Colorful foxgloves along the Stream Trail in Redwood Regional Park near Moraga, California. It's unusual to see things blooming in the hills this late in the year, but the redwood environment traps moisture...and the foxgloves are the result.
This stately oak is located at some picnic tables in Diablo Foothills Regional Park. The park does not have much of a reputation...
...but what an amazing park it is! Huge rock formations, hundreds of feet tall, jut from the Earth and support owls and raptor nests. Pine Creek fills the canyon with the smell of water and carpets of California poppies bloom upstream.
It's like a paradise that has been forgotten...a Shangri-La of the Bay Area sort.
In the past few weeks I've been experimenting with cooking Indonesian food. Not well known in the United States, the cuisine is flavorful and exotic, with easy-to-make dishes.
These succulent chicken satay skewers, marinated in turmeric, cumin, coriander, tamarind juice, and a pinch of chili, are tasty and fun to make. Serve them with peanut sauce.
Satay Ayam Kuning (Yellow Chicken Satay)
Taken from Agnes de Keijzer Brackman's Cook Indonesian.
- 2 chicken breasts
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- ½ teaspoon coriander
- pinch of cumin
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon tamarind juice
Cut chicken into bite-size portions. Thread on bamboo sticks or meat skewers. Set aside.
Heat oil in saucepan and add coriander, cumin, turmeric, salt and tamarind juice.
Using a soft-tufted cake brush, paint chicken thoroughly with the mixture.
Cook meat over charcoal until well done.
Saus Kacang Pedes (Hot Peanut Sauce)
Taken from Agnes de Keijzer Brackman's Cook Indonesian.
- 1 medium onion, sliced finely
- 1 clove garlic, sliced finely
- 1 tablespoon margarine
- 3 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
- 2 teaspoons sambal ulek
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon sweet soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon tamarind juice
- sliver of shrimp paste
- ½ teaspoon salt
Sauté onion and garlic in margarine until deep brown. Remove from pan and drain on paper towel.
Add peanut butter and ½ cup water to saucepan and bring to a boil. Turn off heat and stir to a paste consistency.
Add sambal ulek, brown sugar, soy sauce, tamarind juice, shrimp paste and salt, and mix well.
Now add onion and garlic and stir gently. Serve lukewarm or cool.
Note: For a different variation, leave out onion.
It seems the weather has decided to be strange this year.
Rain in May in northern California is fairly unusual. By now the hills are starting to dry up and the wildflowers are mostly shriveling. But here and there, flowers still bloom, such as this clover.
Yesterday's misty rain covered everything in beautiful droplets, and the humidity combined with the 65-degree temperature made it seem downright East Coast-like.
After hearing much about the wildflower displays in remote Bear Valley, I decided to take a trip up there to check things out. The wildflowers were indeed spectacular, with seas of lupine and cream cups extending all the way to the base of the mountains. It was a beautiful day.
The wildflowers are in peak bloom across much of California. These lupines were no exception - fields of the flowers coated hillsides in Las Trampas.
Sorry for the recent hiatus - been very busy!
A view from Diablo Foothills Regional Park. The hills remind me of Ireland around this time of the year.
The first of the mule's ears are blooming in the hills. After last night's rain, everything was fresh and clean, and the flowers seemed to be enjoying it all. Spring is definitely here!
Deep in the wilderness of Las Trampas, wildflowers abound. These goldfields were abundant at an interesting rock outcropping. Spring is definitely arriving!
...next to the Hite Cove Trail near Yosemite. It's spectacular there right now!
