Today was another remarkable gift of high energy and lower-than-usual pain in my feet and legs!  Hooray!

Luci and I went to Trader Joe's AND Central Market and got ingredients for a corn and black bean salad that is my all-time favorite! I've had this recipe for years but it makes enough for an army, so I hadn't made it in a long time.   I'm currently recovering from all that chopping and standing, but I'm also wolfing down a bowlful of it. 

Here's the recipe if you want a delicious and refreshing salad for these summer days.

Southwest Salad

2 cups dried black beans

2 cups corn

2-3 medium sized cloves of garlic, freshly minced

A heaping 1.2 cup of finely minced red  pepper

1 medium sized red onion minced

1 t. Salt

1/2 cup olive oil (plus 1-2 T for the tortillas)

1/2 cup fresh lime juice

2-3  t. whole cumin seeds roasted in cast iron pan

1/2 cup minced cilantro

1/2 cup minced parsley

1 t. Crushed red pepper 

Finely ground black pepper

3-4 corn tortillas. 

1. Soak the beans overnight. Or at least 4 hours. Drain. Place in a kettle of fresh water. Bring JUST to a boil, then cover and turn heat way down.
2. Cook at a very slow simmer with no agitation in the water until the beans are tender, about 1 1/4 or 1 and a half hours. When cooked drain and rinse thoroughly in cold water. Then drain again.
3. IN a large bowl combine beans, cooked corn, minced garlic, red onion, bell pepper, salt, and olive oil and lime juice.
4. Roast the cumin seeds and stir, then put them in the salad—along with cilantro, parsley, crushed red pepper and black pepper.  Mix gently.
5. Lightly brush both sides of each tortilla and cut into strips about 1.4 inch wide and 1 1/2 inches long. Toast them lightly in a pan or a 350 oven. Scatter over the salad when you serve it.  

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Also signed up for another session of Lyn Belisle's class on making reliquaries.  Another fabulous multi-hour class for under $30--I'm watching it tonight and collecting relics and pictures to incorporate.  Lyn is an extraordinarily skilled and generous teacher. 

Lyn's classes

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Day wants a James Avery charm bracelet for her birthday.  While I was choosing charms for her, I decided I want one too--and my mama is giving me some birthday money to choose charm!  I'm going with mostly hearts and flowers, but I also want a red pick up truck to remind me of my daddy's.  

It occurred to me that charm bracelets, too, are reliquaries, a collection of charms that reflect our interests!

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Finally capped off a good day with my refrigerator filled with healthy fruits and vegetables arranged in tidy glass containers.  This may be normal for most of you; for me, it's a very happy novelty.  While eating my salad, Nellie and I had a wonderful conversation about art and Lyn's classes, which we are both taking. We decided that if we keep making things we can avoid being fearful about the state of the country. 

It is so deliciously satisfying to have Nellie as a friend.  We share so many similarities it's kind of eerie!  1. We both went to Michael's and Trader Joes today and 2. We both stay up way past midnight every night.!We were just a smidge older than Elena when we met--and we're way better friends today than we were back then!  When we were teenagers we were fifty-piece jigsaw puzzles, now we're thousand pieces each. 

I'm walking around singing Mares-Eat-Oats and Does-Eat Dotes--and Luci thinks I might have misplaced my brain! 

The Gospel According To Nellie and Linda; Make things every day and stay away from fear!