Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Today's Breakfast -- Israeli Salad

It's hot.  I am covered in mosquito bites (picking blueberries after 7 pm is not a good idea) and it's breakfast time.  I have already visited the garden and found two more yellow squash for the large casserole of squash and onions cooking on the stove, another cucumber and three very small red tomatoes.  And I have a partial red onion in the fridge.  (today's picture is from last year when my carrots actually grew)

So, I used the slicer (mandolin) to thinly slice the cucumbers, the red onion and tried to slice the tomatoes but their skin was too tough.  Then I salted, peppered and gave it a good glug of olive oil.  In truly Israeli fashion, I should have used lemon juice which is traditional as is small diced vegetables.  I forgot and sprinkled the vegetables with Balsamic vinegar.  And I didn't use the abundant parsley and mint I have in my garden. Too impatient. Next time.  I added a few ounces of fresh mozzarella to my salad.  Next time I could toast some nuts and add them, but I don't think I want to mess with the simple goodness of warm from the garden vegetables.

A very good breakfast.  It would have been amazing with the purple carrots from last year's garden.  Why didn't they germinate this year?

My garden has the opportunity to produce many more Israeli breakfasts this summer.  Lots of cucumbers, tomatoes and I have planted many onions.  Wouldn't that be a treat?

Last night, I got home from to work and discovered that the book (of G's) that I had returned to the library, was the book he was only half finished reading.  So, we three (me, G and Riley) jumped in the car and went to the library to see if I could use my influence (ha!) to retrieve the book.  No.  It had already been checked out to another patron.  So, G is now on the 45 person waiting list.

Then we drove to the next town to eat at Wendy's.  I had been wanting a Baja Salad aka Taco Salad.  I also wanted to see how different the food was in another Wendy's.  VERY.  My salad, last night, was twice the size of the one I got in my Town.  And I got plenty of chili, not the skimpy portion of the previous salad.  The employees seemed more intelligent and cleaner than in my Town.  So, we'll be driving across the bridge for any future Baja Salads.  Different owner/operators.  Or perhaps just a different manager who likes things done correctly.  Even in a franchise, there are differences.  If you don't like your franchise restaurant, try another down the road.  None of the big name fast food places on the road to my employment is worth going to.  Badly run, not clean and  getting what you ordered is not always possible.  I include McD's.  The BK is just far enough out of the vortex to be good sometimes, but not always.  Isn't that odd?  An area of town where nothing is ever done right?  My own employment is far enough out of this vortex to be "usually" okay.

No comments: