So lately I have been trying to eat locally. Not all locally, but I am making a more concentrated effort. I’ve discovered that there is a farmer’s market every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday all reasonably close by. I also recently discovered a food co-op in Sacramento if I need it. It’s not as difficult to swing eating locally as I thought it would be. It helps a bunch living in the bountiful Sacramento Valley in Northern California. I can find almost any produce that I would normally eat, locally. Even kiwis!

My backyard garden is tiny (very tiny), but already I have used my harvested herbs on a regular basis (lot’s of pesto) and although our veggies are not close to sustaining us, it’s nice to have a meal every now and then featuring something that was raised right in our backyard, like today for instance.

After my visiting family went home yesterday, I was left with loads of food in my kitchen. So I had to use up some of it and quick! I decided that I would make a mish-mash experiment meal with whatever leftovers I could find. I still had a bag of fresh black eyed peas, corn on the cob and onions from the farmer’s market on Friday, also some tomatoes were ripe enough to harvest from the backyard. I boiled the corn and cowpeas together and then sauteed them in olive oil with quartered tomatoes, diced onions and garlic. While that all was going, I cooked brown rice in vegetable broth and more diced garlic. I mixed all the food together and served it hot on top of a bed of baby greens. It was a mighty fine lunch. Joe even had a local snack today of sliced cucumbers from our backyard. He let them soak overnight in white balsamic vinegar and sliced jalapeno. Yum!

And look what we discovered last week!

I had wondered where those two robins had run off to. Apparently raising a nest full of children! I can hear them peeping away right now.

This week has been a busy one. I actually sewed something since I’ve been away from the computer! Unfortunately, I can’t put up the pictures because I’ve sent it out to and the recipient has not seen it yet. It was nothing special, really, but I’m proud because it was the first sewing project on my own. I learned a lot, but I wish I had learned it all before making something for someone else, someone else who is an excellent sewer who has a good eye for style. I’m a bit nervous, can’t you tell?

I’ve been listening to a lot of NPR and Georgia Gibbs while sewing. When I took a break, I was looking through these. Isn’t that the most wonderful set? After listening to Georgia Gibbs and looking at those old photos I got all nostalgic and had to watch The Bad Seed. My mom loved it when she was young and so did I (I didn’t even know that until after I told her I had watched it and loved it!). Despite the terrible overacting and the constant foreshadowing that bordered- no, crossed the line of ridiculousness, I still think that little Rhoda is the creepiest little girl I’ve ever seen, but so lovable too.

My family is coming to visit tomorrrow, so I have been cleaning (organizing cabinets that were long overdue for an overhaul and shredding old bills mainly) in preparation. I’m so happy I’ll be able to see them! I hope I’ll have time to show Juliet this and this in our backyard, but NOT this. I hear she’s doing much better in math and science than in reading and language (what? yeah, completely opposite to me), so maybe cool science experiments will win her over to the Dork Side since me buying her book after book for her was doing nada. She’s seven and she’s too cool for school.

I went to the farmer’s market today and then over to the Flower Farm to pick up produce for meals this weekend. I also went out on the farm and cut that bouquet for a nice homey touch. All the flowers in our front and backyard are done for the season, so I had to get the next best thing. I even scored a huge bottle of liquid worm castings from Sherri for free! She sure knows the way to a gal’s heart!

I know, I keep talking about Earthsea, but I can’t help it. I love the books too much! This is my favorite passage hands down. It’s from The Tombs of Atuan, book two in the series, but the first that I had read. I read this book on the cliffs of Catalina island, overlooking the ocean. I found this book in a box there by the local general store that said in sloppy marker- ‘public library’. This passage becomes more meaningful after reading all of the books. It’s beautiful on its own though. I didn’t think so when I first read it, I mean, I loved the story from the start, but not until a few re-readings of the whole series did I notice how this simple paragraph is reflected throughout the rest of the books. I love the image of the little girl running in a long circle after being called to come home.

Maybe this will entice some of my readers who are mums to take a look at these. Perhaps read them with your children.

I tried this zucchini orzo recipe from Barbara Kingsolver’s book- Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. I’d have to say it was very tasty (a far step up from Pasta Roni, which I have been guilty of making often in my past) and so simple to make. Have an over abundance of zukes? Receiving some as gifts from friends? Now you have one more recipe to add to your arsenal.

I enjoyed my zucchini orzo with a simple salad of baby greens, lemon juice and cotija cheese and spicy refried black beans also sprinkled with cotija cheese (I really like that cheese, can you tell?). Ridiculously simple, ridiculously good.