A Week of Eats--August 19

There was a good amount of cooking going on this week, at least early on.

Top row, L to R:

• Cocoa Kiss Cookies for a wedding shower at work.  The poor organizers had a hard time getting people to volunteer for things, and we played almost the same games as were played at the other wedding shower I happened to attend back in October.  The conference room did look lovely decorated in pink and white, and as of Friday, the balloon chandelier was still in place.
• Marigolds from my garden, which I finally gave some much needed attention last Thursday.
• Leftover pancakes fixed up with Greek yogurt and strawberries.

Bottom row, L to R:

• Artichoke paella, an easy but a time consuming dish.  Worked out perfectly though as it took some time for the landlord to remedy the giant black pond of ooze coming up from the drain in the kitchen floor.
• Thursday's garden cucumber harvest.  Last year it was zucchini, this year it's cukes.  While I have missed making eating zucchini bread, I have had some fun trying out different pickling recipes.  More on that later.
• My own version of pad thai with whole wheat spaghetti, eggplant, bell peppers, shrimp and scrambled egg. 

This week I am departing a bit from my usual work schedule for an interview on Thursday, and have the Charlottesville Women's 4 Miler race on Saturday!  I'm hoping to celebrate the successful completion of both events with something fun next weekend.