Archive for ‘August, 2012’

A Thursday

My Wednesday did not go according to plan from the get-go.

One thing that slipped was a trip to town for supplies.

This morning, Thursday morning … in a “kill two birds with one stone” frame of mind, I whistled Bear into Wild Thing for the gathering of supplies, the download of some large files on town’s 4Glte (!!!) and who knew what else.

The morning was beautiful: cool and misty as the sun rose over the mountains and through the woods.

Bear was ALL in for a bit of RV adventure!

We stopped on the way for a walk, parked in a shady spot near the grocery for the download and supply gathering…we both had our breakfast “on the road” – and then headed for home to make it just in the nick of time for a late morning work/meeting session.

Later…

Thursday, is CSA garden day.

Yesterday, I got to thinking about it being August… and we’ve had some heat and sun and …WOW, the garden might start spewing forth some different things pretty soon!

And it did! The bag felt like 10 pounds: beets (WITH greens!!), ‘taters, peas & carrots, a head of lettuce, parsley, basil, KALE!, some “spring green” mix. I called on neighbors and friends to share.

Last week’s bag was good and I used it all…nothing new to report but I continued to enjoy the shredded carrot salad, the pea pesto (my absolute favorite non-basil pesto), a broccoli salad, chard-spinach-mushroom stir fry…

Next week’s cooking from the garden – it should have some new stuff.

Meanwhile, Thursday evening…Bear did his “it is too hot” version of the perimeter patrol and then found a shady spot to have a treat. I let Bob out and he sprawled near us on the porch. I told them, that their nearness to each other and me – it was the absolute BEST birthday month present they could give.

We all sat together and enjoyed. It was 85 but not unpleasant in the shade with a soft breeze and my good boys. Actually, it was heaven to me.

Bear ultimately decided the cool of the house had appeal. I got the camera and tripod to capture a moment with Bob…who has apparently forgiven my passe taste for white wine…well, I am the one who dispenses the food, allows access to the bed, puts fleece cat blankies hither and yon…

A Thursday.

Belly up to the bar…with Bob

Bob takes his drink straight up…right from the well…None of this sissified ice and mint leaves stuff…

So, I “girled-up” and poured my white wine straight…

“Oh, brother…I’m not with her…”

…but this bed is rather nice…

On the front porch for cocktail hour.

If I don’t look at her maybe no one will think we’re together…

Montana unplugged: through the eyes and lens of Tina Oliphant

Shortly after Bear took his 2 day walk about last December, an unknown car pulled into my driveway and up to my house.

Tina has beardogs and through the grapevine and some mutual acquaintances, she’d heard about Bear and came to inquire if he’d been found.

Since that meeting we have shared some time together, exchanged stories, she is helping me help Bear to be comfortable around other dogs and she has been a willing test-taster of some of my new recipes :)!

Over the 4th of July holiday, Tina (and Arcturus) guided a friend and his two grandsons on a 4 day backpacking trip on the Eastern front of the Continental Divide. They hiked in about 6 miles and made a base camp from which they did day hikes and exploring of the area. The boys live in Boston and were in Montana with their family visiting their grandfather. Tina put together the slideshow below as a memorial of that trip. AND, she did it on the Sunday afternoon after they returned from the trip so that the boys could watch with their grandfather while they were still in Montana. I happen to think it is the most beautiful thing I’ve seen in some time.

If you can, watch this on a good big screen monitor with excellent speakers.

The music is Adiemus, the first track from the album Songs of Sanctuary, composed by Karl Jenkins.

Cool August Morning

Kind of an oxymoron, eh??? … cool August Morning…

Thankfully, that is NOT unusual in these parts…in northwest Montana!

A cold front blew through the area last Thursday evening. It was accompanied by a wonderful overnight soak of rain.

The moisture, the rising sun, the cool overnight temperatures = a beautiful, misty morning.

Also, on Thursday evening…a friend picked Huckleberries…and she brought some to me!!!

These huckleberries are truly a gift extraordinairre! This is an hour and a half of picking…not to mention the driving to the picking area and the walking/climbing to the picking spot…AND the fact that the competition for huckleberries is Grizzly Bears!

Fortunately this friend has a bear savvy European Laika … VERY close kin to Karelian Bear Dog. Still…

The berries are absolutely gorgeous. I tried to capture them several ways. Their color is spectacular and varied. The scent is intoxicating. The possiblities for their use…I am considering several…

Eating from the garden (and the orchard!) : week 12

Years ago when I subscribed to an organic vegetable delivery, I learned that it was interesting and fun to plan my meals around the week’s delivery. I’m doing the same this summer and it has resulted again in discovering new ways to use the garden bounty. It is actually easier now with the plethora of food and cooking blogs.

I am not a fan of what odd ingredients can we mix in this week…BUT, then here I am with some unusual – at least to me – combos this week.

Carrots have been in the garden bag for the past several weeks. First there were a few baby carrots. They have been getting bigger but are still wonderfully sweet and flavorful. I have shared some with neighbors and the rest munched as a snack or added to my pasta salad.

This week, though, I remembered a potluck salad of grated carrots, raisins and ??? I looked at a number of recipes and then made a carrot-dried cranberry-chard-walnut mix with a pineapple ginger creamy vinaigrette dressing. Oh boy… I was glad to see in the garden email this morning that there were carrots again this week because this salad was goooodddd!

I paired it with some Copper River Red Sockeye Salmon and raw – fresh from the garden – peas.

Peas…there were still some peas. Fresh peas – so good and sweet.

My recipe searching turned up several variations of sweet pea pesto. You’d think I would have had enough pesto, considering I’ve turned every green thing from the garden into pesto…but no. I took from several recipes and ended up blitzing the peas, lemon juice, sunflower seeds, sunflower oil, parmesan, salt, pepper and garlic. And then… I used that sweet pea pesto on a pizza…

Sweet pea pesto, leftover salmon, Vidalia sweet onion, mozzarella…AND SWEET CHERRIES!

It was so good, I had 3 of the same this past week although the last 2 did not include salmon. The sweet pea pesto and sweet cherries was the bomb!

And last night, Wednesday, August 1…the first full moon in August night…I finished pitting my twenty pounds of cherries purchased last weekend. Some have been blitzed with basil and sugar into syrup and frozen. Some just frozen. Some used on the pizza and some in my cereal and some eaten as a snack. I hope to make either Cherry Preserves or Cherry Marmalade this weekend. The rest I hope are a wonderful surprise treat through the winter.

This Summer has been going well. It got a bit of a late start which is fine with me. Since then, the heat has been moderate and short-lived…broken up by cool spells. Eating from the garden – the research and planning has helped me enjoy a time that is not my favorite.

This morning was cool and beautiful. Bob and I have been having some time together on the front porch as Bear does not like to be out when the sprinklers are going. He has a thing about spraying water…

So, Mr. Bob and I have our quiet time together while Bear takes a morning nap.

The sun rose through a few clouds into a blue, blue sky.

Smile Bob!! Time to start Thursday… well… I think that is his “sit down and drink your coffee and stop pointing that darn camera at me” expression. So, I did. Happy Thursday!