No. I have not fallen off a cliff or fallen ill. I am simply buried under a huge pile of tasks. Being away for seven month is one thing. Buying a new laptop is another. Goodness, will the new laptop ever be situated the way I desire? This whole "cloud thing" is certainly making things easier though, and this adorable SONY ultra-book is seriously awesome.
I'm even able to deal with Windows 8 like a teenager.
Tasks and handyman chores! That's how we spent much of our weekend... and the whole while we had the USA Track & Field Championships on the laptop or television, catching every moment of the action and every moment of the non-action. The meet organizers had to clear the stadium several times due to lightning or severe weather alerts. Why isn't every big American track meet just held in Eugene?
And I did make French Toast from that lovely Friday night Challah.Saturday we met family downtown to try a new (to us) restaurant, Mucca Osteria and catch-up. So nice to be back "home"!
We all just loved Mucca Osteria - such an inviting decor, though a bit noisy - great service and an interesting menu/wine list. We shared tuna tartar and lamb carpaccio and then each dove into a main course of assorted pastas. I was most happy the portions were not huge and wish more restaurants would tone-it-down and stop serving enough food for a family of four on my dinner plate.
I brought my camera, but it was far too dark and maybe I enjoyed my Negroni a little too much and forgot to use the dang thing?
Next day... back at the ranch...
Sunday was cold and rainy. (Calendar reads late June.) Furnace ran on and off all day. This is most miserable for me, after coming from the warm desert. I wanted "winter-type" foods, so roasted a pound of butternut squash and then tossed it with a half-pound of (cooked!) butterfly pasta, fresh arugula, garlic and fresh thyme. It would have been vegan if I hadn't sprinkled a little pecorino over the whole mess.
Just the thing for an Oregon Summer Evening (or a Fall evening in any other part of the country).Solstice Schmolstice.
Tonight was another savory carby dinner. And since I have not been to the market for several days, I made dinner from what I had in the fridge: asparagus.
If you have not yet tried the shaved asparagus pizza from Smitten Kitchen, I urge you to give it try ASAP... especially if you can still get great asparagus and if it is ever cold/rainy enough in your neighborhood to want to heat your oven to 500°. I used half a bunch of asparagus, less than 2 ounces of pecorino and a handful of green onion.
My Runner especially loves carb-fest meals, so he has been very happy this weekend!
A reader has asked that I add my all-day pizza crust recipe to the recipe index - and I am going to get right on that as soon as everything is settled in my extremely full and fluffy "cloud".Just a reminder: the July 2013 RV Goddess Newsletter will be emailed in just a few days. A strange/sad little self-depreciating story will be featured this month. My free monthly newsletter is short and sweet - a few tales, a great recipe and interesting links. If you have not yet subscribed, sign up here.
Until my next update, I remain, your rainy correspondent.