January 19

A regular Saturday morning event in my kitchen, before the weekly grocery shopping, is the making of what I call End-of-the-Week Chili. I sauté onions and garlic in a big stockpot, then throw in all the perishable vegetables remaining from the week. Today that included carrots, bell pepper, broccoli, zucchini, scallions, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, sugar snap peas, snow peas, and collard greens. I add anything else from the fridge that I think won't clash too much: salsa, steamed or roasted veggies, tofu, pasta sauce, tomato paste. Then I throw in a can of beans, and usually a large can of tomatoes (though today I used vegetable juice instead). Sometimes I'll add a can of corn too. At that point, I can add some broth and call it soup, but usually I finely chop one or two chipotles en adobe, because I happen to have five cans of them in my pantry (thank you, Lola), and call it chili. As the only vegetarian in a houseful of omnivores, this stockpot of veggie goodness provides me with daily lunches (and sometimes breakfasts) as well as dinners on the nights when I'm serving the family meat. Every week it's different, delicious, filling, and oh so easy.

It was another glorious day today, and I was itching for some exercise and beach time. Everyone else in the family had plans, so I took myself off to Point Dume alone. Since my childhood summers spent on the rocks at Kiama, I've always loved tidepools, so when I saw that we were expecting exceptionally low tides this afternoon, I had a yen to photograph starfish and anemones. I was hoping to spot some migrating whales, too, but no such luck ... I'll just have to go back again soon.