1st November

Planning is highly overrated. At least I hope it is because I've not had time to make menus or look for recipes. Just for the two of us, spur of the moment creativity is more my style anyway. That doesn't work for foods that require a long cooking time such as beans. Canned beans are handy, but after simmering a pot of beans yesterday, I think they taste better than canned.

Breakfast is usually yogurt and juice for my husband and cereal with banana for me. My husband takes a lunch to work, the same thing every day. . . sandwich, can of diet cola, apple, cookie and chips.

The herbs are finally washed and hanging to dry. 

Friends and family came over yesterday evening for a chili supper. Friends brought a delicious Indian salad of cucumbers, yogurt, sour cream and cilantro.  It was a perfect contrast to the chili. Baked lentils and cheese was also a hit. I never make it the same way twice. This time I added added spinach and potatoes. It was made on the cooktop, strained and saved the liquid, tossed with cheddar cheese, put into a casserole dish and baked 30 minutes at 350F.

The meal ended with a tradition our kids started New Years Day, singing for us after dinner. We are blessed by a classical guitarist.  and by our  'adopted kids', a couple from Korea, a tenor and a pianist and their little Maltese.  The repertoire varies and it is always beautiful.

I am going back to Dad's this afternoon. It's just a short trip to take them to vote tomorrow.  See you soon.

Enjoy the day!

Gathering

Today is my dad's 86th birthday! He lives two-and-a-half hours away. We started celebrating yesterday with dinner out. We are going out to breakfast this morning.  Happy Birthday Dad! I love you!!!

I am learning the frustrations of blogging. Yesterday I wrote a blog post on my phone. It needed a few pictures from my computer so I saved it in drafts. So I thought... Here is the quick version, haha.  I'll be back home this afternoon.



The tomato plants are still growing. Loads of little green tomatoes and lots of flowers probably won't make it through the night. The low temperature should be about 29F. Wednesday afternoon I picked all the ripe tomatoes and harvested all the basil, sage, thyme and oregano.  They will  make the bakery smell good!




This was at test year for the little kitchen garden.
The west-facing corner just outside the kitchen &  bakery did great.  I need to figure out how to build a growing tower so next year the two cherry tomato plants don't take over the sidewalk! Rosemary did okay in the pot, but it didn't grow very much. I'll overwinter it in the house. 

With any luck, the tomato plants survived last night. I've read they can be hung upside down in the garage and the tomatoes will ripen.  I hope it is true... 

  If the basil roots, there will be fresh basil all winter.