The Coffee House

[cgw]

Sumac!

Za'atar or zatar is killer spicing for grilled lamb and chicken. Nice on tomatoes, too.

 

[jeffashman]

Any za'atar or sumac in the house?

I have both za'atar and sumac. They are a kitchen necessity!

 

[Original katomi]

End of a hot day sat out in the garden , just made a brew on the wood burner.

 

[snowbear]

Good afternoon, hosers.

The air quality for the past two days was "moderate" in DC. Thursday was the worst - a rare "Code Purple" which I have never heard of.

I got the grass cut (takes about 15 minutes with the Deere) but I'll trim this evening or early tomorrow. We picked up another flower box and some annuals, this morning, on the way back from getting a bunch odf strawberries. MLW is making a carrot cake (one of MLSIL's favorites); and I'm going to be grilling a pork tenderloin in a little while.

 

[vintagesnaps]

Katomi, what an inviting looking backyard!

Charlie, we supposedly had some smoke from the wildfires but who could tell the difference from the usual smog, haze, over cast skies... but certainly not the worst of it that some of you on the east coast got.

And I like carrot cake. Just sayin'!

 

[snowbear]

And I like carrot cake. Just sayin'!

Come on down/over.

 

[snowbear]

I posted this in SquarePeg's Garden thread, but thought I'd put it here, too. The new flower box(es).


cmw3_d750_DSC_4942.jpg by Snowbear Photography, on Flickr

 

[SquarePeg]

Katomi, what an inviting looking backyard!

Charlie, we supposedly had some smoke from the wildfires but who could tell the difference from the usual smog, haze, over cast skies... but certainly not the worst of it that some of you on the east coast got.

And I like carrot cake. Just sayin'!

Air seems clear here until sunrise/sunset then you can see the haze. Went out shooting milkyway last night and caught sunrise on the way home. Too tired to edit these now but here’s a phone snap of the hazy sunrise. Could also see some haze in the star photos.

 

[terri]

Love that shot! Very hazy, indeed.

We're on the verge of some rain and very cool temps over the next 3-4 days. Should completely clear out the remnants, though it hasn't been took bad here the last couple of days.

 

[cgw]

Welcome rain here, long overdue. Had the Beijing-style air purifiers running till Friday morning. Fingers crossed shifting winds don't bring it back!

 

[CherylL]

It has been raining all day here. Not downpours, just steady light rain. The grass will be happy. I made a pineapple upside down cake the other day. I visited my Aunt and wanted to take her something homemade. My husband is glad to have the cake too. I used to bake a lot when I had mouths to feed, but just the 2 of us seems to be too much. There is a French bakery in St. Louis that I like to visit so gives me an excuse not to bake.

 

[terri]

We're also getting these light, steady rains. Finally started a couple hours ago - it's wonderful! Slow moving, so we'll get a much-needed soaking.

The only downside is that the rain washes all the jelly out of the oriole feeder - and they don't like that worth a darn!

 

[SquarePeg]

Sunny and mild here today with a fantastic breeze. Skies look good, no haze. Of course having pulled an all nighter shooting the Milkyway then sunrise I slept most of the day in true landscape photographer vampire style.

 

[jeffashman]

End of a hot day sat out in the garden , just made a brew on the wood burner.

Very nice little garden!

 

[jeffashman]

We arrived back home safely. Will have to process the photos over the next week or so. Stopped at a lovely little spice shop in Santa Fe and came home with some goodies for the kitchen, more ground sumac, some piri-piri seasoning (), some vindaloo spice, sezchuan pepper corns (there's a theme here...), and hidden cove lemon garlic seasoning (for the Frau, because she does not do heat very well). MIL is coming to visit for about a week or so, so I guess I'll have to put the hot dishes off until afterwards.