Blue & Gray

Now, normally in these parts, when that phrase is used, we're talking about the Civil War (or as more southern Southerners than I will still call it, "The War of Northern Aggression." We hold on to grudges down here is these parts.), but in this case, I'm talking about the cloudy skies we've had of late. The last few weeks we've had several thunder storms and hazy days.

All of this seems to be mirroring life. There are a lot of mixed blessings going around in my life and the lives of family and friends. Health scares and waiting for further information, frustration over projects not moving forward as planned, added to the general unease that listening to the national and international news brings on.

The good news is that, as in this picture, there is plenty to smile about because not all clouds are gray and filled with rain. The sun will shine again, and all of these issues will eventually resolve themselves. I'm waiting patiently for the clouds to part.

Dinners and Desserts

I've been on a cooking binge, at least by my standards. When people ask me about my interests, I almost always mention that I like to cook, but the irony is that I don't often actually make what I consider "real meals." My friend Nancy actually makes fun of me because I can happily eat popcorn for dinner (or breakfast, I hate to admit). Mostly this is because, as a single person, there's always so much extra food whenever I follow a recipe that it doesn't seem worth the hassle. That and the fact that I also have to clean up. I hate doing both.

For awhile now I've been trying to think of ways to incorporate my love of very spicy food in healthier ways than my go-to Mexican dishes, since they so often include at least cheese, if not also fat of several kinds. I know that there are lots of spicy Asian dishes, and Indian food is some of my favorite. So I've bought a few new cookbooks and set out to acquire all the necessary ingredients. In and of itself, this is a change for me. I have a lot of cookbooks, and love reading them (like novels, in fact), but I am rarely organized enough to have an idea of what recipes I want to cook and have a list when I go to the grocery. Too often I just rely on my easy standbys.

My new plan worked out well, because on the day that I was shopping for the many ingredients, my friend Maria called me up looking for some company that evening. We happily made plans for me to bring the groceries to her place, and that night we cooked two great noodle dishes. For closer looks, click on my flickr page. Since then I've also made some yummy tikka masala and even baked - which I really don't like to do!

Happy Anniversary!!!

Just popping in to say a big "Happy, happy Day" to Kat and Josh! Enjoy your day and I hope you get to spend some good time doing something you both love, together. Or at least eating great food and drinking good drinks!

And for everyone else, I know, I know! I've been on "summer vacation" from the blog. I promise to get back on this horse very, very soon!