Portland, Oregon: The Eagle Creek fire did not grow much overnight, the smoke is dissipating in Portland and there was a teeny bit of rain in the gorge tonight. All of this is wondrous news, but the Eagle Creek Fire is still the #1 fire in country... eclipsing only the #2 fire in the USA, which is also in Oregon.
It has not rained YET in Portland, but rain is falling over other parts of the state. We are waiting.
This afternoon, I drove My Driver to his first post-op appointment. His knee surgeon was most impressed with the lack of swelling and the general appearance of the right knee attached to My Old Runner. Dave has been given permission to drive, permission to get on the exercise bike and - most important - permission to attend the Oregon v Nebraska game Saturday in Eugene. (Good thing too - Lenny is flying in for the event.) This is all such good news. The doctor said Dave would be jogging in 8 weeks. I will place a bet on that... from the experience of his left meniscus repair, but will pray this will be true.
Speaking of Lenny... his son reached a milestone today:
Leo lost his first tooth today! How is this even possible? Milestones are happening much too quickly for this old Bubbe. Lisa took him for an ice cream after school to celebrate The Big Occasion. I needlepointed a tooth fairy door hanger pillow (it has a jungle theme and a pocket to hold the lost tooth) for the kids a while ago - I wonder what the going rate is these days for a tooth? As I remember, once one tooth is lost, it's like a flood gate is opened and the rest fall out at a constant rate. Or do I remember wrong? Goodness. I can't remember.
I do remember receiving an entire quarter for a tooth I lost 55-ish years ago. Twenty-five cents was an absolute fortune. The tooth fairy really liked me... or maybe it was only Eldest Child Privlege?
After enjoying last night's left-over rice stir-fried together with the left-over asparagus for lunch, dinner was a super-easy Gazpacho soup from my blog. I say it was easy because I whirred it all together last night after dinner. If you have a food processor, blender, or mini-chopper, this recipe can't take ten minutes, and it benefits from a nice over-night melding in the fridge.
If you think about it, Gazpacho is simply a pureed salad. Even with olive oil (do not leave this out!) it is a very low calorie meal at just over 100 calories per serving. If the temperatures are still high at your house, this is a welcome lunch or dinner. This recipe is also inexpensive and naturally meat/dairy free. No need to change anything to make it vegan. I've been making this soup for more than 30 years, can't recommend it enough and would not change a thing.
But a girl cannot live on pureed vegetables alone, so I made garlic bread from a bit of a French loaf wandering around in the freezer for a few days. Minced garlic, olive oil, dried basil, dried oregano and salt - brushed over the bread and popped under the broiler for a few minutes. A bit of paprika as well. Dinner is served.
Truth be told, normally I would use a mixture of butter and olive oil when making garlic bread, but we did not miss the butter tonight. The bread obviously held more calories than the entree.
Bread is life.Until my next update, I remain, your garlicky correspondent.