For the past couple of days, we have broken the all time high heat record for this time of year. The last time Reno saw 67 degrees on this date was in 1920 something. All this sunshine and warm temperatures tend to wake me from my winter hibernation.
Yesterday, I heard the birds singing their celebratory songs at dawn. I love to hear them warbling as they herald the coming of Spring. It makes me want to clean the nest.
And so I did. All day long. Sun up to sun down. I rubbed, scrubbed, washed, dried, vacuumed, mopped, bleached and oiled all the wood surfaces in the household, including the kitchen cabinets. By nightfall I was understandably exhausted. I felt only slightly guilty to have missed my morning yoga class. I figured all the manual labor I was doing made up for the skipped class. My workout wasn't as meditative, but there is something to be said about getting some good ole elbow grease going in place of the brain cogs.
Today, I awoke early, got dressed, put on my little blue conductor's hat, poured my hot chai tea in a to-go mug, and promptly got my arse to the grocery store. I love shopping before 8 a.m. Only the serious come out at that time of day, especially on a federal holiday. The young mothers with their feisty youngsters are still at home eating their sugary cereals. Good for me.
I was in and out of the store in record time. I had a list, and by golly I stuck to it (this time). I couldn't wait to get outta there and back home to start cooking. I love to cook up a storm so I can coast through the rest of week. Phyllie put in her order for a crock-pot roast with veggies. I got the roast all layered nicely with the veggies in the crock, and I was smoking out the neighborhood with the smell of BBQ'd Italian sweet sausages and turkey burgers by 9:30 a.m.
By 10 a.m. I had eaten a grilled sausage, and half a turkey burger with Doritos. Yum, breakfast of champions.
Next, I got started on my pear/rosemary bread. It is an easy recipe, and oh so tasty. One of my co-workers had brought in some left over pear/rosemary bread to work several months ago. One bite and I was hooked. Thankfully, her friend emailed her the recipe for me to try out. Apparently, the recipe is from "Pears" by Linda West Eckhardt. It is wonderful.
As with all my recipes, I can't just leave them alone. This time, I added some cranberries. I think everything goes better with cranberries. This bread recipe was no exception, though the cranberries do not allow my palate to taste the pears and rosemary as well as I can without the intruding berries. The final product was rich and delicious. Not sweet like a cake, just wonderfully aromatic and tasty. I used dried rosemary which contributed to a bit of a crunchy texture.
My daughter arrived just in time for me to remove the perfectly formed loaf from the pan and slice her a thick slab with a small dollup of butter. It hardly got a chance to melt on top. She at two pieces.
I am on my second piece right now.
The sun is shining,
the dogs are napping,
I am writing.
All is right with the world.
