Pasta with Pesto, and Curry

Tonight I made curry and a pasta dish for tomorrow
Umm, house smells nice when curry is cooking.

Here are the photos..I used 2 onions, and 4 carrots, and 2 extra large potatoes, a few chunks of stew meat..some shiraz and curry...






The pesto is a fettucine with an herbal pesto sauce. So easy to make and relaly yummy pasta..
Anybody have ideas for dinner tomorrow night?

Well yeah, pasta, salad, but I'll probably cook up some more stuff for the next day. It's nice to stay ahead in case you have some draining day and don't have the energy to cook, or wanna go do something, so dinner is already done..





Tomorrow I may have a smorgasbord of left overs, not elegant aftermath's mind you, just good old leftovers.
I don't know what I'll cook until I'm in the kitchen, and then I get started and can't stop. I get worn out cooking, it's like a marathon.

Oh by the way here is a verry interesting link, you should check this out. I have been researching so much stuff on the brian lately, and in conjunction I am watching online video of Oprah interviewing Eckhart Tolle, very cool that over a million people are involved in this from her site at Oprah.com.

His book is The New Earth, and is about ego and awareness, raising consciousness, etc. Very practical stuff to have a better life.
Combined with news about the amazing brain, I am wowed.

The book to get is, The Brain That Changes Itself. Ironically I bought this book over Christmas and now PBS is giving it away in their aging brain series, which is also very very interesting.

So here is that one site you have to go to , I am to lazy tonight to make a link, so just copy and paste this in your browser or google the name here, and even tho her voice is difficult to listen to, it is well worth a listen.

www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/229


Neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor had an opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: One morning, she realized she was having a massive stroke. As it happened -- as she felt her brain functions slip away one by one, speech, movement, understanding -- she studied and remembered every moment. This is a powerful story of recovery and awareness -- of how our brains define us and connect us to the world and to one another. (Recorded February 2008 in Monterey, California. Duration: 18:44.)

Look Diane! I can still cook! (well, prepare food)

I butchered my first post, so lets see if I can get it right again.

I confess the only cooking here was the pasta in the salad.
What we have here, besides a big mess in the kitchen is:

Pasta salad with ham
Marinated spinach salad (with black grapes)
Pita sandwiches of my own design, they include:

Taboli with mint ( thanks to Diane reminding me how to make it)

sandwiches are spread with: lotsa hummus
then filled with tabouli
Turkey, (chopped)
English cukes (chopped)
Tomato ( chopped)
Kalamata olives

(usually I use feta, (french) but was out, it was good anyway..)
Squeeze each side with lemon, and drizzle with olive oil.

I designed this sandwich , waaay long ago. Usually serve them with gazpacho ( prepared, not cooked, as well)

Anyway, this is great company food, make it a day ahead, and just serve it taco style.
It was a big mess in the kitchen, I tried to make it look tidy for the photo's.

It's stored away till tomorrow now.
You can add anything to these sandwiches, artichoke is good, use your imagination.

If you want my designer Gazpacho recipe, e-mail me. It is a really great gazpacho from back in my gourmet cooking days.


The pasta salad was pasta hearts, but they sort of turned to ribbons in the pasta. I use stone ground mustard with mayonnaise, sweet pickle juice, sweet pickle, dill relish, red bell pepper, onions, and celery in this salad, with salt and pepper, and hmm, any spices, I forget..



My dishes are from Mexico ( people usually ask)

My mess:


That's olive oil in the Chanti bottle.


Stuffed!!!

Clay Art

Bowl

Raku and Paper Bowl

Bistro

Now go to next post....

No escargot

I'm actually trying to get the Christmas ads off my site by removing the posts with Christmas topics, maybe this will do it..
I have a terrarium in my bistro and it had a slug in it, ( about 3.5 inches long) our common everyday washington slugs..I was gone one weekend and he got out. Silver threads were all over the carpet under the bistro. He apparently tracked back and forth looking for a different surface other than the wooden floor. I guess he must have slimed himself out because there was no track of him anywhere. uh oh.. maybe somewhere eating all our food, waiting to become "The Slug that ate Seattle"?

Honestly one year I planted sunflowers. I had 3 of them about 3.5 foot tall. They had flowers on them that were about 3.5 inches across. One morning the flowers were completely eaten off the stalk. These slugs are simply amazing, but don't confuse them with escargot.

Bakery Customers

Awhile ago I was up in LaConner, and stayed at a hotel across the street from the local bakery. When I got up , and looked out my window, I saw these turkey's waiting for the bakey to open....no camera, just a camera phone, but it saved the day..

Comforts

A full frig...one of the comforts of home. I took this with my phone.
I was at Whole Foods in Seattle Sunday, and remembering Whole Foods in Austin in the 70's. A small, cheap rent, store that sold organic vegetables and bulk foods, honey, birkenstocks, and hippie stuff..now it is an amazing Corporation, and pricey, beautiful store, full of variety, and products, so much, I left without buying a thing, couldn't decide what to buy.

It's beginning to look a lot like spring!

Ok, I admit, my peonies aren't up yet.

I just thought you needed a peek of spring..
These are for Louie, my best friend in Ohio where they just had a nasty blizzard.
But crocus and daffs are up, and some ground covers are blooming, and trees are blooming too.

I'll post pictures, but feast on these from last summer awhile.







I found this company that sells garden groupings, like hardy ferns, or shade loving plants ( hosta, astibles, etc.) You buy a package of plants and get the plans for where to plant for a well designed garden. I think it's a pretty good idea.
Check it out.

Bamboo

I'm looking for bamboo, large bamboo that grows fast where I live. A neighbor subdivided their property, and now I have a hole in my back yard form the willow tree that was taken down that provided privacy. A new large home is going up, and it is very intrusive as all these large new homes are. I'm looking at Moso bamboo, it could possibly grow to 70 feet, and have canes of up to 8" in diameter.

So right now I'm remodeling the bathroom, and searching for bamboo that I can plant to provide a buffer between and me.

It feels naked here..

Here is a picture of Moso..

and another, nice huh? I have to plant a steel barrier to keep it from taking over the city tho.