Amanda Takes Off...

It's been so hot lately. We've been above 90 F each day, hitting 100 F with the heat index. We keep getting promised thunderstorms that don't appear. Tuesday night it rained for all of 30 seconds. It didn't cool down the temperature, but it did cause for some nice sunset shots.

06/22/2010 Sunset

06/22/2010 Sunset

The county cut down some diseased and dead trees near the property.

Diseased

I love summer foods.

I also love the chopsticks-as-any-kitchen-cooking-tool trick I learned from Mother. And Mother seemed rather happy to have access to my cooking chopsticks when she stayed with us.

Long Cooking Chopsticks

We ate some delicious, fresh-off-the-stem sesame leaves with dinner last night. When we buy sesame leaves from the store, they come in a big pack and go bad in two days. I'm so happy I chose to plant six plants, because I can pick just the right number of leaves off as I want them.

Unfortunately, the taste isn't quite as strong as I'm used to. But they're also not as hairy as I'm used to, so that's a trade off I can appreciate.

Sesame Leaves

Dinner was brown rice and barley steamed in homemade veggie broth, fresh sesame leaves, sauteed summer squash (from my CSA), and grilled pork belly. Not pictured? Bright red gochujang.

Dinner

The sesame leaves are almost as big as my face. I can't believe how well my lazy gardening is turning out. Even that grasshopper nymph I photographed enjoyed my sesame leaves. (Said nymph was chased around my porch until he finally jumped off the edge.)

As Big as My Face

Fan Dancing with a Sesame Leaf