Happy Birthday to G

It is sunny today, for the first time in what seems like ages, although it has probably been only about 6 days, maybe a week since the last sunny day.  Although I like those partly cloudy days I had been hoping for more sun so that the pool would warm up.  Cloudy cool days and nights in the 30's do not make for a warm swimming pool.  This is especially true since have the solar heater turned off because it has a significant leak. 

I am happy it is sunny because I think it should be sunny for G's birthday.  Of course every day is someone's birthday, but I don't think it should be sunny every day.   So I suppose that is arrogant and inconsistent, that I want it to be sunny for my friends, but not for yours.  Actually I do think everyone should have a happy birthday, but I wouldn't want to live somewhere where every day was sunny. I would be incredibly happy if it were cool and cloudy on my birthday, but since my birthday is in July, that is not particularly likely to happen.

But back to the birthday.

 G  asked for this salad for his birthday lunch.  It is one of his favorite summer into fall salads.

The recipe is here: Fried Mozzarella with arugula and prosciutto.  This past Sunday we had this salad for the first time this season, with fresh mozzarella and fresh local arugula.  Of course there are no local peppers yet, and there are never local olives.  I didn't happen to have the ham on hand but the salad was wonderful anyway.   G asked if he could have it again for his birthday, so I made sure to get the ham, except that I got Spanish Serrano Ham, which we prefer to the prosciutto.

The sweet man I married said he would rather eat at home saying my cooking was better than most restaurant food.  I disagree, but still, I can't help but be flattered.

The yellow irises are also in bloom.  The first few opened next to the house and were promptly beaten down by a huge rainstorm Sunday night, about an inch and a half of rain fell  in an hour or two.  But those that were still just buds remained standing, and the purple irises remained standing as well, even though they were already blooming.  This makes me wonder now, was it the rain, or something else.  The yellow irises that were beaten down are near the earliest blooming of the purple irises.  Perhaps the purple blossoms were spent and limp, providing no resistance to the onslaught of water.