Well gang, I'd say happy Friday, but here in Portland it's anything but. A wee bit ago the air quality index read 596. My husband read a piece that said it's presently the worst in the world. Gulp. Relief is days away. We haven't been outside since Tuesday, and that was in a wind that we refer to as a tree stripper, and boy did it. For days. We are grateful that we are safe, and still have a roof over our heads, as there have been massive evacuation orders issued along the entire west coast, and enormous losses. Oh, my, evacuate to where in this horrible situation?
I really miss my walks. On the beastly hot days we'd only get to walk in the mornings, when it was cooler. On less nasty days we also go again, around 4 in the afternoon, so we're home before rush hour, and the resulting traffic, hits. Now, for those who think exercise doesn't matter, mentally or physically, I will beg to differ. My parts are objecting to the lack of exercise, and my head certainly misses it as well. To both of us, it's every bit as important as what we eat. And sadly, but not unexpectedly, it's showing up on the scale.
We didn't get to go out to the farm this week, owing to the wildfire smoke, so we're making due with the grocery store produce. Oh, pout, pout.
I'm so spoiled shopping locally during the growing season. But last week I made a big pot of corn chowder with the local potatoes and corn. Yum. At least, I thought it was a big pot, until that husband wanted some.
On a more fun note, I am still watching the online offerings for local farms and farmers markets. There are quite a few winter squash varieties that are unfamiliar to us grown here. Oh, I suppose I'll need to do some research and see what I can do with some of them. Galeux d'Eysines, listed as from France, Red Kuri, oh so pretty, Sweet Meat, oh what a name, and several others, as well as some familiar varieties, like the pie pumpkins hubby uses for chili. Hmm, perhaps a recipe for soup that contains some pears as well, need to think about that. The oven in the RV wasn't especially a good one, we referred to it as an Easy Bake Oven, which many will remember from our childhoods. Gosh, we can actually roast a squash now, oh my!
Sue, sorry, no, no recipe for the chili. He's not one for writing down what he does. However, when he gets to it, and it's much too early for that at present, I will request that he make some notes. Ages ago, when we first stopped eating animal products, we got a slim volume by Robin Robertson at the used book store. I think it cost us all of $5. He did use it as a guideline. Here is the recipe with which he started, although his is now much different. He's also of the mind that if he's doing this, he's making a large enough pot that there are leftovers. Do you have access to dried chiles, like we can get at a Hispanic grocery? I suspect Sainsbury's probably has some, at least a full size store as opposed to an Express.
https://robinrobertson.wordpress.com/ca ... nut-chili/http://www.tucsoncsa.org/2007/01/pumpki ... ean-chili/ In the autumn in Ohio, fresh apple cider is available. Not the pasteurized shelf stable stuff, the freshly made stuff that you get directly from the orchard or farmers market, the stuff that you need to drink promptly lest it start to turn to vinegar before next Saturday's market. It makes a lovely, full-bodied addition to any autumnal/winter chili recipe. Yes, it freezes nicely, apple cider does. Hope I can find some here.
The RV did indeed sell. YAY! Of course, his timing with respect to going somewhere in this mess, well, maybe he got somewhere before the fires got bad here.
Butterflies, ah, how lovely. The conservatory in our former hometown had/has an annual butterfly time, it was always fun to go on a sunny day and watch them all fly about.
Volunteer potatoes, eh? How fun! It's amazing what can volunteer in the compost bin, for example. It sounds like you grow most of your own produce during the growing season. That's lots of work, and a lot of satisfaction.
Have a good week all.