there have been quite a few things to steal my cooking and adventuring thunder lately.  Namely the heat and humidity of summer and a deeply rooted tiredness that comes with hard work.  Most of my energies have been expended in reviewing and updating a warehouse, reviewing new point of sale software and cross training and blending a staff while I learn the ins and outs of numerous inventory systems, printing and publishing books and keeping up with an astonishing staff of volunteers, long time missionaries and new ones.
Recently on Facebook I saw that someone I work with had noticed she had taken something of a blog break this summer and I can see where I have done the same.  I think this is life in a nutshell; to have ups and downs alongside times of busyness punctuated by slowdowns or at least the brief distractions of rest.  I am hoping the weather cools soon although it being July in Florida that is a vague dream.  I am hoping my internal fires get stirred up for cuisine and cooking a bit more than they have been.
We made a slow cooked picadillo last night which is a sweet Cuban chili type dish served with arroz amarillo.  Not Z’s favorite with it’s sweet undertones of raisins and salty hits of pimiento stuffed olives but I can see where it is a pantry cleaning comfort dish when topped with a fried egg (a cabello-on horseback).  It takes me back to a rice dish I had in Spain of rice that had been shaped in a mold and filled with an egg and lightly sauced with red sauce that I remember as a revelation which fills me with hope that things will be looking up as long as I am.