Smoked Wild Salmon & Nectarine Salad

OK. OK. this is short 'cuz it got late.

All the wild smoked salmon is out of the smoker. The sections have been vacuum packed. The sealed packages cooled and now in the freezer.

My next door neighbor, Chuck, called to see if we all were having dinner and what could he bring? I told him I thought Smoked Salmon Caesar salad would be good.

"Yes," sez I. "Come for dinner. Please bring a head of romaine and a baguette. I have a bottle of wine."

"I'll bring that and a bottle of wine as well. See you at 7:00."

It was such a lovely evening, I decided to set the table on the back deck. Because I never know who is going to be home and who will be eating, I put the stack of plates, silver and napkins at the end of the counter so, if someone came in, it would be clear they were welcome to join us all for dinner.

Chuck arrived with the baguette, a bottle of nice red wine and . . . whoa! Iceberg lettuce? Mmmmmm.

OK. OK. Difficult to make a Caesar without romaine. How about a smoked salmon and fresh ripe nectarine salad? Maybe a fresh tomato. And, the snipped green ends of scallions. Maybe a little coarse mustard balsamic/olive oil vinaigrette with a few drops of sesame oil. Could be good.

Oh gosh! It was good. It wasn't the prettiest salad I've ever seen. Even though the lettuce was perfectly fresh and crisp, it looked pale and bruised. Go figure. But, it was delicious. The perfect light meal for a warm summer evening.

Karen stopped by for a glass of wine. Kim came for dinner and brought a small berry pie from Whole Foods. Morgana came late and I whipped up more salad. Karen slipped out to buy some French vanilla ice cream for the little pie we were all sharing.

Lots of visiting, chatting and laughing.

And, planning for Chuck's friend Mike's birthday party.

BBQ! On Friday! At Heidi's. F*U*N!

Menu plans are in the works.

Day 60 Everyday Grateful ~

Cool this morning.

Supposed to be sunny this afternoon.

The air is still. Heaven!

A lovely Seattle summer!

The Romance of Naming your Home

After my husband died, I decided to blow this pop stand and take my sons to Italy at Christmas. It was a two week slumber party and the first time I'd heard them laugh in months.

My sons are both 6'5" tall ~ talk about seven league boots! In Florence, they were striding along and pretty soon out-distanced me but I could hear them laughing from the next block. Heaven.

Because I adore architectural salvage, my walking was hampered by the visual wonder of Italy. I stopped often to admire a door knocker or a light fixture or the brace of an eave. Walking along the streets, block after block was the salve my soul needed.

We were in Florence for Christmas when we decided to take a midnight stroll and watched the full moon rise between Giotto's Bell Tower and the Duomo. Breathtaking. In one of the side streets of the Piazza del Duomo, there was a very small shop with a soaringly high ceiling and walls filled with wonderful signs. Enameled letters. Brass plaques. Individual house numbers in bronze and brass and steel. Utter desire!

The next day, we stopped into that mouthwatering store. As we entered, a thousand year old man walked out from the back room with the International Tribune under his arm. I started to ask him a question. He just turned on his heel and walked back into his office. We stood there a little flat footed and finally left.

The next year, my oldest son was studying in Florence. After nine months of Italian lessons and just before my birthday, he returned to the shop and ordered me a sign for my 50th birthday. And, in an understanding of the importance of international peace, he said that the owner reminded him of Grampa ~ a bit of a curmudgeon, he doesn't like speaking English to "tourists" but was very charming when you get to know him.

And, there it is ~ a little grace note on the side of my home. And, a touching present from my son. Heaven!