Sprouts

Yesterday, I enjoyed the first crop of sprouts that I started about 4 days ago. Fresh sprouts you grow yourself are better than the store-bought ones! The spicy lentil mix seems to have a lot of radish seeds in it. I made a bean salad, adapting a Martha Stewart recipe.

Spicy Bean Salad with Sprouts:

1 can black beans (or other bean you like)
rinsed, drained, excess water shaken out
2 tsp ground roasted hot red peppers
1 stalk green onion, minced fine ( red onion would be nice here too)
3/4 cup sprouts
2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp red-wine vinegar and/or herb vinegar
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl, toss well. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!

At my paying job, people have been bringing us presents of Christmas treats, and one of the girls I work with brought in several Phillippino dishes as well. So. When I went to work yesterday evening, what with my Huge Salad, and all this food around, I don't remember much about the shift, except eating and eating and eating! Finally, it came to the point that if I had another shortbread cookie, I would really burst! Not an altogether bad way to spend a work day :)

Christmas preparations are in full swing! I have bought some things and have some work to do! Shhhh-h-h-h! I have lots of secrets right now!

Of course, Granddaughter's hat and mitts have to be finished also. I hope to post a pic of them soon.

I took the Girls ( the dogs, Misty and Molly) to the groomer this week. Molly loves the spray of water, trying her best to bite it! This really entertained the groomer.

However, I found my country bumpkins really did not know how to behave in the city, nearly killing me as they wrapped their leashes around my legs and strained forward with all their might so as to get to all those interesting smells! Obedience training for you, Girls! That's it! I've decided! Walking them in the country here was never as fraught with danger. Surely there are just as many interesting smells, but they are familiar to my girls, so maybe less intensely inviting?

The Boys ( my cats, BooBear and Caspar) were not very impressed with the spruced-up and perfumed Girls. Neither party was disappointed or anything. The Girls were just glad to be home and went to sleep, exhausted from the adventure, while the cats more or less ignored them.