Of course, as is always the case, I left the office 2 hours later than everyone else on Thursday. A straight 6-1/2 hours at my desk trying to get everything done, but finally, I could officially say that Spring Break had begun.
Lunch out with hubby and then an afternoon walk was a nice way to start it off.
The refurbished walking path closest to our house is open and tonight they had a grand opening.
But no matter how hard I try, I just can't like it. An instragram friend from Egypt called it visual pollution which totally sums it up for me. The artificial grass, fake trees and the vibrant walking path are not soothing or peaceful or appealing at all.
Thank goodness we still have the other walking path.
So far the weather hasn't been the greatest. Very windy yesterday and just rather dull and dreary for the most part. Yesterday was spent in the kitchen experimenting and cooking. I made my very first herb bread using fast rising yeast. The recipe is from my China Study Cookbook so it is vegan, no added oil. I used zaatar in place of the herbs since we have a lot of it on hand.
(Zaatar is a Middle Eastern spice blend of dried herbs, sesame seeds, sumac,
salt and other spices. Each country has its own mix.)
It turned out great! I made a curried vegetable soup to go with it and used olive oil and balsamic for dipping.
I also cooked up some fresh beans that I bought last Saturday at the farmer's market.
My husband and son loved them which was a surprise to me. I cooked them with diced potatoes in vegetable broth and seasoned with garlic powder and black pepper. Simple and delicious. I also made a fiesta cornbread, another recipe from the cookbook, also vegan, no oil.
And finally, mujadara and salad with dried mint.
Friday seems to my day to cook up a storm.
Today I did some much needed (much hated) spring cleaning. 7 hours of it to be exact. Ugh! But if I do some every day, I imagine I will feel better in the end. At least that's what I tell myself.
We walked for an hour tonight and made sure that we passed by our neighbor's house with all the beautiful flowers. Very much needed to clear the unappealing walking path from my mind.
My reward after today's hard work was an ice cream sandwich also bought at last week's farmer's market.
It's vegan and paleo and absolutely delicious!
I plan to blog hop and crochet the rest of the evening.
Hope you are having a super Saturday!
Best wishes,
31 comments:
I don't have a designated walking path, but walk in my neighborhood. I live in the oldest section of the city on a hill....so pretty houses and a good workout....it's great to see everyone getting their yards spring worthy....Heartbleed is an internet virus thingy, it became known a couple days ago...it gets into even the supposedly secure sites...you should Google it and check up on any sites you regurarly visit...they are recommending changing all passwords...
I can see why they did all of that with the walking path, but I would probably agree with your views on it if I lived there. Nice bread; my mother is Syrian and we ate lots of zaatar when I was growing up. We used to eat these hard cracker things made with it. I don't know what it's called, we always call if zaatar bread. :)
Hi Tammy-- I hope you are enjoying your spring break. The day you have described here sounds so wonderful. Beautiful flowers along your walk-- the colors are so vibrant. Like you- I'm not sure I could get used to the " rainbow" path!
Love
Vicki
visual pollution is the perfect way to describe it. I love the OTHER photos though of all the flowers and bees and such!
Enjoy your Spring break Tammy, your food looked delicious, That path looks even worse now it's finished it's so bright an assault to the senses. Your neighbours garden is looking lovely. :)
Well I have to agree, that would not appeal to me for a walking path. I'll take a plain old cement or dirt path through real trees. But to those that love it...great!!
You dishes always look so delicious and interesting. The herb bread looks fantastic, and we love dipping bread.
Your close up of the flowers are lovely.
My dearest and I cleaned house this morning and having such a small place was done rather quickly, so I made a coffee cake, and now I'm blog visiting and drinking a cup of coffee.
Sending hugs and smiles.
Anytime you post about your cooking, it has my mouth watering! It looks and sounds so delicious! I feel badly about that path ... did you let the organizers at the grand opening know what you thought of it? Hideous. Hopefully you find somewhere nicer to walk. I walk around my neighbourhood most days, but it's nothing great. I wish I had a little country road to walk along for the routine walks. I haven't once walked in the woods this winter because of the ice that was around, but I should get out there soon. I hope you enjoy your Spring Break, it looks like you're off to a great start :) Wendy x
Have a great spring break. I hope the weather improves. Your food looks and sounds yummy. The walking path looks like a paint chip.
Dearest Tammy,
That was a great start of your Spring Break! Not that disturbing walk environment which would work well for the blind maybe... We even paint our bird houses in such a way that it does not disturb the natural habitat and not endanger the birds too. Everything should harmoniously blend in. But who are we? There are enough crazy people out there in this world.
Your lunch looked very tasty and always a healthy choice.
The same with your baking and cooking; smart way!
Sending you hugs and sunshine from Georgia,
Mariette
I'm happy for you to have a lovely time off ahead of you! You can cook up a storm! We had a busy Saturday with our little guys, I'm going for a calm restful day tomorrow. ((hugs)), Teresa :-)
How come someone would like to walk on an artificially created walking path? How could the authorities who were responsible in creating this did not understand this basic? Anyways. May be there are people who like such kind of place to walk. Hmm.... Happy Spring break. Have a wonderful weekend.
Hello dear Tammy
how lovely that you are now enjoying your break from school.
I love all the interesting food you prepare and bake - so much inspiration for us.
I need to open some of my recipe books and get started afresh - instead of the same old all the time!
I agree with your feelings on the walkway - not pleasing to the eye at all.
Viewing your friend's garden is beautiful way to end your walk - I agree.
Don't spring clean all of your holiday - put your feet up and read a good book!
Hugs
Shane
I'm so glad you've begun your break. Fun, relaxing times ahead. :-). I agree with you on the walking path. Not fond of it at all-it's not very soothing. Your cooking looks delicious as always. Enjoy your break my friend. We're in Montana visiting our Grandchildren this weekend, would you believe it's snowing?
Blessings,
Betsy
your recipes are all so yummy!!!!!!
xxxxxxx Ale
All the wonderful food in your post makes me hungry!
Who wanted such a colorful path? It could be interesting for a short section, but all the way? Ehm, I'm not so sure.
You've been so busy the last couple days :-) Your cooking looks delicious, and I love the photos you snapped of the flowers. I agree, a walking path should be natural and soothing, not garish. Have a great weekend :-)
What a shame about the walking path...what do you believe they were thinking? Artificial trees?
Your meals looks wonderful. I would like to try the beans and potatoes in vegetable broth...it sounds fresh and comforting at the same time. Was it difficult for you to adapt to the ingredients and recipes when you first arrived? Some things I find to be very exotic (at least some) and of course we have different dietary choices. It's always good though, Tammy, and I feel I'm learning a world of good! I recently had to change grocery stores (I'll be posting on it for sure...big news lol!). Much of the foods is Hispanic and I am slowly learning what a wonderful way their culture has with preparing food. Much is made in the kitchen of the store and sold...how I wish they'd include recipes!!
Happy Spring Break!!
XO,
Jane
Yes, I have to agree that the colours of the path are awful...its a great idea to have a designated path, but the colour scheme is just so garish!
We eat a lot of zatar here in this house, usually for breakfast, bread dipped in oil then into the zatar mix, but we also put it in some cooking and often sprinkle it on pizzas. It is also great sprinkled onto a cheese sandwich!
Mu Jederah is also a favourite dish, we had this a couple of days ago. Yummy, and healthy too.
Enjoy your spring break!
Helenxx
Tammy your cooking always looks delicious and I enjoy hearing about what you have been creating. Ahh cleaning it never ends but it always feel so nice to see how lovely things look after all of the hard work. Enjoy your spring break. x
Oh Tammy I was just about to type something then noticed the previous comment starts exactly the same way - truth is your food always DOES look delicious! My mouth is watering over here - my banana buttie just doesn't cut the mustard in comparison! What on earth is that walking path all about? Do you have to keep to one colour to avoid unnecessary bumping into each other? Sad truth is it will have had to go through so many stages for approval and had a heap of money thrown at it along the way - did nobody think of just saying NOOOOOOO!? Ah well your neighbour's flowers more than make up for it! Well done for getting the Spring cleaning under your belt - now put your feet up and watch the birds x Jane
Hello Tammy,your neighbors flowers are truly beautiful. I have never seen a multi color path before . 7hours of Spring cleaning, I would be exhausted. Hugs Judy
I agree the walking path with so many colours is rather odd. Great food pictures - now I'm hungry
Hi Tammy. I'm kind of with you on the walking path. Maybe they geared it to the children - I don't know. I hope you have a great Spring break. :)
I am with you about the path. I do love your neighbors beautiful garden. One feels at peace there. I love hearing about all your cooking. Love the dishes you use and great silverware too. All so colorful. Hope your weekend is wonderful. We drove up to see the tulip fields and dine at LaConner by the water.. A wonderful time.
I have to agree about the path, it is a bit startling. I would feel like I was walking around in a Candy Land game. I think I will pop in for a bite at your house, yum!
Hugs and enjoy your break.
Meredith
Hmmm a very strange path, it's almost a rainbow. Very nice pictures with all the flowers. Here it's raining and still not warm.
Hugs
Gorgeous photos. And your food pics look so tempting. Have a great week! :)
Hmmm...yea I'm not too sure about that walking path. It's colorful I guess! LOL!
Enjoy your spring break Tammy!
xo Catherine
Huh. I kinda like the rainbow walking [and biking?] path. But the notion of fake trees has me a bit befuzzled. Your food looks delicious, flowers are gorgeous.
lizzy gone tot he beach
Fake TREES on a walking path?? Quite apart from the rainbow walkway (which would not appeal to me, either) I can't fathom the idea of the fake trees. Very glad to hear you have another option! I think we share similar feelings about the value of walking for mental/spiritual wellbeing.
Your food pictures always draw me right in, and this morning the green beans and the salad in particular...soon, soon, soon! :)
I hav e to agree with you-I would not enjoy walking on that artifical path-what a shame. enjoyed all the gorgeous photos-enjoy spring brreak-we are getting a surprise cold front with a little snow tonight and a hard freeze-after a week of 80s-hard to adjust back to that again
Post a Comment