LAMBS' EARS, FOOD AND WINDOWS

Lambs’ Ears have the softest leaves. To me, though, they feel more like a rabbit’s fur. They are horribly invasive and if you don’t stay on top of them, they’ll quietly and secretively move into as much of your flowerbed as possible. They do that by sending out little shoots, kind of like a strawberry plant or by reseeding themselves. Every year, I think I ‘ve got them under control but somehow they manage to move out no matter what I do.

Another thing I like about this plant is the bees absolutely love them. Once they send up their flower stalks, the bees visit over and over and over, or at least it seems that way. Right now, between the Lambs’ Ears, lavender and the hosta flower stalks, you can barely walk down the little walkway in my garden. Just about the time the lavender pollen is gone, the sea holly will blossom and provide another bee treat.

Last night I used my biggest pan to make dinner for myself since John died. In the past, I’ve used it mainly for stir fry for the two of us; and that’s what I made last night. For once, I really paid attention to how much in the way of vegetables I prepared for the stir fry, not wanting to eat it for the next two days. Even then, I thought perhaps this pan would be too large for the amount I was cooking.

There was a small piece of meat in the freezer which had bacon wrapped around it. I’d purchased two of those on sale and didn’t like the bacon taste with the meat. I decided I’d cut the meat in half and then into smaller bites and include the bacon which the doggies would get.

I cut up about seven big garlic cloves and a piece of ginger about the size of a very small plum. John never liked the taste of ginger, so I was treating myself. I sautéed the garlic, ginger and green onion before adding the meat. Once it was ready, I added cut up broccoli, orange pepper, and snow peas with a dash of soy sauce. After a minute or so, I added mushrooms, bok choy and cherry tomatoes.

To me, it looked as though I had enough in there for dinner and lunch the next day. I ate a bowl full and it was so good, I went back and filled my bowl again with the remainder in the pan. It was probably the best stir fry I’ve ever made. Amazingly, the bacon flavor wasn’t too much and the poor doggies didn’t get a single bite of anything. I ate the entire thing and was amazed at myself. I suppose if I’d made some rice to go with it, I might have had some left for lunch the next day. Ah well, I’ll have to scrounge around for lunch makings at some point.

Tonight (Tuesday), even though the temperature is supposed to be up around 80, I’m going to turn my oven on and make pizza. I buy a frozen cheese pizza and add my own toppings. I’ll use mushrooms, onions, olives, tomatoes, some turkey pepperoni and then add a lot of extra cheese on top. Maybe I’ll even cut some basil to add to the top…had some Italian basil and Thai basil in my salad the other night…delicious!!! A small salad with the pizza and dinner will be done.

Sheesh, does it seem as though I’m really concentrating on food. Well, if it does, it’s probably because that’s about the only pleasure left in my life at this point in time. Can’t go to the mall and shop. Can’t go to the movies and eat yummy movie popcorn…Cinebarre had the best homemade with real butter. Can’t really do much of anything but read or watch television. I’m so glad I like to read…at least that way I do get to leave my house metaphorically and have adventures.

Friday lunches with one or two of my friends is pretty much the highlight of my week. We always get our orders to go and social distance on the deck, so we’re all pretty safe, or at least we think so. Some weeks, if I’m really lucky I get to have two lunches, but again with people I know who are careful and with whom I feel safe.

Just this morning I was lamenting to my walking partner Kathy about how I thought I would stop getting up at 6:50 am in order to watch the first 20 minutes of Good Morning America. This morning, there wasn’t one single uplifting or feel good thing to be seen in the crawl at the bottom of the screen. If that wasn’t enough, when it broke for hometown news, I heard about the killings in Kent and the gunfight in Bothell…which is just down the road…in which a policeman was killed and another injured. I think I’m going to stay in bed until 7:30 am and miss any news altogether.

Right now, I’m reading “His Dark Materials” trilogy by Phillip Pullman. Like his protagonist, Lyra Silvertongue, I’d like to find a window into another world and go there. Her Oxford world sounds delightful whether in her world or our own, but to be in the town by the sea with palm trees would be my first choice. I’d plant myself in the sand and just stay there. It sounds like eventually Lyra will end up in the far north with frozen glaciers and fog in order to find another window to another world. Too bad such things only exist in fiction…today, I think I’d jump through, no matter what was on the other side.