Winner Goodreads Challenge

I set a goal of reading 12 books this year, and accepted Goodreads’ the challenge to do so.   Since I made it, and it is only mid-September, I’m going to set an additional goal three more books by December 31.

Seventeen Years

Ljg 2018. Originally photographed in the late 1980s.

When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Out the Food Processor

I’ve been stressed out this week. And when I get stressed out I like to cook. Obviously, there’s some psychological connection between food and stress, but I won’t go into that now. Needless to say I was engaging in a little “self care for the creative” this morning as I made this batch of harissa,  a North African condiment made of dried chilies, spices, garlic and oil.

My point here in mentioning this is that as creatives, we need to take the occasional mental or emotional vacation, if we can’t take the real thing.  Knit, fix cars, read books, go hiking, garden, do whatever it takes to clear the decks and prime the pump.

Here is the recipe I used.  I used all guajillos, the juice of half a lemon, and fewer cloves of garlic.