Bountiful Basket day, weird weather, and a quiet Saturday (updated)

Today I pick up my new Bountiful Basket of fruit and veggies. There won't be another basket offering until mid-January so I'm especially looking forward to this since I'll be home until January 6 and will munch on it at home all throughout the vacation.

I have only 3 pomelos and two mangoes left from the last one. I'm making broccoli cottage cheese casserole with a bit of the broccoli I have left, and that's it. I'm looking forward to new produce for new recipes.

I spent a quite and relaxing evening last night on the couch under my new lap blankie, a kitty or two snuggled up and my book. It was wonderful.

This morning dawned drizzly and weirdly warm. I'm a bit afraid of the tornado storms headed our way later. Whether they turn into tornadoes here or remain severe thunder and windstorms matters not to me, I'm just afraid of the severe storms. We used to have a respite from October to April, but these last few years tornadoes or the threat of them seem to come in any month now.

So I'll get my basket, go to the grocery store for essentials, check the mail at the PO and be home quick as a wink. The humid drizzle does not entice me out and I'd just rather stay in until the weird weather blows over. I'll post a photo later of the produce bounty. Even though I've been a life-long vegetarian, it tickles me that there are things in the baskets I don't know. Pomelos were new to me, as were persimmons. Pomegranates I knew but hadn't eaten one for decades. Satsuma tangerines were new to me, as were Hatch chiles. It really is like a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, an edible treasure and a healthy scavenger hunt combined. I love playing "What's this?"

So that is my Saturday here at the ranch. OK, the two room apartment, AKA the Nest.

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This week's basket was great as usual. I received a large head of Romaine, 2 English cukes, a large head broccoli, two yellow squash, and 4 ears corn. Those are the veggies. For fruit I received two half pints blackberries, a huge amount of grapes, a serious number of bananas, 4 large oranges, and two pomegranates. I'm so thrilled!

I am also thrilled I made a cottage cheese-broccoli casserole this morning with the last of the broccoli from last time, because more is a-comin' in. I enjoy looking up things to do with different veggies so I will once again enjoy another broccoli dish in the upcoming week.