sometimes you feel like a nut

The Colorado sun is intense, flowers and leaves need good, strong color to hold up under its power. Lower-elevation aspen never achieves the golden color that mountain aspen does so it is worth the short drive to see it every fall. And it might be my imagination but the sky seems bluer up there too. Some nice bear visited the same trailhead that we were at, you can see her claw marks.

I went nuts. I roasted 1) sage pecans/almonds/walnuts, 2) spiced pecans, 3) tamari basil almonds, and 4) they are all good. The sage mixed nuts are an Alice Waters My Pantry recipe, the spiced pecans are in Susan Branch's Autumn and the tamari basil almonds are from Judith Benn Hurley's Savoring the Day. (I couldn't find a link for the tamari basil almonds so I will just say that you dry roast a cup of raw almonds for 4 minutes, add some tamari to coat them, dump them in a jar and throw in a small handful of basil. Then you cover the jar and shake it good to bruise the basil.) 

There is more tomato sauce-and-salsa-making in my future. Those Supersweet 100 cherry tomatoes ripen so evenly, a whole sprig can be cut from the vine with nearly every little tomato ripened perfectly. Even though Supersweet 100 is a hybrid and not an heirloom, I'm going to stick with it from now on, I think. 

Weeks 28 and 29 for Journal52 -- combining two prompts, mail art and positive change, by collaging junk mail bits & pieces, layered painting, doodling, and finishing off with a quote I always identify well with. This is looking like a 104-week project rather than 52 weeks, but that's okay.

Today is a waxing moonday in Capricorn. Serious Capricorn is work-oriented and disciplined, helping us focus on both long-term and short-term projects. Like the Colorado sun, its calls us to do our very best and show our true colors. 

xo