Tea and Toast

We've gone from spring to summer already. It rained briefly at the beginning of the month, and I predict we won't get rain again until November.

This chocolate banana bread from Smitten Kitchen is really a dessert. Don't kid yourself. I made some coconut whipped cream to go with it, mostly because I wanted to see if coconut whipped cream was any good. It is, but it reminds me a little of hand lotion, and that's not something I enjoy eating generally.



( This and that )

Lots to talk about. That's what happens when you forget to update.

I like baking. Have I mentioned? It gets hot -- really hot -- later in the year so I've been using every excuse to do baking now, while the weather is still nice and we can run the oven without feeling guilty.



Foccacia (cheese required, per my husband) can be made when you're getting dinner ready and you realize there isn't nearly enough time to make bread but you still would like some. Fresh and homemade and fluffy, it's quite tasty.

( baking, sandwiches, embroidery, and yarnery )

A wildfire is burning near our house, but thus far it's only been ashes falling like snow and towering clouds of smoke. I spent yesterday with the windows shut and the fan running all day, and still it was smoky inside. But we are fine, and keeping an eye on the situation, and the firefighters are doing everything they can. They say the area hasn't burned in twenty years, which means it's overdue. I remember a museum exhibit about chaparral, and it talked all about how with this kind of brushland, fires are normal, so... I suppose we just need to invent space dome technology for Mars and test it with my neighborhood. Forcefields to keep fires out. Or something. Really makes you think about what you'd grab if you had to evacuate, though.

Today I have lots of pictures of pretty green growing things and tasty food.

First up, carrots from our garden:


( delicious )

Things are growing! We planted a ton of seeds in the ground, and the peas are already popping up.



( it's spring! ... almost )