Fresh Air

After 3 days we have a new air conditioner and furnace! Woo hoo. Our previous units were 40 years old! And the last sticker with a date for the furnace having been serviced was from 1992. Twenty years ago. Holy guacamole, Batman! Pretty sure I know the reason I got horribly sick right after moving in and using the heat... hmmm...

The new system is really quiet. We also had to get new ductwork. The other ducts were under the house and needed repairs. So we had new ducts installed in the attic and new vents cut into the ceiling. We have a 4 inch thick air filter to clean the air and a UV light bar to sanitize the air that passes through. I dunno about the UV thing, but it was included at no charge so I figured it sure can't hurt! The air will be nice and clean now :-)

Our veggies are coming along nicely. Still nothing I can eat yet, though. Having fresh herbs on my back patio is simply wonderful. I can make any recipe I want knowing I have the fresh herbs available... so awesome.

Here are the recipes I made for dinner last night. I didn't have leeks for the soup, but I did have some mild big spring onions, so I used those. Jeff loved it. Loved it. Gobbled it down. I thought it was very good, but I'm still only a semi-fan of mushrooms. This recipe was awesome and I would make it again. I would say it made 6 nicely sized servings.

Cream of wild mushroom soup

It's been June gloom, so cool and overcast most of the day. So soup isn't completely weird...

This salad was delicious. The dressing was REALLY good. I used apricots (what I had) and white wine vinegar (my champagne vinegar had developed a funk). Plain feta would be a good ricotta substitute, but we didn't use any cheese. I only used 3 tbsp of oil. I have found that I like my dressings with less oil than called for. The fresh tarragon and mustard was a lovely combo.

Peach and arugula salad

We have a gnarly old tree in our backyard. It was hacked back to nothing and we thought it was dead. But it sprang to life this spring and now has apples all over it. I thought they might be crab apples (I remember them as a kid but didn't remember that they are only about cherry-sized). Nope. They are apples. I don't know if they'll be mealy b/c of the climate here, but I'll see what happens!

Here's a recipe for some yummy looking crab apples, if you have them. I was kind of excited to make crab apple jellies and stuff. Oh well! And this recipe does not have a printer-friendly option. I cut and pasted into a word document.

Poached crab apples

Sorry these seem to be a bit more "fall" than summer. It's cool here! This recipe is for my favorite salad ever. I got the recipe from a Cooking Light book. I did find it online for you! I do not puree the watermelon. Too much work- good grief. Just chop it up, throw it in a bowl, add the thinly sliced fennel (I use 1/2 big bulb for 1/2 mini watermelon). I use MUCH less parsley than called for. Maybe 3-4 tbsp for 1/2 mini watermelon. You can always add more parsley. You can't take it out. Trust me. And then I lightly squeeze half a lemon (so maybe 1tbsp) and add a tiny bit of salt and pepper and toss. YUM.

Watermelon, fennel and parsley salad

I got a funny call from one of my super special pharmacies yesterday. I guess they called my doc for a refill on my pills and he only wants to refill one month at a time since I am supposed to get a transplant. For some reason I thought it was hilarious. Maybe he knows more than I do... but I'm still waiting!