Aloha! Some of the cats I met in Hawaii seem to have it pretty darn good …
Mountain Thunder Coffee Cats … this little dude was pretty unshakable.
Mountain Thunder Coffee Cats …
… this guy was pretty happy until the thunder and lightening started!
Mountain Thunder Coffee Cats … this little lady was shy, but tolerated some petting.
Oh, and the coffee was good! Check out the Kona coffee at the Mountain Thunder Coffee Company.
I spent last week in Hawaii … What I thought was going to be a hiking and biking trip turned into a foodie trip due to rain. Oh, the fruit. I can’t wait to go back!
Day one shopping …
Pineapples … my mouth is watering .
Dragonfruit!
Dragonfruit …
Lilikoi – Passion Fruit
Sweet and tart lilikoi … I want more.
Mangoes!
Papaya … oh, mya!
Yes we have bananas today! Apple Bananas, that is.
Fresh coconut … o.m.g.
Avocados and Rambatons (similar to lichee fruit).
Mangosteens
Oh, and then there was the coffee, the chocolate, the vanilla, the fresh fish … and … the beaches and warm rain and volcanoes and hot lava and cold observatories and … those will have to be later blogs. I have to switch out of vacation mode and back into regular life mode soon. Oh, sigh … that was an amazing week.
2016 fire season is already proving to be problematic. The air has been awful here right for a while. Why anyone would set fires like this on purpose is beyond me, but we have a “serial arsonist” in Northern California who is suspected of setting multiple fires. I hope that he receives the maximum possible sentence.
Sunday’s ride … We started our ride on the American River Parkway and rode up to Folsom, then up to Auburn and back to Sacramento. We got a late start (bad idea when the forecast is for 100+ degree heat). Normally the heat doesn’t get to me too much, but by the end of this ride I was pretty much whipped. Almost 70 miles total, which doesn’t seem like that much on paper, so to speak, but … slogging up that hill to Auburn in the brutal sun … yeah. Whipped. Let’s just say I got a little cranky (no pun intended!) by the time I got to the top of the hill.
The perfect mid-ride, 100+ degree weather snack. I was back to my cheery self in no time!
I drank about 10 bottles of water on this ride. It was hot, hot, hot! Thank goodness for insulated water bottles.
Even my sunscreen was melting.
Have a great day – here’s hoping you get a nice ride in today!
Here’s another idea for the bounty of zucchini that happens this time of year.
Zucchini Lasagna Roll-Ups
Slice some large zucchini lengthwise into about 1/4-inch thick slices. Lay them out on paper towels, sprinkle with salt, turn over and sprinkle the other side. Allowed to rest to pull out some of the liquid. Blot the zucchini dry before grilling.
Meanwhile, mix together your favorite lasagna filling. I use a mix of ricotta cheese, cottage cheese, shredded cheeses like mozzarella, Asiago, Parmesan, spinach, a little black pepper, fresh herbs such as basil and thyme, and sometimes I will also add an egg. Mix all this together.
Spinach & ricotta filling.
Grill the zucchini slices – brush with a little olive oil before grilling. Don’t overcook at this point, you just want them to have a nice grilled flavor and soften them up enough to be rollable.
Grilled to perfection!
You can either use a homemade marinara sauce or your favorite prepared marinara sauce. Put a little bit of the marinara sauce in the bottom of a baking dish. Start to assemble the rolls. Spread a tiny amount of pesto on the strip and then a layer of cheese mixture, rolling up place them in the pan.
Spread with a touch of pesto.
Top with the cheese filling.
A toothpick can help to keep them together until you place them in the baking dish.
Arrange in your baking dish.
Top with marinara and cheese.
Continue until you finished all of the rolls. Top with more marinara sauce, some grated cheese like mozzarella, etc. Bake in the oven about 350. I think I baked in about an hour, maybe a little longer. One important thing to remember with any kind of lasagna dish like this is to let it rest about 10 minutes after you remove it from the oven before you start cutting into it. This will allow it to set up.
Yes, I know that this doesn’t have measurements, but this was about 3 or 4 large zucchini, one large tub of ricotta, half a pint of cottage cheese, 1 egg, a few handfuls of shredded cheese, a couple of pounds of fresh tomatoes, umm …. I based this on Mom’s recipe, which was taught to me that way! A handful of this, a splash of that. One thing I will say is that I could have made just half the amount of filling. There was quite a bit leftover, but that’s OK, because there are lots more zucchini where these came from, so I see some more zucchini lasagna variations in the future.
These were taken a few weeks ago in my Mom’s neighborhood. I have been working like mad packing and cleaning up her house getting it ready for sale. It’s super important to take breaks now and then.
La-la-la-lavender loveliness.
Bright and cheerful daisies.
Just a pretty pink flower discovered on a stroll through my Mom’s park.
Hope these cheery photos help you to start your day with a smile.
This is from a few weekends ago when we were having quite a heatwave in the Davis-area.
A day trip to the Coast. This was at Goat Rock Beach in Bodega Bay.
The air was fresh, clean, and cool. Aaaaaah …
I’ve been getting a bit of cycling in, but not as much as I’d like to. The air has been pretty smoky with the Cold Fire in Winters, and I’ve just plain been too busy with other stuff. One of these days I’ll be able to get back to cycling a lot and blogging.
But for now, off to work I go…
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