Regaining Equilibrium

It's going to be a hot Saturday today in Portland. (There are so few of these hot days here anymore that it's easy to forget how the sun can quickly go from comforting to blistering.) I am not a sun fan when it gets over 85 degrees. According to the weather projections, I might get a little cranky over the next few days if not indoors.

Today I am working on a machine knit shawl, a hand knit hat, and two bracelets between recycling some beautiful emerald green cotton yarn, making a red quinoa salad for dinner, juicing some raw beets with apple, celery, kale and lemon, grocery shopping, and planning a salmon BBQ for dinner.

The quinoa salad became a metaphor as it was being made. You can put just about anything in red quinoa and throw some dressing on it and have something yummy. You don't really need a recipe--just grab what is on hand and looks good. Toss it in there and you have made meta-art out of nature's artistic bounty.

Today's salad started with a cup of cooked red quinoa. Also in there:

1/2 apple (leftover from the beet juice I was making)
3 radishes, finely chopped
3 small tender ribs of celery from the heart of the stalk, finely chopped
4 or 5 tablespoons of organic chia seed (Whole Foods 365 brand)
1/2 orange, peeled and diced
1 handful of dried Montmorency cherries (dried cranberries work well, too)
1 small (2-inch) red spring onion, thinly sliced and diced
2 Tbsp of fresh lemon juice
1 medium-sized cooked beet, diced
4 oz. (approx. 1/2 bottle) of Cherry Balsamic & Rosemary vinegrette*

* made by Lucini Italia


Life has been throwing some unexpected ingredients my way lately. That's why I haven't been blogging for a few months. My mind has been busy thinking of ways to blend life's ingredients into something not only palatable, but also tasty. You probably know the old saying about what to do when life gives you lemons.

You are owed a tutorial and a giveaway. So stay tuned.