Our week was a bit slower paced, with just enough activity to make it interesting, as well as a lot of cooking.

Last Friday we had salad for lunch, always a favorite, we usually construct our own, here is mine.

There are a few foods that sound good to me, that should work, yet when I make them I find not so much; vegetable terrines fall into that category. Alice Waters, the famous chef from Chez Panisse, is known for her emphasis on vegetables, so I used her recipe as a basis – zucchini, summer squash, eggplant, with a goat-cheese spread that was amazing – I added a layer of roasted red peppers. It was a lot of work but it came together quite well. We had it for our Sunday lunch along with shrimp sautéed in garlic and butter.

Tricia said the terrine was good, and it was not bad at all, yet it was just not good enough for me to want again. I think it is the texture of it all at room temperature. But hey, not everything we make will win a Star.

Monday was the pizza that I posted in Tuesday’s Tip, good enough that it gets reposted here, I do love pizza. Along with a trick for pitting olives.

One of our new vegetables in the garden is Patio Eggplant. They are tiny, only 3 inches when ready to eat. So on Tuesday we gave the first few a try. I cut them in half then grilled them in olive oil that I had infused with shallot and garlic. Then I served them topped with the chopped shallot and olive oil – grilled shrimp made for a perfect lunch.

Thursday, Tricia made another of our favorites, pistachio-crusted goat cheese rounds, with salad.

This week I spent some time sorting through old sketchbooks, I found an old Pentalic which I had forgotten about, it was always one of my favorite sketch journals, it meant I needed a trip to Columbia Art, where I had bought the first one. Thankfully they still carry them AND they were on sale, life is good.

Looking back through the older journal I was reminded of the pleasure of simple sketches. so I did a few this week.

August means two big things for my year, my birthday, and that Autumn is getting near. We have even seen some leaves turning color when we are on our frequent walks. It is never too early to start doing a few sketches with autumn colors.

Then of course the coast of Europe is always enticing.

This weekend family will be down from Seattle, so we will be having brunch with everyone on Sunday, at a new place.

I hope your week is going well, spending time with friends and family, and of course capturing the moment in a journal. Thanks for following along with us, it means a lot. Be sure to check out Tricia’s post today about red, so many cool photos with red.