Good Day, Sunshine!

I love summer. I can't remember one I've loved so much. Finally we have sunshine ... four or five days in a row. Kids running on the streets barefoot. Slugs hiding out under damp pots and holding up their "skirts" as they have to make their way across dry soil at night.
Roses blooming so boisterously their odor is everywhere. Basil leaves so large and fragrant they intoxicate!
I am going to savor every flower, every tomato and every ray of sunshine.
The moon is nearly full tonight and tomorrow we begin our camping trip in the woods to lay under the stars and observe the Perseid showers - but no precipitation! femminismo

Looking Through Fields and Gutters

Artsparker had a photo of some stuff she found in the gutter. After my noon-time walk I, too, now have found a cache of important stuff.

I believe it might be what our world is running on right now. Or at least those who walk and discard or throw things from their car windows.

When I called the Mister on my cell to tell him about the 5-hour energy drink he encouraged me to open it up. "There might be 20 minutes left!" he said. I think/hope he was kidding.

The next item I spotted was an icon. One abandoned, or blown, into a dry field. Through the chain link fence or under it, she ended up smiling in spite of it all. An icon is an icon is an icon - femminismo

Food can be Art

CHOPPING FOOD is being creative, to me anyway.
Deciding which flavors can live together happily - complementing each other well - is very similar to adding color to a canvas.
So today, remembering all of the Walla Walla (sweet!) onions I had bought, I decided to layer Yukon gold potatoes, the onions, and zucchini from our garden and bake them all together in the oven.
I decided to incorporate basil with the zucchini and since I had walnuts, I thought they would go well with the basil.

I know it's usually pine nuts, but there you go. Change about!

Throughout the dish is olive oil, kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. Just can't live without those things. I left out garlic. Don't know why. Didn't feel like dealing with it, I suppose. Thought it might overpower the other flavors.
Oh, I just noticed the Manchego cheese slice. It's grated up in there too - a little in each layer.
On top I drizzled more olive oil, grated the remainder of the cheese and topped everything with Italian bread crumbs.
It's all cooking in the oven now, covered with parchment, and the bottom layer is bubbling.

I wish I could describe the smell, but I'm betting you can imagine it.
When I get a headache the best cure is cooking. Something about the distraction of it all: blending, binding, trying not to slice off fingers.
Olive oil, olive oil, olive oil. Imagine the fortune one might have made importing it early on and opening America's eyes to how wondrous a thing it is! Better (well, almost) than stocking up on Microsoft stock or Intel - femminismo

p.s. Finished portion. (not big enough) Hate to brag, but this tastes delicious hot out of the oven. Zucchini on top browned, Yukon potatoes held up (not too soft, not too hard) and the basil was an inspiration. Glad I didn't leave that out. Bon appetit, whatever you have for lunch or dinner!