And the title is referring to me cooking, not me cooking food if you get it? It's like a play on words...? Never mind, to the important stuff. It's absolutely fascinating driving through the States and just watching from your car window the scenery change drastically before your very eyes without going more than a few miles. Still heading steadily southwards through California, I left behind the green hills of San Francisco and continued on with everywhere about me gradually looking more and more like a scene from "Cars". Orangeries and vineyards gave way to hills of shaggy dry grass with the odd tree here and there and then even those soon disappeared leaving nothing but endless, lifeless rock and sand. And the occasional cactus. (Cue the whistling and tumble weed.)
...to this.
Leaving my vehicle and stepping out into that dry air, realizing that the cook is being cooked by that unforgiving, Californian sun was my warm (understatement of the century) welcome to the Mojave Desert. A breathtakingly beautiful spectical and an aridly empty wasteland at the same time, you'd be forgiven for thinking you'd waken up on planet Mars.
Had a near miss with this fella...
The Mojave Desert is a place I'll never forget. Thought it seems empty, it is full of surprises. Pleasant ones like discovering that pistachios are grown here and that there is an annual pistachio festival that I was able to attend, and then some not so pleasant that you've got to really keep an eye out for. Venomous creatures such as rattlesnakes and sidewinders, tarantulas and black widows, Gila monsters, etc. The list goes on. That's without the coyotes...
Of course I had to get a
green keyring...
And then there are the Sullivan's. Long term friends whom I had the pleasure of staying with for ten days. Helen, the wonderful wife and Mum, is an amazing cook and makes the absolute best cinnamon rolls on the planet. Seriously, you haven't lived until you've tried one. There were some fantastic other things we got to concoct in her kitchen with 11 year old Chelsea FC fan, James, such as the amazing pizzas you'll see in the photos. Part two with more photos coming soon...
Helen making potato salad. I used to really dislike but
eventually acquired a taste for it.
Fellow handsome ginger, James...
Cross chopping pecans...
Come on, let's cook something!
...for delicious desserts
Meatball sandwiches. Delish.
Leftover chilli and rice in a slowcooker layerd with wraps
and topped with cheese. Absolutely fantastic.
The Mojave Desert
(Images)
And then a little surprise. I saw this commercial around the same time as the festival so I thought it was kinda fitting. And it's kinda green...
"To glorify my Savior, Jesus Christ, the Creator
of the universe and spread further abroad His glorious gospel." - Yours Truly
OK, so it's been a little while, in fact exactly a year and four days since I flew out, but let's find out where I was again. Admittedly, this post will have little to do with food but I'd like to share this day with you because it will forever stick in my memory as one of my favourite moments. Anyway, that's where I was: Reno, Nevada. (See previous post "The Great Salt Lake and a Chinese Buffet") Unfortunately, as much as I wanted to get back on the road as quickly as possible, (let's just say Reno wasn't my favourite city so far) there were a few complications with transport which set me back a couple of hours. Frustrating but seemingly unavoidable. So, after trying four different garages, everything got fixed and I was on the move once more, still heading west. But what was coming next was worth the wait... A moment had come that I had been looking forward to since leaving Montana: crossing the Nevada/California border! The change in scenery was immediate and absolutely amazing. A stop was made at a place called Emigrant Gap to take it in before driving another couple of hours to Roseville, Sacramento which, confusingly, is the capital city of California.
Emigrant Gap.
The following day I got up really excited. I knew what was coming! Back on the road again, I began to notice acres and acres of California's world-renown orchards, orangeries and vineyards as I began to get closer to my destination. (It was a shame I didn't get to spend more time investigating.) If you guessed from the picture that I am headed for the Golden Gate Bridge, you guessed right! What an absolutely amazing day! Due to air of different temperatures meeting, "advection fog" is a very common occurrence in the San Franscisco Bay area, however, it wasn't when I was there which just made it even more incredible. What a spectacle!
Nearly there!
Another slight nuisance was that I didn't have more time to spend in San Franscisco as there are some fantastic restaurants there but with a tight schedule unfortunately they will have to wait for another time. I'm pretty sure I'll be back. So, this time, I just admired the way the packed trams climbed up and down the steep, hilly streets of the city, picked Alcatraz up in one hand and sat and watched the Pacific Ocean roll over the Californian shoreline for the very first time.
Seasoned with Wonderstruckness, Jacob
Actually on the bridge...
Ta da!
Downtown San Francisco
The Pacific Ocean
Reduced to silence...
Holding the world famous Alcatraz island
Welcome to the city!
One of San Francisco's trams
A picturesque, Californian Sunset
...to some proper home cooking
Oh boy, am I looking forward....
"To glorify my Savior, Jesus Christ, the Creator
of the universe and spread further abroad His glorious gospel." - Yours Truly
Leaving my vehicle and stepping out into that dry air, realizing that the cook is being cooked by that unforgiving, Californian sun was my warm (understatement of the century) welcome to the Mojave Desert. A breathtakingly beautiful spectical and an aridly empty wasteland at the same time, you'd be forgiven for thinking you'd waken up on planet Mars. 
