Monday, July 20, 2020

Pea Salad with roasted chicken
{and a cool Comet Neowise sighting!}

Last night around 10:30ish Doug called me to take a look at the comet Neowise.  He was out in the field with his night vision device hoping to spot the comet.  I was inside with air conditioning fiddling with my phone and adding books to my Thriftbook cart.  His use of time was better spent.

I walked out and am I glad I did.  What a cool thing to see.  This photo below is NOT ours and credit goes to The Verge.  But it's very close to what we saw. The tail was more angled to the upper right from our point of view. It's a once in a lifetime event and I am glad we were able to see it.  Once you found it through night vision then you could barely see it in the sky naked eye once you looked up.
I can say I wouldn't have spotted it without the help.   





Other than seeing the comet (which was very cool) nothing new here, as is probably the case with most folks. Staying in, the usual, sounds like a broken record. It's so awfully hot it's hard to breath when you walk, even in the mornings. Yes, that's a real feel like temperature of 107 F/ 42 C.  So that means less walking for us. :-(



Just a few more months of this heat and the very welcome autumn temps will grace us for a week. I am ready for that. In the meantime I will be in the kitchen or reading a book. Bad time to cut back on wine. Hmmmm....... 

What I planned to share today was this cold pea salad, then I got caught up in complaining.  Sorry about that! For the life of me I can't find a recipe for the pea salad I had in mind so....I improvised.  Actually it's not like this is a hard salad to put together but I swear, think I saw one in Lee Bailey's cookbook or maybe Jacques Pépin.... No matter.


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This is a cold salad so for those us in the sweltering northern hemisphere, this is a perfect side dish. I can't call this a recipe as it's such a simple thing to toss together.

  • Peas (if they are frozen then cook and cool down)
  • sour cream to your taste
  • chopped green onions
  • cheddar cheese, cubed or shredded
  • salt, pepper and paprika

You could use mayonaise if you like it but I think sour cream has slightly less calories.  Perhaps I'm fooling myself but I don't use a load of sour cream so there you go.  This is vegetarian but you could add bacon bits if you'd like.

We roasted a whole chicken (yeah, what a surprise) with baby carrots and potatoes. I think we eat more chicken than most non vegetarians but there is just so much you can do with it for different meals.  We are planning more vegetarian meals upcoming, shopping only every few weeks so that means raiding the pantry for ideas. 


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I am preparing to be more cheerful for next week's post!

22 comments:

  1. Since we reduced our meat consumption, I really miss chicken both because I like it and because it has so many uses in menus, as you say. Actually I keep a big bag of frozen peas on hand and they are almost as flexible to add to various dishes: your salad sounds great!

    be well... mae at maefood.blogspot.com

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    1. Thanks, Mae. We had chicken frozen from our last round of shopping. The peas are always a welcome addition to any of the meals we make. Casseroles, salads, etc. I still want to make that tortilla meal you posted, looks wonderful.

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  2. Yum on the roast chicken and how cool about the comet. I didn't even realize there was one and we normally are pretty up on space related stuff. I love the idea of replacing the mayo with sour cream. I like sour cream so much better then mayo - it's less oily and has a nice tang.

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    1. Katherine, it was very cool when Doug showed me the comet. Wish I'd had it in me last night to go out and join him but for whatever reason, I was so tired. The heat takes it out of me. Do try this salad if you like peas as it doesn't need many ingredients, maybe perfect for your stay in Memphis.
      I got your email and I will write you later. :-) Glad things are going well as expected.

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  3. No one says you have to be cheerful. It's okay.

    We have taken to walking at 6:30 in the morning, just as the sun comes up. It's much cooler then here. Most mornings we have been walking in temps in the upper 70s.

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    1. Deb, usually I am cheerful....maybe it's the staying in and the heat. We try and get out earlier and wait on the elderly dog to awaken to get her out. Can't wait for Fall !

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  4. I appreciate you sharing about the comet and definitely don't need you to be chipper. Life is overwhelming right now, so it's just nice to get by together, online. You're such a wonderful sharer.

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    1. Stacy, I hope you get to see the comet. You probably have darker skies than we do, it's so very cool! It is greta to be able to connect to so many people all over the world via blogging.

      You make some mighty good meals and you ought to start your own site! Food and books!

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  5. there you are sweltering and here we are with the heating on! brrrrr. how fab to see the comet.

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    1. Sherry, there's no happy medium! Honestly, I would like cooler but not freezing. Is there such a place? :-) I'd love to see your part of the country. Can you see the comet from your parrt ofn the world?

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  6. Your family must be very happy because of your great cooking skills!

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  7. Our comet viewing was block by rain or clouds :( -- so cool that you saw it. When it's hot I'm miserable. I try not to be, but UGH. Hope you can RV someplace fun and safe.

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    1. It was only clear two nights here, this part of Florida could never be called the sunshine state. Sometimes I feel like we ought to live closer to the mountains, which we like, since it's rarely nice weather here.
      There I go grousing again!

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  8. I never know what to do with peas! I think this salad is a great idea, especially in this hot weather. How cool to see the comet!

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    1. Judee, I think I am now addicted to this salad :0

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  9. First I heard of that comet, and what luck that you got to see it! Tell your husband that we are awaiting the arrival of hurricane Douglas here. Though they usually vere off before actually hitting our island.

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    1. It was very cool, Claudia . It's so cloudy here most nights, unfortunately, but I was able to see it with Doug alone one night and he got another glimpse the following. I hope you stay safe and that storm doesn't hit you!

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  10. Same old here too, we get out either together or alone, that's about it. Masks are mandatory and that is fine with me. I go walking in various neighbourhoods and finally ventured downtown this week. So quiet.
    I have recently started buying whole chickens again.

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    1. Jackie, we enjoy a whole roasted chicken now and again. So much you can do with leftovers. We walk early when we can, before the heat is too bad.

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  11. Pea salad is one of my very favorites and now you have me craving it. Thanks for sharing it with Souper Sundays! It will be in the roundup this week.

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    1. Deb, It's so easy to make that I'm tempted to have it too often.

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