I let my guard down today and was eventually possed by the Dark Angel itself.  A wily demon that got to me at my weakest moment. 

Can somebody please arrange for a reputable exorcist to visit me soon?  This is a cry for help. I can't find one in the phone book.

I ate chocolate. 

But first, let's review some happier times.

Breakfast 

I made a mistake about the origins of recent bagels. The plain, organic whole wheat variety that I've been consuming lately was baked in Rohnert Park, which is in Sonoma County, probably about as far away as Garberville.  This is full disclosure in case any attorneys specializing in Locavorism are reading this blog. 

Like David in LA who's a prosecutor and has been tripping out over some facts divulged in "The Omnivore's Dilemma" (a hot new "foodie" book) regarding McDonalds and Chicken Nuggets and the fossil fuel called butane (it has four carbon atoms). 

(Am I allowed to even mention the names of corporations and implicitly slander their products without risking my freedom to blog?  Or is this only a problem in Great Britain?)

Oct 26 Breakfast

More grape juice, a melon I picked up at the farmers market so definately local, cottage cheese from Petaluma, bagels from Garberville (organic wheat and blueberries), with Petaluma butter and Willits honey.

Lunch 

This was a feast!

Oct 26 Lunch

The same lamb stew and mashed potatoes as last night, same tomato and tomatillo salad, same melon as at breakfast, same juice.  The walnuts are from the tree in our front yard.  I don't know the variety, but it is a fantastic one.  Big nuts and non-bitter flavor, easy to shell.

Soon after lunch I made dinner.  Decided to go for a frittata and lentils, something I made a lot during the summer.  Here are the frittata ingredients before processing. 

Frittata Ingredients

I think of a frittata as a crustless quiche, but wikipedia calls it an italian omlet:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frittata

Anyhow, it is an extremely flexible dish based on eggs, cheese, cream, and whatever else you want to add.  I just add what is available in the garden at the time.   I had a bunch of sweet peppers and chose a small one. The zucchini is on its final throes for the year.  Onions, garlic and some herbs are also standard. 

I don't use any recipe, but just make sure the eggs, cream and cheese are mixed to form a thick slurry.  The fridge was hiding a few different kinds of local cheeses, all sort of scrappy and difficult to use other than as grated additions to a frittata slurry.

Frittata Slurry

The solar cooker is perfect for this dish.  I have these round black pans with fitted lids.  Cooked the lentils in one of these pans and the frittata in another.  Those are the last of some lentils I grew two seasons ago.  

Lentils

They stacked easily in the oven.  Notice how the oven has a swiveled platform for keeping the food level even as the oven's angle can be adjusted to tilt towards the sun.

Solar Oven

It was 350 F when I opened the oven's door.  A really serious oven!

Dinner

How wonderful it is to come home at about 5 pm after working at the school farm and have dinner ready.  Of course, I am lucky enough to be able to be home often during the day to set up my solar oven.  Folks who have more 9 to 5 jobs will prepare dinner the night before and put it in the oven before going to work in the morning.  Aim the oven south and it will cook fine.

Oct 26 Dinner

I finished the mashed potatoes and even had some Calrose rice during seconds (prepared for the rest of the family).  Also drank the last of the fresh grape juice but hope to pick some Concords soon and make more.  

The Darkness that Has Enshrouded My Soul

Okay, now back to the henious crime committed tonight.  I was off my guard at Spooky Story Night at my kids elementary school.  Caught up in the pageantry of little kids in costumes listening to spooky stories, watching as they did arts and crafts out of plastic objects, I passed by the table of cookies, rice crispy treats and brownies and quietly, non-chalantly even, took a couple and started eating them with my kids and about 200 other people in the gym.  

I will sleep with tightened thumb screws tonight and hope, pray even, for forgiveness by the morning.