Earlier this week we found a surprise near Onyx. Here, in a canyon off of Kelso Creek Road, the hills re painted with orange and blue and yellow. The air quality was terrible, but the colors were bright enough to shine through. We hiked across a field dotted with goatheads and many small flowers to the hillside resplendent with poppies.
The hillside was steep, but wading through the orange dotted-green and finding the occasional lupine 
or choreopsis provided plenty of opportuntities to rest while supposedly framing a shot. We finally reached the top of the first ridge, only to discover that B had left our turkey-chutney loaf sandwiches in the truck. What a disappointment! We made do with a Balance Bar.
After our walk, we drove up the Kern River, where the hillsides are also orange with poppies. And some hillsides here are blue, thick with these small flowers, or carpeted in white
. And in the middle of all that white, we found this lovely, magenta owl's clover.
Potato, Greens & Goat Cheese Quesadillas ok but not a keeper; a Vegetarian Cassoulet excellent and a definite keeper, although the carnivores in the household added some grilled mild Italian sausage to theirs; a Rustic Cabbage Soup, along with pasta with sun-dried tomatoes have been put off into this week; an Asian Slaw recipe from an old Bon Appetit became Pan-Asian Slaw from Moosewood Simple Suppers - a really good recipe; Green Beans Au Gratin from the Silver Spoon was OK but I think I prefer my green beans just plain.
As for this next week, I began today by making Tomato Herb Dressing from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home, and putting together a french curry (ha!) From Julia Child's Kitchen to use up the leftover leg of lamb we have on hand. I also have on the menu a Tunisian Fish Stew from New Recipes from Moosewood Restaurant. I vow to make the Cabbage Soup -- I'm hungry for it. I'm planning to make a Cashew Chicken from Indian Home Cooking, and an old favorite, Chicken Barbera, for Wednesday night. The pasta with sun-dried tomatoes is for tonight, and we plan to do Assyrian Rack of Lamb from Monday Night at Narsi's on Sunday.
And with our dinners we have eggplant, salad, spinch, broccoli, fennel (going to try braising it to go with the rack of lamb), and green beans. We eat well.
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