Bird Nest

We have another bird nest to watch this year. Last year a sparrow made a nest & laid eggs in one of our hanging baskets & we followed their progress. Here's a link to last year's Bird nest.
This year one has decided to use one of the evergreen bushes outside our window.
But notice that there is a different egg in there!

There is the tiny blue egg with black speckles & that is the sparrow egg. But there is also a larger white egg with brown speckles. I have no idea what this means. Did the sparrow lay an unusual egg? Or did she take over a nest with another bird's egg in it? Hmmm...
Here's a close up so you can see the difference in size.

We learned last year that birds usually lay one egg a day until they are done.
The following day there was another egg.

And today there is another. There are 3 blue eggs & 1 white one. The sparrow last year laid 4 eggs total, so I bet there will be another blue egg tomorrow.
I'm looking forward to see what hatches out of that while egg & if the mother & father sparrow will take care of it. Last year we saw the mother only at first, but when the birds hatched, there were two sparrows taking care of the little birds.


I'll update with more pictures as they hatch.

Friday Felicities

The prayers of our 5 year old son.

Memories of our 17 year old daughter praying her 1st prayers.

Sunshine & Rain

Library books

Curious George

Getting close to finishing The Two Towers!

Friends to share with.

FRIDAYS!!!!!

Here's Becky's site to see more Friday Felicities.

Roasted Cauliflower

I had never roasted cauliflower before. I saw roasted cauliflower over at The Left Over Food Queen's site a while back & decided I HAD to try it sometime. I bought cauliflower last month, but because we love cauliflower so much, we ended up eating it raw one evening when we had the munchies. I bought it again this month & roasted it tonight. Jenn has a recipe for a sauce that sounds wonderful, but I did not have all of the ingredients, so we just ate it as it came out of the oven. The picture isn't so great...but the taste was out of this world! It was SO DELICIOUS!

Toss 1 head of cauliflower with a few teaspoons of olive oil. Season with salt & cook in 450 degree oven for 25 minutes, or until browned and fork tender.

This was AMAZING. I wish I had more cauliflower in the frig & I'd fix it again tomorrow!

I am so glad that we have 4 cauliflower plants in the garden!

Cheese 'n Onion Bread

I used to make this bread years ago & just recently 'found' it in my cookbook. I remembered how much I liked it & thought it would make really good Texas Toast, so I made it last week.

Cheese 'n Onion Bread
1 1/4 c. warm milk
2 TBLS. butter (room temp.)
1 TBLS. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. garlic powder (I used a bit more)
1/8 tsp. paprika ( I used a bit more)
3 1/2 C. bread flour
1 pkg. yeast (2-3 tsp.)
1 C. cheese, shredded (I used cheddar)
1/3 C. red onion, minced (I used vidalia)
(the recipe didn't call for it, but I added 1/4 c. chopped chives)

Add the yeast to the warm milk and set aside.
In a large bowl, add the butter to the flour & stir it in with a fork a little bit. Then add the rest of the ingredients except the cheese & onion. Stir with a wooden spoon until you can't anymore & then use your hands. Knead in flour for 5 minutes or more, until it has a nice smooth texture.

Then add your cheese & onion. I also added chives because I needed to trim the chives I had in the garden. I thought this was a neat picture. I took it just before I kneaded the cheese, onion, & chives in.
Knead the cheese & onion into the bread. It took about another 5 minutes.
Set in a warm place, covered with a clean towel, for about 90 minutes, or until doubled.

I LOVE how bread looks (& smells!) when rising!

Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes.



I froze one loaf for another day (after it cooled of course), & then sliced the other for Texas Toast. I make thick slices, butter both sides, & bake at 425 for 5 minutes & then turn the bread slices & bake a few minutes more.
This was great with speghitti!

Friday Felicities

Unseasonably COOL weather.

Clean kitchen cabinets.

Large blue Mason jars.

Herbs sprouting!

Wet garden (again).

An early, hot bath.

Warm jammies.

FRIDAYS!!!!!!!

These are things that make you happy & this meme was started by Nattie.

See Becky's blog for other Friday Felicities!

Garden Update

It's been 3 weeks since we planted. Dh tilled last night (Oi, that makes me so nervous) & the dirt tilled up so beautifully deep brown. I love this brown dirt.
The plants have not chaged that much, but they will soon. The seeds have sprouted & are growing well. We actually took down the stakes for the rows containing radishes, peppers, green beans, & onions. I just got around to planting the beet row last week because we had 2 weeks of rain so it was too muddy to plant. The beet row is nearest to the tomatoes & it still has stakes up. Again, these pictures were taken about an hour before sunset, so the garden was in shadows.

And look here! I have DILL WEED coming up amongst the dog's paw prints! LOL
YAY!
The soil is not dry like it looks. It is still very moist under the top layer from all the rain we've had. It's like the top layer kind of crusts over. In the paw print in the bottom part of the picture you can see how much darker the soil is.


I also have cilantro coming up! And thyme! And chamomile! The lavender hasn't come up yet. I think I may see some parsley starting to come up. And still no basil or chives. I do have 2 chive plants that I planted, but none of the seed has come up yet. I got my first little harvest from my herb garden today. I cut the chive plants down to about 2 inches (they were getting tall!) & put them into a loaf of homemade bread that is rising as I type. :)
I have added just a few things. I got a hanging basket & planted a nice lemon balm plant in it. I also got a peppermint plant & planted it in a pot. I don't think my spearmint seeds are going to come up, so I bought a nice spearmint plant & planted it under our propane tank (way far away from other plants lol).

The zucchini is sprouting too. Look how that seed cover is still haning on to that plant on the left. I am looking so forward to the zucchini! I never get tired of it (although my family does...lol).

And finally, here's a picture from a different angle. Taken from near the tomato plants & broccoli plants looking southwest. That dry looking row is the newly planted beets, then the onion row, & then the beans. You can't really see the pepper plants & radishes in this shot, but they are on the far side. Also, the corn is doing very well, all 4 rows are sprouting, but my pictures didn't turn out very good. I'll have pics of the corn next week though!So that's how the garden has grown in the last 3 weeks.

Wordless Wednesday

Taco Lasagna & Nacho Cheese Spinach Dip

I got this recipe from my great friend Dana! She makes a vegetarian version of this using lentils. I would love to try that sometime. This is a great dish. We absolutely loved it. It is now in the rotation of things I make for my family.



Taco Lasagna
1 lb ground round
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
1/2 cup chopped onion
2/3 cup water
1 (1 1/4 ounce) envelope taco seasoning
1 (16 ounce) can black beans (rinsed and drained)
1 (14 ounce) can can petite diced tomato (undrained)
6 large flour tortillas (8 inch)
1 (16 ounce) can refried bean
3-4 cups Mexican blend cheese
chopped fresh cilantro leaves (optional)
sour cream (optional)
Directions:
In a large skillet brown the beef, green pepper and onion over medium heat until onions and peppers are soft and meat is no longer pink; drain. Add water and taco seasoning and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in tomatoes and black beans (rinsed and drained). Simmer for 10 minutes.
Use a greased 9 x 13 pan. Put 2 tortillas on the bottom overlapping as necessary. Spread with half of the refried beans, then half of the meat mixture and 1 cup of cheese. Repeat layers starting with tortilla shells. Top with remaining tortilla shells and cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes at 350 or until cheese is melted . Garnish with fresh cilantro if desired and top with sour cream.

Look how neat these layers look!

I served it with sour cream on top & with nacho cheese spinach dip.

Nacho Cheese Spinach Dip

16 oz. velveeta cheese, diced in 1/2 in. cubes

4 oz. cream cheese

1 can (10 oz.) Rotel (diced tomatoes with green chilies)

1 (10 oz.) pkg. frozen chopped spinach, thawed & drained

Add all ingredients to a bowl & microwave on high for 2 minutes & stir. Continue to heat & stir until melted.

Serve on tortilla chips or assorted cut-up vegetables.

Thank you DANA!

Cucumber Sauce

This is a new favorite. We had baked salmon tonight, & I made this cucumber sauce that was a combination of a cucumber sauce I saw in Taste of Home Magazine a few months ago, & a sauce called tzatziki, which is a cucumber sauce for gyros. The recipe I have for tzatziki can be found here.

Here's the recipe I used tonight:

Cucumber Sauce

2 Cups fat free sour cream
2 cups cucumbers (about 2 meium cucumbers)
3 cloves of garlic, chopped fine

1 t. dried dill weed

1/2 tsp. salt

Skin the cucumber & shred it using a grater. Drain it on doubled (or tripled!) paper towel & squeeze as much water out of it as you can.

In a small bowl combine the shredded, drained cucumber, sour cream, garlic, dill weed & salt. Stir well & chill for a few hours before serving.

Oh.My.Goodness.

DELICIOUS!

And....now that I can make the sauce, I'm going to have to learn how to make gyros!

Garden Update

We planted the garden seeds two weeks ago on Wednesday. They are coming up. They look a bit puny now, but just wait!
We've also had between 3 -4 inches of rain in the last two weeks. You'll notice many rocks in these pictures. The rain always brings more up out of the ground.
Here's the first corn. I LOVE to see the first wee little shoots poppin' up. They will make drastic changes in the next two months! This little sprout is about 1.5 inches tall.

These are the two northern outside rows. Radishes are on the outside row. The row next to them is: 8 green pepper plants, 4 cabbage plants, & 4 sweet banana pepper plants. You can't see them very well in this picture.

Here is a cabbage plant. I included it so you could see the German Shepherd foot prints. LOL They were chasing each other & slid thru this row!


Bean sprouts! I think they look so funny when they're poppin' up. They come up bending their heads way over & then the next day they stand straight up! You can see the third sprout is bending its head & the other two are standing up. And of course there's the rocks...

Here are the two bean rows. You can't really see much, I included it because there will be a HUGE difference in these in the next two months also!

And here's a tomato plant. They're still small too. But not for long.

Here's a broccoli plant.

And here's a poor sweet banana pepper. We have 4 of them, & some onery critter has been getting in the garden & munching on them! 3 of the 4 look just like this. :( I'm hoping they still come around.

And doesn't this basil plant

look lonely?! I hope hope HOPE the seeds come up! But look at those doggie foot prints again! I may just have to buy a few more basil plants...

Well, that's it for this week.

I'm sure the pictures will look much different even next week!

MORELS!

My husband found this one mushroom under our deck yesterday! It was not quite 3 inches tall. We LOVE mushrooms! We don't have a place where we go mushroom hunting anymore, so we pretty much only find a few each year. I would love to have a big 'ole mess of 'em to fry up for supper!

But we just had this lonely one.

So I soaked it in salt water for 24 hours to remove any little bugs.

Then I cut it in half.

I lightly dusted it in flour & fried it in canola oil.

This one little mushroom was split between 3 people!

It was so good! Like I said, I'd LOVE to have a pan full of these, but it was still fun frying & eating part of just one.

Chocolate Sheet Cake!

Oh.My.Goodness.
This Chocolate Sheet Cake is AMAZING!
Look, it's SO BIG that I didn't even get the whole thing in the picture. I have also seen this called Texas Sheet Cake, because of the size.
I first saw this over at Pioneer Woman Cooks & this is her recipe.
I have also seen this exact same recipe only with 1 t. of cinnamon added.
This is an old fashioned cake & one of my ALL TIME FAVORITES!




Pioneer Woman Chocolate Sheet Cake
Combine in a mixing bowl & then set aside:
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

In a saucepan, melt 2 sticks butter.
Add 4 heaping tablespoons cocoa. Stir together.
Add 1 cup boiling water, allow mixture to boil for 30 seconds, then turn off heat.
Pour over flour mixture, and stir lightly to cool.
In measuring cup, pour 1/2 cup buttermilk. Add 2 beaten eggs, 1 teaspoon baking soda, & 1 teaspoon vanilla. Stir buttermilk mixture into butter/chocolate mixture. Pour into sheet cake pan and bake at 350-degrees for 20 minutes.

While cake is baking, make icing:
Chop 1/2 cup pecans finely & set aside.
Melt 1 3/4 sticks butter in a saucepan. Add 4 heaping tablespoons cocoa, stir to combine, then turn off heat. Add 6 tablespoons milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1 lb powdered sugar (almost 4 cups) & stir together. Add pecans, stir together, and pour over warm cake.


Eat warm.......mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
It is heaven.

Friday Felicities

• last day of school for our junior!
• little boy haircuts
• dirt
• rain
• sun
• very wet garden
• radish plants poppin' up
• reading The Two Towers
• Treebeard & Ents
• FRIDAYS!

I haven't done one of these in a long time. I'd like to start participating. Here's a link to Becky's blog if you'd like to join in.

Herb Garden

Here it is. My new herb garden. You won't be able to see much yet, since we just planted. But, I did water each area so you can 'see' where everything is. I am standing in the last row of strawberries looking north toward the herb garden, & then the corn is planted on past the herb garden. It won't be long & you won't be able to miss the corn!




I'll start at the shepherd's hook in the middle & go around clockwise.
Around the shepherd's hook I have planted chamomile seeds. Next to that in a square area I planted cilantro/coriander seeds. There in the bottom right hand corner Italian flat leaf parsley seeds are planted. Next is 1 sage plant, then 1 rosemary plant in a pot (thanks Lori!), & then 2 chive plants. Next to the 2 chive plants I have a thin row of chive seeds planted. That row goes to the western most part of the herb garden. Then on the west edge I have a funny shaped area where I planted some lavender seeds. Next to that is a square patch where I planted dill seeds.
And then the last square area, on the left of the shepherd's hook, I planted 1 basil plant, & then some basil seeds. Oh, I almost forgot the thyme. The thyme seeds are planted right in that middle square.

Now I need to buy some lemon balm & plant it in a basket to hang on that hook, & then I'm ready to see what comes up! Hopefully, everything will come up.


I'm really looking forward to this!



Here's another view from the east looking west:
Hopefully where I've watered gives you an idea of where everything is. And, (lol) I did press in little sticks to mark my sections. I'll pull them up as soon as the plants start growing.
Here's the sage, rosemary, & chive plants:





And here's my little lone basil plant, waiting for all the little fellow basil seeds to come up.
And some rocks. We always have rocks in our garden. A barn used to sit in this spot over 50 years ago, so you wouldn't believe some of this things that we find. Once we found an Indianapolis license plate from the 40's.

Garden Update

The radishes are always the 1st to sprout!
You may have to look close, but they're there.
We planted last wednesday.
It won't be long now till I'm eatin' a radish sandwich! WHOOOHOO!


If I get on line tomorrow, I'll post pictures of the new herb garden.

Oven Potatoes

This is so easy!
Peal & cut up 7-9 potatoes.
Toss with 1/3 cup of olive oil & 1 package of Lipton Onion Soup mix.
Bake at 425 for about 25-30 minutes, turning with a spatula half way through.

Or, if you don't care for Lipton Onion Soup Mix, just make up your own spices (which is actually what I do most of the time ). I usually use the same spices I use for oven fries.
I use: salt & pepper, onion salt, garlic salt, season salt, parsley, & Italian seasoning. Sometimes I add a little red pepper & even a few dashes of tobasco sauce.

GARDEN

It's garden time! WOOT! This makes me SOOOOO happy.
I thought I'd post pictures every week or so, & you can see the progress it makes throughout the summer. It truly amazes me every year.

I forget the measurements of our garden, but it's big. We like a big garden. We'll measure & I'll let you know the measurements in the next update. It is shaped like a letter "L" . There is the main garden, & then a strawbery patch that comes off the end of it.

This year we are planting the sweet corn in rows across the bottom of the main garden (the tomatoes were here last year). Here's a picture of the 4 rows of corn that we just planted on Wednesday. On past the corn is the strawberry patch. This is looking south.

This picture of the stawberry patch is from the south looking north. We reduced the strawberries from 5 rows to 3 rows last year. That middle row looks a little different because we just transplanted them to make room for some more things. On the south end we are planting cucumbers. We still need to set some fence posts up & attach some fence for them to climb.
Then on the west side of the strawberries are my precious zucchini. :)

Here's a close up of the strawberry plants.

Between the strawberry patch & the main garden, we are doing something new.
We are going to have a small herb garden. I have never planted herbs before, so I may need some advice! I have 2 chive plants & 1 Sweet basil plant (not planted yet). I have seeds for:
thyme, Italian sweet basil, chives, cilantro-coriander, Italian flat leaf parlsey, dill, lavender, & chamomile. I also have some spearmint seeds, but because they take over I'll be planting them elsewhere. If you have any advice I'm all ears! Oh, & the little herb garden is 5 ft. X 18 ft.
The shepherd's hook stays right there, because there is a huge boulder that we can't dig up & the tiller hits it. The hook lets us know where it is so we can go around it & not hit it with the tiller.

And the tomatoes. These are also precious! We have 2 1/2 rows. We have 25 plants total. 24 are "Burpee Better Boy" & we have 1 sweet cherry tomato plant. This picture is of the cages & posts only as we hadn't planted them yet. Up until last Thursday morning, we were haveing late frost & freeze advisories. But you can see that we even have the holes dug so we could plant as soon & the crazy cold snap was done!

My husband & 5 year old son got to plant them on Friday. Look how small....not for long though! The anticipation for big red homegrown tomatoes begins!

And here's the whole garden. I'm standing at the northeast corner looking southwest.
We have planted a row of radishes, & 2 rows of green beans. Today we will probably plant the rest of our plants. We have 8 green pepper plants, 4 cabbage, & 4 cauliflower. We still need to get 4 broccoli plants because the greenhouse was out last week when we bought our stuff. They said they'd have more ready in a week. We have to have broccoli! It's great to just head out to the garden with a knife & slice off a couple heads of broccoli to steam with our supper. Once you eat fresh steamed broccoli, you'll never be able to eat frozen again. (unless it's in a casserole or something.)

We may have a row & a half extra, so I'm thinking beets. We haven't planted beets in a few years & I am out of canned pickled beets. We also haven't planted onion sets in a while either. Again, it's so nice to head out to the garden with sissors & snip off some fresh green onions.
Man, I really miss the fresh food in the winter. We do enjoy having a load of canned green beans, freezer corn, tomato juice, canned tomatoes, & frozen strawberry jam throughout the winter months...
but there's just NOTHIN' like pickin' your supper fresh.

Also, these pictures were taken late in the day, after 6pm. It is in full sun all day & the shadow from the neighbor's poplar trees don't cover the west end until evening.

We all enjoy the garden, even our dogs. Louis (in Wednesday's picture) actually picks strawberries off the plants & eats them. He does the same with tomatoes, altho we do try to keep him out of them. And we heard somewhere that tomatoes are posionous to dogs. I'd never heard this before, so we really do try to keep him out of them! But boy, does he love them! They also like to play hide & seek in the corn when it gets bigger. I think their favorite is to play search & rescue with their ball in the corn. LOL
Maybe I'll get some video of that this year & figure out how to post it here.

God always blesses us with a wonderful harvest/garden & we are so thankful.
And, many prayers are said while working in the garden....usually while I'm weeding.

With this, we start the Garden 2008 season!
Woot!