Repertoire

I like to cook, but lately I've been making lots of the same. Salmon with lentils, breakfast for dinner, and I've been trying out pad thai as well. The vegetable garden continues to produce cucumbers, sometimes as much as ten per week. I enjoy handing them out like candy (Nik's mom and I recently exchanged six cucumbers for homemade banana bread and salsa), and I've been rarely preparing or eating them myself. But just now, I peeled and sliced two of this batch to make lots of Japanese-style vinegared cucumbers (I skipped the grated ginger and added a tablespoon of mentsuyu [soup base] and a drizzle of sesame oil). It smells good, and I imagine that it'll be edible even if the vinegaring is weak. Mitsu happens to like cucumbers, too, so as I was slicing them, I gave her some chunks to chew on. They sounded so crunchy in her tiny but powerful jaws (super teeth!), so I had some too. So fresh, crispy, and tasty! Maybe I'll have the other eight this weekend. And then there will be at least three or four more to pick by then. I can't wait to wonder what to do with a million radishes when they're ready.