[personal] Junuary Kale.

Nearly forgot to mention: I made kale chips for the first time and OMG! I could eat trays of these if I wanted to. I’ve always been a fan of kale. Not sure why but there it is. (I know, people are sickened by this admission.) Since I had a couple of nice clumps in the fridge, and given all the extra stress around here lately (of which dark green leafy veggies are really good for), in lieu of sautéing some up for dinner, I spread the leaves out on a foiled tray, dapped olive oil on both sides and sprinkled with smoked sea salt. In the oven 350 degrees for 14 minutes. Warm or days later, extra thin, light crunchiness, good olive oil and salt flavor; impressive. These just might become a household staple.

People around these parts have been teasingly calling this month of June, “Junuary” because of all our rain and chilly weather. I dunno, I love the rain and chilly weather but I can see their point. It’s June but feels a bit more like early March. Undoubtedly, our dreaded hot weather is on its way and in my opinion, won’t leave soon enough.

This morning was odd however, waking up to thick fog. Can’t see the fir tree tops surrounding much of our development. Not many times do I see this before mid-to-late September. Kind of cool and another great reminder of why I love the Pacific Northwest so much. Back in my days growing up in the desert outside of Phoenix, mornings like today would have consisted of wishing the swamp cooler were air conditioning (it is most definitely not), wondering how many thousands of people would be leaving work early to head to the closest stinky lake and reminding one’s self to check the flip-flops for creepy-crawlies or slithery things before blindly inserting feet.

(Actually, that’s not a daily reminder. Such things become subconsciously well ingrained in day-to-day living, particularly when growing up with creature-collecting brothers.)