So many mornings the sun does not come out until late. But I picked the last of my Elephant Heart plums this week, and the first two figs of the season the week before. Just now I wandered around the garden (noon and sunny) and cut three zucchini.
I’m trying to get back to my habit of going to the beach once a week. It’s been foggy on the coast, too, but pleasant enough that I can wear just a thin linen shirt. Last time I saw an unfamiliar bird, a little smaller than the usual sea gulls. There were many parties of a dozen or so, mostly sitting together and looking out to sea. When I got home and researched, I discovered that they are Heermann’s Gulls.
There were also lots of the charming Godwits out there fishing.
Sea Palm
Every person in a large family at church was sick recently, which gave me the opportunity to have fun in the kitchen, making dinner for them one day. Most of the time I am trying, usually in vain, to cook for one, and eat for one. It seems impossible to learn, and not that enjoyable. So I made the most of this occasion to cook big batches of lots of dishes, enough for leftovers. It was the perfect day to make lemon curd, and I roasted both onions and Brussels sprouts, keeping back half for myself.
The giant sunflower plants in front are dangerously close to breaking their branches and/or falling over, so I pruned them and cut some of the blooms to add to the dinner box.
This is the first year I’ve ever grown a tomatillo. My neighbor gave me a seedling that he had started. It is branching out everywhere with yard-long stems, and the husks that will house the fruit, as yet unformed, are tender lime-green lanterns. In this next picture it’s climbing over a tomato vine so there is a confusion of types of leaves.
Wikipedia says, “The wild tomatillo and related plants are found everywhere in the Americas except in the far north, with the highest diversity in Mexico. In 2017, scientists reported on their discovery and analysis of a fossil tomatillo found in the Patagonian region of Argentina, dated to 52 million years BP. The finding has pushed back the earliest appearance of the Solanaceae plant family of which the tomatillo is one genus.”
I asked a man from Oaxaca, Mexico what his family does with tomatillos, and he didn’t know of any use but salsa, which is also the only thing I had ever heard. Does any of you have a good recipe for tomatillos, or another use? They don’t look like they’ll be ripe anytime soon, but I should be ready with a plan!
Gladsome Lights 
“A perfect day to make lemon curd” – now, what could that mean?
If my name were Godwit, I’m sure I’d also be charming, or feel that I should be. 😉
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Perfect for two reasons: 1) I was in the kitchen anyway, planning to cook all day, which always makes adding one more item sound natural and easy; 2) I could give most of the lemon curd to the family as part of the mercy meal, and not use it merely to fatten myself up.
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Glorious beach scenes, Gretchen Joanna. Where do the sea palms grow? I have never seen one before.
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Sandi, this kelp is in the class of brown algae, and I had never seen it before, either. Wikipedia tells me that “It is found along the western coast of North America, on rocky shores with constant waves.”
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I’ve never seen a tomatillo but those delicate green ‘lanterns’ reminded me of the ground cherries my Mom used to grow. She called them Sand Cherries. They are sweet and are eaten raw.
Great beach pictures. How lovely that you can (and do) go often.
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What a wonderfully kind and generous person you are to cook a meal for a family in need! I agree with you about the difficulty of cooking for one (even two) and always end up with more than required – so we eat a lot of leftovers. I enjoy your beach scenes – you have a fine eye for form and light.
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Such beautiful shots of the beach. The light gave them kind of a pearly finish.
How fun that an action meant to bless others is blessing you as well. Such a lovely idea to include flowers with the food.
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The photos are beautiful.Thank you.
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The ocean is endless beauty. A friend from church brought us dinner one day this week and roasted brussel sprouts were one of the vegetables!
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I just can’t let this one pass by without letting you know how much I enjoy your photos. The first one is truly amazing.
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Your photos of the ocean are so lovely. I’m longing to go too, but it’s just too hot here still. Hopefully next month. I need a “beach schedule” as well. I’m glad you are enjoying all that big cooking!
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