Currently growing in Southern California
It is supposed to snow tomorrow. Snow, in November, on Thanksgiving. I live in the desert in California. IF it snows, it snows in February or March. Never in November. Nevertheless, our plans continue. I’m making dinner and people are coming over to eat it. My uncle was hesitant to accept my invitation knowing that…
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It’s mid-July already! Can you believe it? Its finally 100 degrees out here in SoCal and we are doing our very best to stay cool during the hottest part of the day. Around 5pm, when I start to make dinner it is still in the upper 90s so I am always trying to avoid cooking inside. Just using the stove makes the air conditioner kick on every time so to avoid astronomical electric bills I am doing 75% of my cooking on my amazing gas grill.
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When Gavin falls asleep in the middle of the afternoon I know he’s about to be hit with something big. Last week in the middle of the weekend this very thing happened. One minute he was watching a video and the next he was asleep on the floor by his bed.
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This morning was calm and quiet. My neighbors are either on vacation or are staying indoors because even though its only 9 o’clock in the morning its already 95 degrees outside. The pavement is literally hot enough to cook an egg and it’s not even July. Welcome to the desert. I eat a variety of…
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Three out of seven days each week you will probably find me cooking chicken thighs. They are an easy choice for our little family. They are cheaper and more flavorful than chicken breasts and I can bring the leftovers to work for lunch the next day. We get stuck in ruts though. I like to…
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At 2am last Friday, I drove my daughter to a Starbucks in a nearby town. She got out of the car, gave me a big hug and sleepily climbed into the truck of a classmate whose parents had offered to drive them to the airport. From there they would join their teacher and other…
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It’s 5am. My alarm goes off, but I have already been awake for a little while just lying in bed enjoying the silence of the early morning. No other time of day is this quiet and peaceful. I reach over and hit the off button on my phone before the ringing wakes Gavin, who has likely snuck into bed next to me sometime during the night. After rising from the warmth of the blankets, the very first thing I do is head to my new espresso machine in the kitchen.
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The afternoons are the hardest. I drive to Brae’s school after leaving work and cannot stop yawning. I yawn so often that my jaw starts to ache and I turn up the music hoping I won’t fall asleep at the wheel. I couldn’t figure out what was causing me to be so tired in the middle…
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I made this salad in the work lunchroom once and everyone kept commenting on how good the cut veggies smelled and how beautiful it was. So it would be an easy, yet impressive side dish for a potluck. The best thing is it only takes about 15 minutes to make.
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Happy Autumn Equinox! Mother Earth decided to bless us by sending our first real Fall day. The temperature dropped from the upper 90s down to 72 and breezy in just a couple days. The wind smelled wet and cold. It blew strongest in the afternoon and the dust was so thick in places that visibility was…
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Shoots and Roots 