Wednesday-8am

What an odd rumpled sky this morning.

Appears to be a battle between dark and light--the light may win.

The birds are especially excited this morning. Geese, crows, sparrows, swallows...all singing their different songs--calling across the sky. I managed to sleep during the night last night, so I am pretty chipper this morning myself--hehe!

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Yesterday I chose to be a cooking day. Made a couple of things. I got this recipe from Sue in Alaska--thanks, Sue! It's a Martha Stewart goodie--Chickpea Nibbles.

A healthy substitute instead of chips, I guess.

Here's the recipe if anyone is interested:

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1 can (19 ounces) chickpeas
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1 pinch freshly ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon garam masala, dried oregano
or ground cumin

Directions

1. Drain, rinse, and pat dry chickpeas. Toss chickpeas in a bowl with olive oil, salt, pepper, and garam masala.

2. Arrange them in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet, and bake at 300 degrees, stirring occasionally, until browned and just beginning to crisp, about 50 minutes. Serve at room temperature.

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Sue recommended the garam masala spice, but Cashwise doesn't have it listed online, cumin is another alien spice for me to try (and I wasn't feeling up to it), and wasn't in the mood for oregano--hehe! So I tried my own version with basil and onion powder. Not bad! I have seen garam masala in some other vegetable recipes so I am going to try to find it.

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And--speaking of alien spices...

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I made this once a year or so ago and decided to try it again. I remember it was even better the next day and made great leftovers--to me, anyways. ;)

Vegetable-Lentil Curry

2 tbls. olive oil

1 medium onion, finely chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)

2 tbls. curry powder

2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed (about 1 1/2 pounds)

1 head cauliflower, stemmed and separated into florets (about 2 1/2 pounds)

1 cup brown lentils, rinsed

2 14.5 oz. cans diced tomatoes with juice

1. Heat oil in large saucepan or Dutch Oven over medium heat. Add onion and cook 5 minutes or until soft, stirring often.

2. Stir in curry powder, cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add sweet potatoes, cauliflower, lentils, and tomatoes with juice and 1 1/2 cups water.

3. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 30 minutes or until lentils and sweet potatoes are tender. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

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Of course, I was afraid to put that much curry powder in there, so I used about half the amount. Maybe next time I'll add more--hehe! I actually put all the onion in this time! I am such a coward with spicy foods. I am hoping Dagan and Leah might at least try it tonight. Maybe too weird for them? We can always have boca burgers. ;)

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Karma and I have been enjoying the weather and the breezes from the open windows.

An annoyed backward glance...

...but then swallows swooped right by the window.

What a life,eh?

Birdwatching, people watching, car watching, dog-walking watching...endless fascination. The smells must be interesting, too. The pollen makes me sneeze and my eyes burn, but I love to have the windows open more. Definitely worth the occasional sneezing! ;)

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Dagan and Leah come over tonight. I am hoping they will work on the language translator for the blog. Right now--I need to wheel out a bag of trash and check my mail from yesterday. I never even made it down--just used myself up in the kitchen--hehe!

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Birds are chirping, a dog is barking, a child is fussing, a baby is crying, there's a faint hum of traffic from the freeway off in the distance, cars are starting, footsteps on the sidewalk, and the day is beginning. Have a good one! :):)