Can't believe I haven't posted in a week....but lots going on this time of year, and this year even more. I have been working on menus and recipes for the Earth Literacy Retreat that started yesterday, and trying to decide if I can actually fit any of the programs in. Not looking too good, but who knows ? Last night was the opening ceremony and I attended that, after serving supper to 13 people ON TIME. lol I didn't get home til after 10. Slept this morning until 7:30 and am up and at it again. The only thing I'm doing at home today for the supper tonight is making a dessert...watermelon mint sorbet. Yesterday I made a big batch of Gazpacho. It was so good that they begged me to leave the leftovers so they could have it with their lunch today. I was a tiny bit nervous about cooking for these people I don't know, but it all turned out well and they are all lovely. We have 1 from Canada, 2 from So. CA, 1 from Mexico, 1 from Oklahoma, 1 from Massachusetts, 2 from Missouri, 2 from Illinois, 1 from Seattle and 1 from Uruguay. .. and I can't remember where else.
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Lordy !! It's another week later still !!! Yikes, the time has gotten away from me.
The week long retreat was wonderful, even though I wound up not taking the thing itself. It was too much to try to do with all the cooking. Had I planned simpler meals, perhaps I could have worked it out, but I don't think so. Too much to do here at home every day to be able to spend that much time there...
The overwhelming gratitude and praise from these people for the meals I prepared really floored me. I made some new friends and the people that organize the thing have asked me to please do it again next year, that this was the best it has ever been. All in all, good ego strokes for me...
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The garden is limping along. The weather has been so strange. It LOOKS good--all lush and green still. I have a counter full of odds and ends sitting here...cucumbers, tomatoes, okra, cabbage, squash...and this after noon I will get the dehydrators out and start drying some stuff. This morning it is 55 degrees and chilly out there. Destined to hit about 70. We have had no hot/sunny days that are so necessary for the tomatoes and okra, but the cabbages are flourishing. The butternuts are looking pretty good too...we have about 2 dozen of them out there, which is a pretty nice crop. Raccoons or something are eating my tomatoes. Not a lot of them, but they're just starting to ripen... The edamame is looking so-so....soybeans need hot dry weather too. We have lots of pods, but I don't know that they are fully developed...we'll see. We dug about 3/4 of the potatoes and got an okay haul from that, about 2 bushel. The sweet potatoes are looking good, so we'll see. The lettuce hasn't performed nearly as well this year as it did last year, maybe because of where I planted it, but I don't know. We still have a little that we're eating...the chard was miserable and the kale was okay. Goofy goofy year, all in all.
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Monday I started Round 2 of the diet. Can't believe I made it through the whole 28 days, it seemed to go really fast. I lost 10 pounds and some inches...don't know how much, because I didn't measure myself when I started like I was supposed to. But yesterday I wore pants I haven't been able to get into. And most of my clothes feel looser. SO--this time I measured and am trying to be a lot more strict with myself. It got hard that last week, because I was eating stuff not on the plan (even though it was mostly all very healthy stuff) because I had to eat with them when I cooked. The cooking was all vegetarian and all (or almost all) organic. And, I made a fresh peach and blueberry pie that I HAD to taste...it was magnificent !! Here it is:
Maybe this is a better picture, the crust really wasn't dark at all...
Okay, I have to run, sitting with my neighbor today, and we are going down to the river town where they grow lots of peaches around here, because the realtors are coming to show their house. We will have lunch at one of the fish places and get peaches and have a nice little outing. He loves to go places...and she hasn't had the chance to get down there and get some peaches. So....I'm out of here, but will be back soon.
Namaste, y'all !!
5 comments:
It all sounds wonderful Annie!
Wow! You HAVE been busy! How wonderful to cook for such a diverse and grateful group. There is nothing better than to have people love your food. Our weather here is very similar to yours - it has been in the upper 40s a couple of mornings! Lots and lots of green tomatoes. Glad you're back posting~
You make me tired just reading what all you do in a day. You are amazing really. The group you cooked for couldn't help but like what you did - everything you make sounds very good.
Those Sufi dancers are the best! And I'm glad to hear the eating plan is going well
It's always great to hear from you. I am not surprised that they loved your cooking, Annie, I think you are one of the most creative chefs I know! And I love the Sufi dancers. Congratulations on shedding a few pounds, it will be good for your knees. At least it sure helped mine. :-)
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