I don’t think of myself as being out of shape but two years of not doing my summer of hill walks in Canada has made me lazy. I walk a lot. I walk miles and miles every month but it is mostly on flat ground. Just recently I decided that I needed to up my intensity level and add some hills. So I started with very moderate hilly trails and now I have decided to add climbing the Proctor Ski Hill to my walks a couple of times a week. We had a break in the weather after the high humidity and heat of this past week so off I went with the dogs. Well, to be honest, I only made it to tower #4 which is about half way up the hill. It is a steep pitch and I haven’t done anything even close to that in a long time. I plan to work my way along until I can get up to the top. Even the dogs were exhausted. Wyke just sat down and stared at me like I had lost my mind. He is probably right but I am going to give it a try anyway. Stay tuned, it might take a few weeks but hopefully I will get there. We spent a lot of time in the water after we did our climb. Everyone was hot and needed no encouragement to get in the water.

Update on Jenny Lane

Jenny Lane is coming along. Slowly but surely now. More work was done on the outside of the new addition in preparation for the shingles. John has been doggedly painting shingles for a couple of weeks now. He decided he needed to do at least one more bundle just in case. It’s quite funny to see them hanging on the clothes line but it is a smart way to dry them. He also painted the front door with the color that the trim will be and we all love it. The house color is more or less white with just a hint of green in it. As you can see by the shingles they are pretty white. Now I can hardly wait for the house to be painted but it’s getting closer.

Back To Tennessee

Jack was to leave to go back to university on Monday. With the car trouble on Sunday it didn’t look like that would be possible. We have a wonderful relationship with the Volvo folks at Lovering Volvo in Concord, New Hampshire. We have been doing business with them since the early 90’s and they have treated us very well. Jack had the car towed, after three hours of sitting by the side of the highway, to the Volvo dealer and left them the keys and a note. I called on Monday and was told that they were way behind with a technician out sick and a full load of service. However, they promised to try and have a look at it to determine what was wrong. Late Monday we were told it needed a new alternator which required ordering the part and it wouldn’t be fixed until Wednesday. Tuesday was a VERY long day with a VERY unhappy but resigned young man. Wednesday we got the news that the car would be ready at noon. Yippee. John and I drove to pick it up while Jack finished up the packing he needed to do before leaving. He was on the road by 1:30pm. He made it all the way to Sewanee with only one overnight stop getting there Thursday around supper time. He was only one day late for his fire fighter course. All is good! Katie delivered flowers to the service department at Lovering Volvo with our sincere thanks for helping out with a critical repair.

Cooking, Gardens and More

The bounty in the garden is a delight. Lovely colors of red and orange and green and a few deep purple beets. We had an abundance of zucchini – well who doesn’t when they start to come in – so I set about looking for recipes. We made zucchini bread last weekend and then made some more during this past week. We also ate zucchini for dinner and have had it cooked a number of different ways. I found a recipe for Zucchini Parmesan Fries which I tried and they were delicious.

Parmesan-Rosemary Zucchini Fries from Eating Well

Ingredients

Olive oil cooking spray
⅓ cup all-purpose flour
3 large egg whites
1 tablespoon water
1 cup panko breadcrumbs, preferably whole-wheat
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground pepper
1 pound zucchini and/or summer squash (about 2 medium), cut into 1/2-by 4-inch sticks
Directions

Step 1
Preheat oven to 425°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. Place a wire rack on top and coat with cooking spray. (Or to air-fry, see Tip.)

Step 2
Place flour in a shallow dish. Whisk egg whites and water in another shallow dish until foamy. Combine breadcrumbs, Parmesan, rosemary, salt and pepper in a third shallow dish. Working in batches, toss zucchini (or summer squash) in the flour to coat. Dip in the egg white, shaking off the excess. Toss in the breadcrumb mixture, pressing to adhere. Transfer to the wire rack, spacing the fries close together without touching. Coat the fries with cooking spray.

Step 3
Bake until golden and crispy, flipping once halfway, 20 to 25 minutes. Serve immediately.

Tips
To air-fry: Coat the air-fryer basket with cooking spray. Bread the fries as directed in Step 2, placing them in the basket. Coat the fries with cooking spray. Cook, in batches if necessary, at 360°F, flipping halfway, until golden and crispy, 10 to 12 minutes.

NB: They were delicious but I wouldn’t say it was easy to make them. Took quite a bit of time.

I am going to be traveling south to Dataw to empty our house and move our belongings back to New Hampshire. I do not have internet at the house so you may or may not get a letter next week.