Seize the day

Bled cookery... go!

So... full. The problem with cooking from the peace corps cookbook is that it doesn't really tell you how many it serves. Don't get me wrong, this thing is a lifesaver and has some great recipes. Much props go to those who made it, thus making our lives so much tastier. From this wonderful cookbook I made a giant pot of delicious corn and potato chowder. I then decided that it was much too much, and gave about half of it away to my neighbors. I'm still waiting to get my fridge from a volunteer who is leaving in November, so can't really refrigerate anything yet. I know it seems like bad timing to get a fridge just when I'm going to stop needing it, but it's a bargain, and I have another whole spring summer and fall ahead of me. Anyway, back to my wonderful soup! It was pretty good by itself, but adding a little hot sauce sent from the states and some bacon bits (Thanks Mom and Dad!)... that made it scrumptious. I think that this will be one of those meals added to the weekly repertoire, especially as the cold weather sets in. For now I'm still doing the basics... lentils, spaghetti, rice dishes, but I'm always looking for new simple recipes to add to the circuit. Still don't have an oven either, so that doesn't help much. But pancakes and crepes are on the menu, thanks to some syrup sent from one of my friends back home (Thanks Brooke!). I've decided that I should work a bargain out with one of my neighbors. I'll give them a sack of flour for their and my use, and they will give me a full loaf of bled style bread every day. Now I just need to figure out an easy way to get eggs and I'll be set!

On a completely different note, walking to my taxi pickup spot this morning was quite beautiful. The clouds had settled in the valleys, creating the illusion of a white cottony sea between us and the next row of mountains. For a moment I was reminded of the straight of Juan de Fuca, looking across to Vancouver Island and the mountains of Canada. Despite all the hardship that comes with living in such a remote spot as I do, the natural beauty of the place makes up for it all and then some. Hope that you all are appreciating your own backyard's natural beauty, be it the majestic Mt. Baker (Get up there to score some mountain blueberries while you can!), the Elwha River Valley, or your own little village tucked into the Atlas mountains of Morocco. Get out and enjoy it while the enjoying is good!

Here's the first part of a song I've been working on that rather sums it up nicely.

Ther'll be time in the winter for to contemplate
Ther'll be time in the winter for to waste
Seize the days, Seize the days my friends while they still last
For tomorrow they'll have vanished in the haze.

With that I bid you all adieu. Till next time, Traq salama and take care!