I saw her this morning while I was tying up the rose that got all awry in the wind and rain, and then this afternoon she was positively a pest. In the cherry tree, fiercely driving off the chickadees who were under the impression it was their tree, and even a wren and a tufted titmouse, both doughty warriors in their own right.
And divebombing the lantana. I tried, with very modest success to get pix as she rested in the cherry tree at intervals. I suppose to her a couple of seconds is a nice long nap, but I doubt if you can spot her in the foliage. Look bang in the middle, against the sunlit bit. She's facing right, if that helps!
No zoom capability, camera, not hummer, that is. But she's definitely a fixture around here, and starting to demand her rights. And I notice that the more I watch her, the bigger the other birds suddenly appear.
Later in the afternoon, as I was wondering what might be on the dinner menu, a friend from down the street who's moving back to India suddenly showed up to unload some art supplies from her daughter, and a pot of Thai basil. Plus a basket of little cherry tomatoes.
The Thai basil is quite different from my other basil, and has a lot of seeds in the making, which I will save for next year, since it's really great, a bit licoricy in flavor, and wonderful.
So that settled supper. I made a little pasta dish, sauce from butter and olive oil, with a big dash of that lemon zest I put in the freezer months ago and am still using, plus a blurt of lemon juice, tomatoes halved, about a dozen leaves of basil, minced with the pizza cutter. Dash of kosher salt. All cooked down gently while the pasta cooked. And gosh it was good. This is a keeper. I bless Lakshmi for the pot of basil, and the seeds which will ensure next year's crop, too. Just tossed the sauce with the pasta, done.
You know how if something is really very good, very aromatic, you don't need much to be satisfied? this is one of those pasta dishes. I have enough for tomorrow too, and will definitely feed this to Handsome Son at some point. I find that if food is just okay, you tend to eat more to get satisfied, or, as my Uncle George used to say, gosh, this is awful, I'll be glad when I've had enough!
I find the same with homebaked bread. One slice satisfies as much as several of that air-laden shop stuff, no matter how virtuous the label.
Anyway, do try this sauce, it's really good. But the secret is the combo of Thai basil and lemon, I think. I had no cheese in the house to sprinkle over it, but it worked fine anyway.
This was one of those suppers that reminds me of Miss Read, eating a simple meal on her lap while reading, to the shock and horror of her cleaning lady. I enjoyed this dish on my lap (note the apron made from an upcycled shirt), while reading my Twitter feed.
This evening it's on to Jeeves and a pot of coffee, and a piece of banana and walnut bread. Also I am looking forward to using my new cast iron square baking pan, perfect for cake and bread shapes, since the cakes I've done in the cast iron skillets have gone over very well. May as well use a pan designed for the purpose.
Honestly what could make a better day than all the good things that came my way today? zippedeedoodah, etc.
That sounds like a splendid day! I pondered buying the unknown-to-me Thai basil when I was choosing herbs to grow this Spring, but settled on dill and sage, which I knew I would use. (And did use the first dill, just yesterday, in my latest batch of cucumber salad.) I had no idea what the Thai basil would taste like, so thanks very much for the report! Maybe next year. I do enjoy the licorice-y flavor in some things...Pernod...toothpaste...allsorts!
ReplyDeleteI've used my deep cast iron skillet (the kind people use for frying chicken) for baking, but never a square pan. Hope you love it :)