Saturday in the Desert

Another beautiful Saturday, and again I'm in a cooking mood.  It's all Gaby's fault - What's Gaby Cooking?  She posts some wonderful recipes.  So today it shall be Pumpkin Chocolate Chip brownies and then a meatball recipe.  She cooks her meatballs in a marinara sauce but I'm going to do a red enchilada sauce and serve with Spanish Rice and salad.

Thrashers are the noisy birds today.  There are two males out there trying to out-witty wit each other.  I do hope they nest in my yard again though they make me tired with their constant back and forth.  First they bring in nesting materials and then it's food for the babes.  Thrasher adults are busy birds and prolific.  They average 5 nestings a year in my yard - though not this year. None this year.  It's been a strange year bird wise. The owls are back 3 months early.  It may have something to do with the fires up north destroying habitat and food sources for the time being.  Not sure.  The owls migrate into the high country during the summer and the owls returned about the time the fires were controlled.  Normally they don't return until January.  Like I said, it's been a weird year bird-wise.

My son came home from college for an evening.  We decided to make a pork tenderloin in a rosemary cream sauce for dinner.  He hung over my shoulder for awhile watching, learning.  It still tickles me that this is the kid that is getting into the meal cooking.  He's even interested in getting an immersion blender.  Wow!  How nice though, to spend an evening with your kid and have adult conversations.  How cool to watch him grow and yet bittersweet as I realize he's pulling away into his own life.  It rained that evening and the wind was whooshing through the palm skirts in the back yard.  House wide open to gather in the smells of the wet desert.  Our cat bouncing back and forth between house and porch, just because he could without having to use his forehead to push open the dog door.  Dog is underfoot as any good dog is when there is food cooking.  Besides, he could hear that scary thunder off in the distance and as we all know it's safest in the kitchen!

So now I'm off to the grocery store to buy allspice, chocolate chips (not a staple in our house because they get eaten when the stress levels go up), dog kibbles and cat kibbles.  Kibbles must never get low.  It's the animals' rule.  Otherwise they fix you with cat-glares and dog "I'm so disappointed in you" stares. Can't handle those.

Not a dog stare... just a favorite dog photo.