Indio, California: Not too much to report today. Not much happening around ye olde trailer park. Less and less campers here. DT counted about 40 people in this resort now. It is possible to walk the entire perimeter (1.5 miles) without seeing another soul.
There was a severe air-quality situation today, as a fire started in mulch in Thermal (just east of us) this morning. The smoke was so severe, it was choking downtown Palm Springs - 25 miles away. (Not that we needed an excuse to remain indoors - enjoying the air conditioning - in 109° weather.) The entire day was just eerie. A big earthquake in the Sierra. Smoky skies, turning the horizon an odd orange.
Pretty-much a wasted day.
And though I had little work to prep dinner for tonight, I have been working - since Monday - on Friday's dinner. (More on this Friday!)
Sunday, I had placed the stock made from the Costco rotisserie chicken, with a cup of white beans, and the seared shishito peppers (from Saturday), into a crockpot. It made a silky creamy soup. Most of it went into the freezer, but I saved enough for a "cup of soup" for our "salad" dinner tonight.
A very satisfying bowl of beans, and since I had seeded the shishito peppers, it wasn't too spicy.
Appetizers tonight included pickled things, olives, roasted red pepper tapanade on toasts, assorted cheese cubes and grapes (still from our CSA box).
Our main-course salad was another one from The New York Times - Lemony Asparagus Salad with Shaved Cheese & Nuts. I did not follow the directions exactly, because after reading notes from readers, learned it may be better left-over the next day... so I just made the dressing, steamed the asparagus and let the spears marinate all day in the dressing. To serve, the dressed asparagus spears were placed on a plate, topped with fresh herbs, grated cheese (and I forgot the pistachios!). To make a heartier salad, I also served a small sliced tomato on each plate, garnished with the last of the micro-greens from our CSA box.
In such hot weather, and with so little activity today, this was surely plenty of food.
As I type this tonight, nearing 9p, the smoke is still thick, but definitely clearing. Hopefully we will wake to clearer skies in the morning.
Until my next update, I remain, your coughing correspondent.
Fantastic! No ads tonight. No overprinted lines that are hard to decipher. Column nice and clean and easy to read. Thanks.