AN IDLE THOUGHT

4:20 p.m. today

 Prescott Valley, Arizona - 89 degrees F.

Phoenix, Arizona - 104 degrees F.

THE NEXT DESSERT

So I said to my lovely wife this morning "I just ate my last piece of the Blueberry Kuchen."

Then to wipe that sorrowful look off her face I added "I saved the crunchy corner piece for you."

That made her happy.

A little later I was picking up her scraped clean plate and she asked "how many blueberries did you have left over?"

I guessed about a cup and a half and showed them to her and she immediately said "A clafoutis!"

Yikes, I thought, back to the kitchen again?

But I dug up my recipe for a clafoutis with any kind of fruit and soon had it into the oven.

Here's what made SWMBO happy when it came out.

Oh, I know what you're thinking.

It looks like a blueberry pizza!

But it's actually in a glass pie dish and it's deeper than a simple pizza.

See?

It's another blast to your (actually her) sweet tooth!

GARDENING STILL LIFE

 

The tomato plants await fresh water.

The Monja and the Blue Cat keep watchful eyes on the scene.

Heat, serenity, an Arizona summer.

KUCHEN!

 Very early (6:30 a.m.) this morning I began quietly assembling the ingredients and tools to make a blueberry kuchen (coffeecake).

You may ask why in tarnation I was at it so early.

And I would explain.

Yesterday evening I told my beloved wife that I was going to make the kuchen the next day.

"Oh", she said, "will it be for breakfast?"

"No", said I, "it would be for after breakfast.

So then I spent half the night worrying about the sad look that came over SWMBO's face.

And so I was hard at it at 6:30 this morning, even before she had wakened.

First, of course, I had to feed Sweetie-Pie (the cat) who begins demanding her breakfast at 5 a.m.

Now you'd think a pet cat, having filled her belly, would go lie down somewhere and take a nap.

But no, she is SWMBO's cat and once she is fed she thinks her lady should be awake and so she goes in and sits on her bed and stares intently at her, willing her to rise from the Arms of Morpheus.

Now the mistress is awake and aware of the pesky cat but is pretending to be asleep until said cat reaches out with one tiny paw and taps gently twice on SWMBO's mouth.

And that's all it takes.

So the two of them come into the kitchen where I'm trying to be quiet and SWMBO says "My, aren't you being ambitious!"

And so I turn on ALL of the lights and get on with my baking project making as much noise as I want.

Now I wasn't satisfied with the look of the blueberry kuchen but the taste of it was "ta die for"!

And where the sugar had hardened around the edges it became a crispy treat that both of us enjoyed.

So, here it is, the Early Sunday Morning Blueberry Kuchen, Catalyst Version.

BREAKFAST BREAD

Yes, I still bake English Muffin Bread.

Judy's supply ran out this morning so I hied myself to the kitchen and put together a couple of loaves.

If I must say so myself, they turned out pretty good.

I rarely have a slice but Judy loves it so I shall continue making them for her.

Now, let's see . . . what's next?

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

 'Twas the day before Saturday and all through . . .

Oh, drat, I never wanted to be Dickens.

I'd rather make you laugh like the dickens anyway.

Huh, I just Googled that (like the dickens) to see where it came from and learned that it is a euphemism that may mean "like the devil".

I tell ya, the things you learn on the Internet.

And I didn't even need A.I.!

But enough philosophy.

Let's instead repair to laughology.

It's Friday after all.

So that's all for this week, my friends.

I hope you've enjoyed yourselves.

Now try to continue that enjoyment throughout the next couple of days.

In other words, have an enjoyable weekend.

And always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

SUMMERTIME

 Summer has landed!

The forecast high temperature here today is 84.

80 miles to the south of us, in Phoenix, it is supposed to be 104 today.

But remember, folks, we live in Arizona and it's a dry heat!

So this is the longest day of the year and tomorrow we shall begin our descent to winter.

But let's enjoy this season any way that you can.