Days Nineteen, Twenty and Twenty-One

I had a wonderful dinner on Friday night with two very delightful friends. We sat on the patio which was quite refreshing as the evening was a little warm. We started with a tray of pickled beets, cherry tomatoes from the greenhouse, English cucumber, a little salami, and some of the pickles I put up last weekend. We enjoyed a salad of romaine lettuce, garlic, olive oil and lemon juice dressing, a generous grating of parmesan cheese and some whole wheat croutons I had toasted. I love it because the croutons soak up the dressing (not to the point of being soggy however), and the parmesan gives it a little creaminess. Of course we had a bottle of wine - Moonstone Crossing Zin from Trinidad, California. I had also made some mini loaves of bread and they accompanied the meal quite nicely just dipped in olive oil. Chicken breasts and thighs were roasting in the oven with some broccoli in the same pan, drizzled with lemon olive oil and lemon/garlic seasoning, as our entree. A small bowl of seasoned brown rice went along well with everything. We began at 6pm and didn't leave the patio until 11pm. It was wonderful. (The loaf above is a regular sandwich size loaf of dill rye)

Farmer's Market on Saturday - no tomatillos yet, but the farmers at Workman Farms in Fallon (they will be supplying me with tomatillos) loved the jar of salsa I left for them last weekend. They wanted another jar and maybe I'll be able to barter the cases of tomatillos for the salsa! I probably should look into going into production or opening my own booth at next years market. It would be fun.

The weather seems a little cooler this morning - yesterday felt blistering. I was able to pick a few more summer squash from my garden and we should be having a nice patio dinner again tonight. Last night, it was just a salad and bottle of sauvignon blanc on the patio - just Bob and I. It was pretty warm but I had to come in when the downtown musicians got started with their punk rock concert. Usually, we don't hear too much but I think there was a bit of a breeze wafting the sound up our way. I love the evenings when we can sit and relax on the patio. It's wonderful to be able to enjoy the fruits of our labors in the backyard since we've done so much to make it our little sanctuary. There's something profound to be said about having a place that surrounds you with joy and beauty. It's good for the mind, the soul, and the body. It is also wonderful for a relationship that is now going on 30 years! Tomorrow will be our 30th wedding anniversary and I'm not sure I want to do anything to celebrate but be in the backyard again. You have to enjoy it while you can - same thing with marriage.