I went online and found this article that explains how to turn this little baby into a tree, so I’m going to do it.  I stabbed it with some toothpicks, submerged it in water and put it next to a sunny window.  I can’t wait for it to grow!!!

I am one who gets bored with things rather easily and eating the same handful of vegetables for the last 30 years – you know the ones – gets a little old.  Orange carrots, lettuce, spinach, green beans, zucchini, yellow squash, tomatoes, brussel sprouts, etc, are all delicious, but come on, where is the variety?!

Most grocery stores carry the same produce – the kind with a long shelf life that doesn’t bruise easily during transportation – so this is what the average, everyday person is used to (that is if that person even eats vegetables).  I want different colors and flavors – more flavor than that average crap has, so I spend a gozillion dollars either at farmers markets, Mothers or Whole Foods, but look at what I get!

This was one of the most beautiful salads I have ever made.  Not only was it gorgeous, but it was effing delicious.  Purple kale, ruby queen beets, purple carrots, purple radishes, green onions (from my garden), chia and sunflower seeds offer an array of flavors that come together so perfectly.

I didn’t eat it alone, I also made some awesome dressing, which I poured over the salmon that accompanied my salad, as well.

In my Mini Cuisinart I blended together olive oil, parsley, cilantro, green onions, garlic, salt, pepper and apple cider vinegar for this delicious dressing.  I can’t tell you how much of everything I put in, but if you’re planning on making it, just go with your gut and I’m sure it’ll turn out just fine.

Food trucks aren’t what they used to be, as everyone and their mom has discovered over the last few years.  I don’t know about you, but I used to know them as “roach coaches” where you could pick up any cheap, greasy, grimy non-inventive food your heart desired.  Nowadays food trucks are gourmet and fancy-pants and no longer cheap; however, you can find some of the most delicious food you’ve ever tasted in the belly of one of those gas-hog beasts.

My friend Maggie recently brought to my attention Food Truck Fare Wednesdays (and Thursdays) at the OC Fair grounds.  We shot straight down the 55 freeway after work one Wednesday night a couple weeks ago, grabbed a beer and these manchego, garlic cheese fries from Slummin’ Gourmet and primed our bellies for dinner.  In all honesty, the fries should have been dinner, but we moved on to lobster tacos for me, some kind of delicious noodles for Maggie, then waffles for dessert.  I wanted to die afterward and later realized I spent $30 on food truck fare, but hell, it was worth it.  You should go check it out.

There are so many amazing things to notice on a nature walk and I couldn’t help but stop every five steps to take another photo.

I’ve recently been mesmerized by reflections in general, and the mirror-like melted snow, in combination with a bright blue sky was just too much to handle. I could’ve stopped and stared at that puddle all day long.

Exposed roots are one of my favorite things. It’s like a sneak-peak into a secretive, underground world.

Rice paper leaves, secret tree trunk hiding holes and heart-centered tree stumps bring my imagination to a special place and allow me to focus on what’s really important in life – the here and the now.

I’m thankful for my nature escapes and the more grounded view of life they offer me.

The documentary covers the restoration of the American Prairie through the purchase of lands, the opening of those lands – for migratory paths, etc. and the re-introduction and protection of native animals, some of which had been missing for over 120 years.

The American Prairie Reserve has opportunities to explore and volunteer and I’m already planning a trip out. I can’t wait.

Now, on my daily walks with the dogs, I often stumble across little things that catch my eye, such as this growth of fungus on the side of an old tree stump.

It’s probably the most beautiful fungus I’ve ever seen, so I went back home, got my camera and returned to shoot it. Glad I did.

Throughout the book her daughter provides family recipes, all of which I’d like to try, however, the recipe I was most excited about was a pumpkin soup, served in its own shell. How cool.

As pumpkins aren’t available anymore – or I couldn’t find any around – I picked up an acorn squash, which was also more appropriate for what I intended – a meal for one. I used the main ingredients she used in her recipe, however, I improvised with what I had, or what I thought would be delicious. The recipe below is enough for two squash bowls.

Ingredients:

2 acorn squash

1 cup of milk

1 cup of chicken broth

a bunch of whatever herbs you desire

2 cloves of garlic

1 tbs butter

First I cut open my acorn squash and scooped out all the seeds.

I rinsed those little suckers and set them in the sun to dry.  I’m going to attempt to plant them next season – wish me luck.

I then browned some minced garlic in butter, added 1 cup of milk and 1 cup of chicken broth.

I picked all the herbs I had growing freshly in my garden – my not-seasonal basil, green onions, chives and oregano and I chopped those up and threw them in with my broth mixture.

After heating the mixture up a bit, I poured whatever would fit into my hollowed-out acorn squash.

With the oven pre-heated to 375, I placed the squash in a corningware dish with a lid (In the book’s recipe she suggests using foil – I had none, so I improvised) and baked it for an hour. Once the squash’s flesh was scoopable, I gently scooped the sides, attempting to not make any holes (I made one), put the squash flesh and broth mixture in a blender, blended it and poured it into my acorn bowl. So cute.

It was awesome.

I’ve always thought I had a tough time keeping basil alive, so when I found this beautiful, healthy, hydroponically grown basil at Whole Foods the other day, I picked it up. After Googling how to care for it, I learned that basil is a summer herb, meant for warmer weather and sunshine, hence the reasoning behind the plant’s death every year – I just thought I was a bad caregiver.

Seeing as it is not yet summer and our weather keeps switching between “California-intense” cold, heat, wind and rain, I decided I was going to maintain this basil hydroponically, indoors, switching the water every couple days to prevent the roots from rotting.  This worked for about a week, but today, the roots started smelling, so I plopped it in a pot.

We’ll see if this summer herb can last indoors, by a sunshiny window.  I’m keeping a positive attitude.