Sunday Dinner in the Minimalist Kitchen

You all probably saw Kenzie's tour of her kitchen on her blog. It is small, but efficient. Here is a picture of Kenzie and Lorrie cooking a Sunday dinner of salmon, sweet and russet mashed potatoes, and peas, with apple crisp for dessert. Tyler is not helping to cook, he's just looking for a snack.

Everything you need is right at your fingertips--literally. By now, the potatoes are diced and cooking on the small gas stove, the salmon is in the oven, and we're working on the apple crisp. Lorrie is peeling and dicing apples, Kenzie is making the crisp part.

It's fun! Everything got done. I wish I could show you a plated meal, but we ate it too fast! Trust me, it was delectable!

Day One in Buffalo: Niagra Falls I

We saw Niagra from the American side--this is American Falls with Niagra Falls in the back.

Kenzie and Lorrie

Kirt and Kenzie on board The Maid of the Mist, which will take us in close to Niagra Falls. We can't take pictures of that, though, because it will be way too misty!

Kenzie and Lorrie, battened down for Niagra. We've just been though the American Falls mist. The view, the power of the falls (sheer and drenching), and the views are AMAZING!

Day One in Buffalo: Niagra Falls II

Kenzie and Lorrie taking a little rest on the way to Goat Island.

Lorrie, in front of the Niagra River, and some beautiful fall leaves!

We're at the top of American Falls, this is looking to the river below...

YIKES!

Day One in Niagra: Becker Farm

Kenzie and Lorrie at Becker Farms--in the Pumpkin Patch!

Lorrie has a chance to get close to a few chickens!

Kenzie DOES NOT like the llama...

but she does like the little pony!

Lunchtime!

If I had a perfect lunch, this would be it. I've probably eaten this almost every day for a month--a BLT! I've just about single handedly eaten a whole package of bacon, but who can resist the fabulous tomatoes? Here's my recipe--toasted bread (whole wheat, Basque, or Pugalise), with a little mayo on each side, one tomato, sliced, then lightly salted and peppered, three slices of bacon, crisp,
and lettuce. Cut it on the diagonal, serve with a glass of cold milk and a piece of sun-ripened fruit. Yummy!

I didn't used to like tomatoes on sandwiches at all. In the fall of my sophomore year of college, my roommate Jan's sister brought us a BIG BOX of tomatoes. We didn't know what we would do with them all, but Jan showed us how to make tomato sandwiches. It's like a BLT, only there's no B or L, everything else is the same. We were starving students, it was free food, I learned to love them. We ate them every day til the box was gone. Yummy!

FINGERPAINTING RESULTS

After the voting . . . the truth is revealed:

Kirt did the top Fingerpaint (with the smiley face) and Lorrie did the bottom one.

The smiley face was a last minute addition. I did a round swirl and someone said it looked like a pumpkin, so I put the face on it for a jack-0-lantern. Otherwise, we might have had you all hooked into the confusion.

We both did our paintins in about 2 minutes. Natural art is so much more real.

So, there you have it.

But you can all say that both paintings were good!

What do you DO all day?

Now that we're empty nesters again, people still ask the same question--"What do you do all day with everyone gone?" Filling my time has NEVER been a problem! Here's what I've been working on since midweek--Wednesday morning I picked beans, Wednesday afternoon I went to Sunny Slope get peaches, Thursday morning I canned peaches, Thursday at noon, I had a massage, Thursday afternoon I canned green beans, Friday morning I helped my neighbor, Carol can applesauce (that started out as her project, but blossomed into something way bigger!), Friday afternoon I drove back out to Sunny Slope for a few more peaches, Saturday morning, I canned those few more peaches, and Saturday afternoon, I reorganized the storage room so I would have room for these beautiful jars! I think canning season is officially over for me! If you're already worried about what I'll be doing next week, don't. Believe me, I'll be busy! (Actually, posted by Lorrie, while logged into Kirt.)

Farmer's Market

I've been to Farmer's Markets in Boise, San Diego, McCall and Boise this summer, but nothing compares to the one where I got these beauties: my own little farmer's market in my own little back yard. Okay, I'm not even going to be modest about this. It's AMAZING! (to me, anyway.) Zinnias, pumpkins, zucchini, acorn squash, green beans, green peppers, tomatoes--big, medium and small, Walla Walla sweet onions, cucumber, and just starting, red grapes. And this doesn't include the pesto made with my own basil, roses, peonies from early summer, and the sunflowers. Gardening is the good life!