summer eating, joy and flowers

It's still hot here. We gave in and put in a window air conditioner. Probably should have put in a couple (we do have 3, but...). The heat (or something) has really thrown me for a loop this week. Have had a constant headache since Wednesday (actually, constant, isn't quite accurate. It ebbs and flows, getting worse and lessening in intensity but never going away). Frustrating when there's so much I want to be doing. One thing that's been nice has been the yummy summer food I've been making and eating. I make a big bowl of a quinoa salad and we eat from that for a few days. I've never made it quite the same way twice, throwing in whatever I have on hand. It's perfect to take in a container to work.

That lily is a stem of my "lily tree." It was in the photo in my last post as seen from below in a metal pitcher with another stem. I hadn't intended on cutting them, but they both broke in storms so I took them inside. The whole house smells like lilies now. So nice to be cutting up freshly picked herbs in my kitchen with the smell of lilies surrounding me.

While I was cooking the quinoa (1 cup dry cooked in 2 cups of water) I mixed pinto beans (1 can) with a dressing I made from a small minced garlic clove, a couple tablespoons of olive oil, a handful of fresh chopped chives, a large bunch of fresh chopped parsley, a small bunch of thyme (the leaves stripped from the stems) and a couple sprigs of chopped basil and a bit of salt. I simply flit around the garden like a bee, cutting whatever herbs catch my eye. I mashed up the herb, garlic and olive oil combination in the measuring cup before mixing it with the beans. After the quinoa was finished cooking I added it to the beans and herbs and used the cooking pot to sauté another some roughly chopped onion later adding a clove of garlic, a roughly chopped zucchini and finally some chopped grape tomatoes. I used about equal amounts of zucchini, onion and tomatoes. I didn't want to cook them for too long, leaving the zucchini still a bit crunchy. I mixed everything together and let it chill for a couple hours. Finally I served it with some crumbled feta cheese on top.

Even feeling like crap, I've been trying to write at least one thing each day in my Joy book.

I've enjoyed making these books so much that I've started creating some for my Etsy shop, too.

One thing that keeps featuring prominently in my daily lists is flowers.

The queen Anne's lace would completely take over my garden if I let it. As it is it's taking up quite a bit of it. Good thing I like it so much.

Hope you're managing to find some Joy in your day.