Photos
A scrub jay checking out the new bird feeder. Birds haven’t taken to it yet. They’re still eating grapes and desiccated elderberries.
August Complex smoke this afternoon. Silver lining is the smoke cooled the air temperature down several degrees.
Our trio of Scrub Jays are leaving almond hulls behind. Maybe they’re giving us gifts for providing water? We do compost….
We love this homemade smoked beef salami — could use a bit more paprika but great first try.
A day of discovery making salami for the first time with a smoker we were given. Smells and looks great but it may be a bit loose.
Kimchi-Brined Fried Chicken
Kimchi-Brined Fried Chicken Sandwich Recipe by J. Kenji López-Alt is an excellent recipe — those with lower spice tolerance may want to drizzle the finishing sauce instead of liberally brushing. We did not make the sandwich, but served simply with white rice and kimchi.
Large ash flake that landed in my safe backyard — over a dozen miles away from the August Complex on the Mendocino National Forest. This had a lot of atmospheric lift to make it this far. You can see the leaf pattern!
Nothing but pleasant emotions with a view like this. I wish this were my backyard but so glad I had the presence of mind to take this photo. Hidden Lakes area, Lassen National Forest.
Overcome a poorly seasoned cast iron pan by cooking lots of fatty things like Guanciale.
The Annie Cat is not always relentless at being judgy. Sometimes she looks borderline benevolent.
Here’s some hope that our trio of Scrub Jays will eat our cultivated California native grapes.
Frosty garden grown hot peppers (from the freezer) about to become hot sauce. We harvest over the summer and freeze until ready.
In mid-2016 we discovered this graceful Silk Moth at Humboldt Redwoods State Park, CA.
This perch is pretty much The Annie Cat’s summer home during the day.
Sourdough Dashi Scallion Pancakes from last weekend had some serious crunch. A bit salty but very tasty. Perhaps use a bit less Dashi next time.
Wish I could change today’s cooler smokey summer day to a rainy winter day. The August Complex fires are insane.
Metallic ribbon and a fake bird of prey truly keeps the birds away from our figs.
Falafel on a grid.
This western milkweed bug stuffing itself into the eye of the Brown Turkey Fig is decidedly not cuddly and I do not like them ruining my figs! We actually cut into a fig the other day, decapitating a milkweed bug that got inside.
