Fish dreams

Mackerel is good! Fresh from 99 Ranch (on sale for $1.19/lb -- normally an exhorbinant $1.69/lb), stuffed with fennel greens and lemon zest, slashed and sprinkled with salt, grilled until crispy on the outside, tender on the inside. Yum! Must grill mackerel more often.

Terry G. is visiting, so we indulgently had fresh Dungeness crab last night and fresh mackerel tonight. We went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium today, so we knew what we'd be in the mood for. I gotta say, it's a toss up which one I liked best. I mean, crab is great, but that mackerel, mmmm. I swear, if it cost as much as salmon, it would be just as revered. But the status quo is fine with me -- I'll eat all the cheap mackerel I can manage.

We checked out the Forest of Nicene Marks on the way back. Must go back and hike when drier. Then we took the very scenic Soquel-San Jose road home. Tomorrow: Copia.

Garden note: Purple Cape cauliflower (OP, from Seed Savers) is very late and not purple throughout like Graffiti (F1) is. It was nicely late, whereas Graffiti was all done in January (from a September planting). But it's oddly greeny-white with just a coating of purple over the tops of the florets. I think I'll stick with Graffiti.

And yes, I've ordered Cheddar, the new orange cauliflower.