Once Again

Once again I've been a blogging dropout.

Why is it so hard to write that first post back once you've been absent a while? 

For me it's partly because I begin to wonder if my world is too small to be of interest to others? 

As I looked through pictures trying to think up a post, it seemed that so many of them were of food I had cooked. Why do I do that? It's not as if I were a food blogger or invented my own recipes. I guess it's just that I like to cook and take pictures of it. And I forget to take pictures of other things. 

I forgot to take even one picture of the beautiful hydrangea arrangement I made in RH's mother's amber glass bowl when it was at that perfect week in early July when many of the white blossoms had turned that perfect shade of green. Or of my house when it was all cleaned up for company. And then forgot to take pictures of our company.

I even forgot to take pictures of our darling granddaughters when they visited us for the Fourth weekend. Thankfully, their parents shared some of their own with me.

 Their father took the one above of both of them and their mother took this one below of little sister perched on our garden rooster. Oh my goodness, are they not adorable!

I did take a picture of their daddy with my own two babies.

 But completely forgot to get a picture of the girls' beautiful mother who helped me cook our 4th of July dinner. The Copper River Salmon with lemon, butter, caper sauce was delicious and here's a link to that recipe.

We didn't smoke the salmon outside the way we used to for so many years. The smoker is still in the barn waiting to be set up somewhere when RH figures out a place for it. He wants just the right spot as the bar was set pretty high at his outdoor kitchen in our picnic shelter at Valley View.

An outdoor cooking station here is something he's still mulling over. He did manage to finish installing the tiles on our larger patio this summer, with the help of a grandson. I must get pictures of that soon.

Now that I have managed to post again here at Across the Way maybe the next posts will come easier. Dewena's Window will have to wait longer. I'm going into my second week fighting a bad summer cold and after trying to ignore it in hopes it will go away, I think I'm going to give into it and take a few days to read and rest and maybe come up with some ideas for future posts.

One thing I know for sure is that I'm not getting back out in public again until I'm better. A trip to a local antique store two days ago where a coughing spell overtook me convinced me that they thought I had the Bubonic plague. 

I did manage to thrust two books at RH as I rushed out the door, gasping "pay for them."

The owner of this little shop did not say "Y'all come back now."

 My favorite part of fixing salmon is having leftovers to use up in delicious salads. Here was a simple one I threw together of arugula, chopped celery and scallions, the salmon and sliced warm boiled new potatoes dressed with a lemon/red wine vinegar, Maile mustard, S & P, and olive oil.

Oh my goodness, it was delicious! RH thought so too.

Even though not a food blogger I must post pictures of food I cook because it is such a big part of my small life. If I ever ride a camel in front of the pyramids of Egypt as a friend of mine did this summer, I will post pictures of that. Until then, you're stuck with my food pics!

As long as I can intersperse them with ones of our two princesses, maybe that will be okay? Because you know I like to see your food pics too. 

And next will be a post on some of my summer reading choices.

Remember when Oprah had a show episode called--

                            "Whatcha' cooking, Nashville?"

Where she surprised people on a street in Nashville on a Saturday by knocking at their door with her film crew?

I loved that show! I couldn't believe that only one or two families invited her in, most didn't. 

So I'm knocking at your door and asking "Whatcha' cooking, friends?   And whatcha' reading?"