cook: jack in the box-style tacos

One of my favorite junk foods are the deep-fried beef and American cheese and iceberg lettuce tacos at Jack in the Box. I've never had any of their burgers or sandwiches, just their fries and those tacos. I had just made my version of Taco Bell’s Mexican pizza, so why not another rendition of a favorite fast food? I still had refried beans and chorizo ground beef and white corn tortillas leftover from the pizza although I used most to make burritos, but I ran out of flour tortillas. Patrick also just harvested, and so I knew I had to make a salsa with some tomatoes.  

 

Other vegetable scraps turned into an avocado and tomato salad. I had just enough refried beans and meat to make four regular tacos, and I chopped green leaf lettuce to stuff into the tacos after they fried.

And dagnabit, the tortillas dried further and split along the side. Onward despite the breakage. I just made the surface of my cast iron slick with oil rather than deep fry the tacos though I wanted them crispy, which meant turning them over and over again until they were as crispy as I could get 'em.

I used the spatula to smash them down and get the cheese to melt to stick the taco together.

 

Gluten free, but heavy on the dairy. OH well. Patrick could only eat one, and so leftover taco and salsa for snack later.

It’s been a good summer. In addition to my turkey avocado sprouts Dagwood-style sandwich lunches, I've been grilling favorite sandwiches like the turkey and cheese below, and sometimes instead of my favorite potato chips, I'll make a shaved fennel and green salad with a lemon vinaigrette.               

Today in the clay studio, I want to attempt some cups like the one below and forgotten about. I know I've got some pink and orange underglaze in my stash. I'll add water to get the water color effect. And later after bisque firing, I'll glaze the interior and the rim with Colonial White.

I didn't sell all my mini succulent planters at our ceramics pop-up last Saturday, and so I donated them to the arboretum at Central Park for their plant sales. While dropping them off, I spied this beautiful orchid (or is it Dendrobium because of the multiple blooms?) plant. I need to make another white pot to replace that dark brown one. I think I'll texture some Bmix (and a Speckled Buff one too for comparison).

 

I love the tinge of pink in the white blooms.

 

I returned a bunch of books, but my nightstand reading is still extensive.

Cooler weather will definitely make me hunker down and read more. And I've been doing a summer purge or Swedish death cleaning and becoming more ruthless about the objects which take away time and energy. I'll start to gather more fabrics to donate to SCRAP in San Francisco, and I've got two big garbage bags, one of clothes (a capsule wardrobe is happening) and the other of housewares (because when we move, I want only to be surrounded by things I love and made by hand), to donate to Goodwill this morning. But I still could purge more. I'm making this blog my accountability tool, where I'll post pics of my organization to keep me on task. But like a squirrel, I get distracted. For example, I was looking at a bag of polyfill, thinking that I really need to figure out a design for the linen lumbar pillow I've been wanting as well as a backing for the felted wool pillow for my winter pillows. Oh the squirrel is back. Ideas for pottery planters. 

Yeah I need to sketch these into my clay journal.