Sunny and breezy Clear Lake

Yesterday was somewhat cloudy and quite windy. On the way to Nice, we even encountered a few sprinkles. The clouds were all blown away by this morning and the skies were once again brilliantly clear with nary a cloud in the sky. It was still quite breezy. The waters of the lake remain quite choppy.

This morning Elise's grandmother came over to our condo where we had breakfast. I survived yet another session of cooking with dull kitchen knives.

Later in the morning I took a stroll from where we are currently staying to the grocery store, about 2 miles away going the most direct route. I took the longer, scenic route along the lake shore (on Lakeshore Blvd. so aptly named). I picked up a few grocery items meaning to use them in the evening. I got a call from Elise that we were going to go out to lunch in Lakeport, so she picked me up, returned to our unit to store the perishables in the refrigerator, and then headed out to the city.

We went to a little restaurant that serves crepes, omelettes, and sandwiches. We all had rather large crepes. Next to the restaurant is a used/new bookstore and so all of us browsed there before and/or after lunch. I picked up a large tome of vegetarian Indian recipes. Across the street is a kitchen supply shop, and so we went there to browse. Even though I only have a few more meals to prepare during our vacation, I am so tired of using useless knives that I purchased a small Anolon Kyotsu (Japanese for universal or all purpose) knife. I also picked up a julienne peeler not knowing quite exactly how it works.

Returning from Lakeport we stopped by Elise's grandmother's friend's and spent some time admiring her (Nancy's) garden. Afterwards we paused at Elise's grandmother's and had a few things to eat.

I returned to the condo to try out my new kitchen gadgets and to work on the photos from today and post this blog entry.

I was not disappointed in the knife. I am able to slice through a ripe tomato cleanly and make very thin slices. I updated my travel checklist to include essential kitchen items for the next time we leave home.

The julienne peeler was a new experience. I tested it on a carrot I had and learned that it certainly does a wonderful job of julienning vegetables. I also discovered that it is not meant to be used to simply peel vegetables, although in a pinch I think I can make it work for that. I think I might use it to prepare hashed brown potatoes tomorrow morning. It will also be useful for preparing vegetable juliennes for salads and also for some stir-fry dishes. Even though this wasn't quite what I expected, it should prove to be a useful addition.

The rest of the family went off to the local Adventist school, which is holding some kind of a program this evening.

(Click on image to open today's photo gallery.)