183 days, y’all! We’ve been living on pandemic lockdown for half a year, as of today. Doesn’t that land in your gut like a lead donut?! I hope you’re enjoying a golden, smoke-free September. Here in WA, the skies are golden instead of the leaves.
Last weekend, Hubs and I hit the road for the first time in half a year, driving down to visit bro- and sis-in-law on their mini-farm near Vancouver, Washington, close to the Oregon border. We had a lovely (outdoor, socially distanced) visit, and enjoyed the first live music we’ve heard since the pandemic shut us down in March. Bro- and Sis-in-law are talented musicians and hosted an outdoor jam session beneath towering pines. With three guistarists, a fiddler/drummer, and a piano man, plus my ukulele, joyful music soared toward the mostly-clear skies–until late afternoon, when the wind kicked up and the smoke rolled in. Wildfires scorching California, Oregon, and Eastern Washington combined to form a thick, gritty, acrid, eye-stinging pall.
Fortunately, Tacoma is nowhere near the worst of the smoke, but unhealthy air conditions plus a heat wave have kept us indoors since Monday. In the good ol’ pre-pandemic days, I’d cook on a whim, making a quick trip to the supermarket to buy ingredients for whatever tickled my fancy. Nowadays, we stay out of stores as much as possible, so…gotta cook with what we have on hand.
It was bloody hot yesterday, and I felt like something with Asian flavors. I had a package of tofu, so I made crispie tofu cubes using this marvelous recipe: https://cookieandkate.com/how-to-make-crispy-baked-tofu/
No Asian noodles in the pantry, but I did have spaghetti. While that cooked, I scrounged crunchy veggies from the fridge: thinly sliced carrots, celery, and green onions, plus diced radishes, cabbage, and yellow bell pepper. I also chopped up some dry-roated peanuts for extra crunch.
For the sauce, I was low on peanut butter but had a full jar of tahini (sesame seed paste). The lovely thing about tahini is how, whisked with liquid, it makes a delicious, creamy sauce. I stirred in hoisin sauce for sweetness, plus soy sauce, rice vinegar, a squirt of lemon juice (because I didn’t have enough vinegar), and sriracha. Toss, toss, toss, top with the tofu and cilantro, or whatever fresh green thing you have on hand: chives, parsley, green onion tips, celery leaves… Delish, creamy, and vegan too!
On the writing front, my Christmas romance is done with edits, and this weekend I’ll start my first adventure in ebook formatting. Pray for me–and, on a serious note, for all the people and animals displaced by these horrible fires. God bless the firefighters and rescue workers.
Climate change is real, y’all, and it’s deadly.
