So, I’ve got quite the hodgepodge for you today.  First off, isn’t this a gorgeous sky?  It was like the heavens couldn’t make up their mind, sweet, soft, and ethereal pink or menacing grey.  A bit like me, sometimes I just can’t decide.

Take, for instance, my sugar addiction.  One moment I am not at all interested in eating one more bite of it, and I get a little haughty, feeling, “Oh, I’ve really licked it this time!”  Then, I drive by Pix, pull over the car and eat half of a St. Honore before I am dumbstruck by what is happening.  Shoot!  As for this very moment, I am feeling, more than anything else, like I need to let the obsession go.  I am a pretty healthy person, all things considered, knocking on wood, etcetera, etcetera.  Why fret about it?  My cravings ebb and flow, like a river or the sea, just let it be.

Speaking of being and the flow of the sea, today my yoga practice involved a new, and rather exciting video (at least to me – it’s been out for a while) Shiva Rea: Yoga Trance Dance.  I’m pretty sure I have mentioned that I LOVE to dance, in a crazy, unscripted, primal, and occasionally, um, nutty, kind of way, really taking the rhythms to another plane, both physically and mentally (quite unlike my graceful ballerina friend Mara).  Thankfully, this DVD fully embraces these qualities, really engaging the practitioner in a dynamic and energizing flow, riding the waves of grace, energy, and movement.  I highly recommend it.

Now, a bit more of the sea, in a shopping and decorating note.  How about this painting gracing our bedroom?  There used to be a poster of an old map of Paris, but we had grown tired of it, and then I got, in a semi-paranoid state, to thinking that if the big earthquake comes while we are in bed and knocks it off the wall, we’re goners.  So, the other day at the Goodwill Bins, I found this.  It is an original oil painting by H. Walker.  I know nothing of this person, but bless his or her heart, the sea is right, and I got a bargain that will not kill me, my precious spouse, or cats, all for $20, including the frame.  Not bad, not bad at all my precious peeps.  Now if I could center the bed under the painting, my anal-retentive self would be super happy.  One thing at a time…

Finally, the last of the summer tomatoes.  We’ve had quite the season around here – I canned nine pints, made a big batch of Spicy Tomato Chutney (Zowie – I posted this recipe one year ago TODAY!), and eaten and eaten to my heart’s content.  These are the Sungold cherry variety from our rather prolific vines.  I sliced them, sprayed them with olive oil (using our refillable pump – love this gadget), followed by a sprinkle of salt, and two hours at 200 degrees in the oven.  With my instructions, because I didn’t want to stop watching the news and get off the couch (sometimes I refuse to budge), the hubster made this pasta dish.  Easy, delicious.   Why don’t you try it?  This serves two and is yummy!

Pasta (we used brown rice fettuccine, as we avoid wheat when we can)

1 handful pine nuts

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

3-4 fresh sage leaves, sliced fine, as in a chiffonade

1 handful raisins

1 large handful of sun or oven dried tomatoes

salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes, to taste

While your pasta is cooking, toast the pine nuts in a dry skillet until light brown, shaking the pan to evenly brown.  Set aside.  Add butter and olive oil to pan, bring to a slow bubble, add the sage and raisins, cooking until the raisins puff a little, add the tomatoes and gently stir, just until warmed through.  Once your pasta is finished, toss everything together.  Season with salt, fresh ground pepper, and red pepper flakes.

If you have some green tomatoes left in the garden, fry them up!  We sliced ours to about 1/4″, dipped them in Ener-G egg replacer (regular egg will do), dredged them in brown rice flour (more crunch, but wheat will do), corn meal, salt, and pepper, and fried in enough sunflower oil to cover the bottom of the skillet.  Fry until golden on each side and voila, yummy (I can’t find the photo, sorry).

What a day!  Enjoy yours.