Adventures in the High Mojave Desert...wild critters, ancient Native American Petroglyphs; Great Views ..all photos

Last week's full moon

 

 

 

 

 

These are just some of the over 600 photos I took over just 5 days in Joshua Tree National Park, High Mojave Desert, Southern California.

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Palm Springs is the nearest International airport, just 40 minutes south of this wild paradise.

This whole area has been created by flood( 150 million years ago this area was covered by an ocean that stretched to Siberia) earthquakes, weather extremes, and volcanic eruptions, Amboy crater the youngest cone volcano is just north-west of this site in the township of Amboy, on Route 66.
 

Amboy crater

 

Baked potato and pumpkin "Bisque"; Split pea soup with veggies; Penne au gratin with tomatoes; Photos of prep for today's deliveries

Baked potatoes and vegetables for the pumpkin Bisque..baking the potatoes adds a nice earthiness to any soup

Smooth and velvety, blended pumpkin and baked potato bisque..this can also be finished with chopped steamed pumpkin chunks..all Vegan.

Fresh Blackberries for chocolate and berry sourdough waffles

Split pea and vegetable soup

Split peas in first boil (check my ebook "Recipes for Success" for the best way to cook dried beans and legumes)

Cooked penne pasta,  Monterey Jack cheese, Cheddar cheese, grated Parmesan, mustard, turmeric, almond milk and real dairy cream..will be topped with sliced fresh tomato, more cheese and baked at client's home

Cheese and tomato topped cheesey penne bake

Pumpkin chunks, orange bell peppers and sweet potato for a vegetable saute to be served with steamed jasmine rice

Roasted fennel and bell pepper relish/salad; Curried lentil soup; Yam and potato soup; Vegetable stew with rice and vegetable pancakes; Cinnamon-Raisin sour dough breads with fresh pear puree; Pumpkin cakes..all photos of bumper pre-Thanksgiving deliveries tomorrow all vegetarian meals

Roasting fennel bulb and strips of bell peppers, then marinate in olive oil, lemon juice and capers serve with fat free feta cheese and toasted French Breads

Chayote Squash with the seeds removed

Fresh ripe pear puree with apple juice ( cook whole for 20 mins then remove the stems and cores and blend well) this is PURE fresh pear flavor and is great in place of any syrup for any recipe, a great way to use up pears which all seem to ripen overnight, today I used them in my breads instead of sugar.

The whole wheat, sourdough bread dough with pear puree and cinnamon

Yam and potato soup (with bell pepper)

Curried lentil soup

The relish marinading

Fall Vegetable stew to be served with the rice and veggie pancakes, tomato-cumin base with oregano

Previous 2 the rice and vegetable pancakes, the recipe is in my first recipe book, Recipes for Success available on www.amazon/kindle.com

Sour dough bread unlike regular yeasted bread, has to dry out overnight, or it will produce mold very quickly

Fresh pumpkin cake

This is a bumper menu as I have also made a cauliflower curry with chickpeas and sweet potatoes, an Italian Rice bake with cheese, an almond-cheese polenta and some peanut butter cookies.
As per usual the temperature is hot again as the hot Mojave desert winds are blowing in and the day time temp at my home is 85F in the shade.
Have a great week, and to those who do celebrate it, Happy Thanksgiving. john Nigel

Pumpkin and Taylor's Gold Pear cake; Butternut Squash and pasta soup; Eggplant Pasta Gratin; Roasted vegetables with lemon juice; Mashed sweet potatoes and potatoes; Molasses-ginger whole wheat cookies; Whole wheat sour dough sunflower seed breads..photos of prep for tomorrow's deliveries

Taylor's Gold pears ..orig. from New Zealand, now grown in USA, tough skin and very very juicy

Pumpkin cake with Taylor's Gold pears

Right hand side  are white sweet potatoes, not as sweet as yams.

The base for the butternut squash and pasta soup, sort of a Fall Minestrone

Salted pieces of eggplant..removing the bitter juices

Fresh Marinara sauce for the Eggplant & Pasta Gratin

The butternut squash and pasta soup simmering

Mashed Russet and Sweet Potato (did you know that there are over 300 varieties of potatoes, esp. in Peru?)..these are slowly baked then skinned and mashed with butter, sea salt and black pepper

poaching, much denser fleshed  squashes, having removed the pit, then they will be baked and served with the roasted vegetables

Fresh Rosemary adds such a wonderful depth to any pasta sauce

The Eggplant and Pasta Gratin will be baked at client's home

Baked squash topped with roasted vegetables tossed in lemon juice

Whole wheat sour dough sunflower seed and cornmeal  topped breads. these are made with a 10yr old starter I made from an organic apple.

previous 2 the whole wheat molasses ginger cookies