I haven’t been blogging much lately, partially because I am still somewhat busy with work, and also because those times when I’m not busy, I’m usually taking it easy. The weather has been so warm and sunny, and this time of year the sun sets so late (usually around 9:20 PM) that we are taking some walks after dinner, partly for weight control, partly because it’s just too good to miss the sunsets and light on the water.
With the good weather have come some trips that were a photographer’s holiday, notably one where we met my brother and his family at the tail end of Skagit Tulip Festival:
We also had a nice walk through the Rieger Bird Sanctuary on Westham Island (where we intend to go to pick berries in a couple of weeks):
Finally, we took a couple of walks through Stanley Park and Pacific Spirit Park:
As you might expect, with the laid-back weather and walks have come the summer fruits and vegetables. It’s been a great year for asparagus, and we heard that the strawberry harvest, due to the dry, warm spell, is excellent. The apricots (both orange and purple), sweet Donut Peaches (sorry, Mom and Dad, this time they were perfect — not like the ones you had), and Dinosaur egg plums are all appearing in the market, and today we saw the first of what we hope will be bushels of blueberries. Tonight, we decided to follow the cue of Edible Vancouver magazine and make this superb appetizer, Stuffed Apricots:
Stuffed Apricots
10 small, perfectly ripe apricots
2 oz.(55g) blue brie or other mild blue cheese
4 oz. (115g) cream cheese
10 small leaves fresh basil
20–40 pine nuts, toastedHalve apricots and remove pits. Mix cheeses together until well blended. Fill each apricot half with cheese and garnish with one basil leaf and one or two pine nuts.
Here’s what it ends up looking like:
Thanks again, Dad, for the camera.
