A perfect summer day

Dear Husband plays with an Argentinian folk-jazz fusion band called Tierradentro, which was invited to the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts. This is a large street fair of handcrafts plus performances around Penn State held every July. Luckily, I finished 2 weeks of hospital service the day before the gig, so after a quick dinner, we packed up the car and headed east. Actually, I had to do some work on the computer while he drove, but then I could relax until we got to the hotel. I'll spare you the ordeal of the room keys, the dead-fish smell coming from the trash can in the hallway, and the bathroom ceiling that dripped condensation.

"You are loved. You are welcome here."

Mural on the side of the United Methodist Church where we parked.

In the morning we went to the home of a dear friend who used to pastor a church we attended. He and his wife fixed us a delicious breakfast to enjoy while we caught up with each other. Then it was off to walk the streets, ogle the art, and be hot in a way that I enjoyed, because I missed a week of vacation in June and felt like I had thus far spent the whole summer in office buildings. Yuck.

Left: colorful fabric banners hang above the streets.

Right and below: sidewalk chalk drawings are one of the festival's specialties.

So much art! Garden sculptures. Animals made of driftwood. Paintings. Glass on metal "sketches." Photographs. A metal armadillo. Handbags made out of old record album covers. Woven wool blankets.

Lunch was a delightful affair of food truck fare eaten at a shared picnic table under the shade of mature trees while a toddler blew bubbles all around us. Summer magic. We had ice cream from the Berkey Creamery for dessert, natch.

Back at home base, I played Ticket to Ride: Rails & Sails while DH prepped the set list with the band. Then it was off to campus to listen to them play. We finished with dinner at a brewery before everyone scattered. It was a perfect summer day.

Gastronomical Adventures

At the start of the academic year, I wanted to collect the recipes I was trying and revisiting. This week was unusual, because I was rounding in the hospital and also Dear Husband's parents came to visit for the Fourth of July holiday, so I was preparing more food than usual. One night my FIL helped me slice a LOT of squash and zucchini for a gratin dish that looks beautiful in the photos, although I would add more cheese and salt if I make this again. Recipe in the link; I skipped the white wine altogether, and the dish was moist enough. The trick to getting it in the dish is to make a "rose" or spiral until you can't hold it anymore, then put in the dish and wrap, wrap, wrap the slices until you're squeezing them against the sides of the dish. The trick to getting it out of the dish is a knife to cut the sliced veggies into wedges, or just a big spoon to scoop an appropriate amount. Here is the uncooked dish with the leftover leek tops (I used the stalks to line the bottom of the dish), and then the lower shot is of the finished meal with a Brot Box roll and a lemon-marinated London broil.

Another night we had one of our staple meals, what we call "curry packets." It's brown rice with one or two of those microwavable packets of Indian dishes like masala or daal or saag, a veg like frozen peas--or, in this case, fresh green beans from one of DH's congregants--and some garlic naan that Aldi sells. Sometimes I'll even get us some mango lassi to go with it (it's DH's favorite part of eating at an Indian restaurant).

For lunches, I had made this recipe for a spinach and feta quiche with a sweet potato crust at this time last year and finally tracked down the instructions. It is vegetarian and gluten free. Serving suggestion: with a "fizzy water," fruit salad from your MIL, a 1/4 of the quiche, and carrot rounds, eaten at your computer while answering patient messages.

Next, with the leftover ingredients from the gratin and the quiche, I made sweet potato leek soup, which I don't seem to have photographed. I added too much red pepper flakes, and the texture was kind of grainy because I had to use a traditional blender instead of an immersion blender, but really the taste was all right.

Then, to use up the rest of the squash and zucchini, I decided to master cooking and folding an omelet for breakfast. Here are three attempts on different days; I think I am scared of over-cooking the egg and so do not let it set or brown enough to be successful flipping and folding it. The salsa covered a multitude of sins in both flavoring and technique.

When I ran out of quiche (and energy to cook), I treated myself to a cafeteria salad and an ice cream bar for lunch. The oven-roasted veggies are de-lish.

What recipes have you been experimenting with this summer, or what techniques are you trying to master?