veg, got a pot of rice going, and started the iron skillet heating. Finally, I threw it together. The latter is the step that some recipes would indicate takes something like five minutes. For me, it’s more like fifteen.
Here’s the final plate. The seared tuna steak is under the green onions on the right side.
Friday, 12 February 2016
Today we repeatedly juxtaposed old and new, sun and shadow. We didn’t set out to do that…it just…happened.
We drove a stretch of the Old Dixie Highway, and saw a bit of Old Dixie, noting eroded soils, falling-down wooden buildings, weeds in droves, aging pecan groves, and rising fire-ant hills.
We also wound through back streets of Social Circle and Madison, trying to avoid the new construction and the upscale. We went by the HS of SC and saw the football players dispersing after practice, all headed, one by one, to jacked up shiny pickups. Where has all that money come from?
The highlight was visiting the new-old house of family (see cat in “cat-through”), and attending a dinner celebrating ninety big years.
