Modeling the Season's Finery

If you were hoping to see pictures of the kiddos in their new Easter finery, forget it! I neglected to get out the camera yesterday. Someone else will need to supply those.

I did have it out just long enough this weekend to catch a male goldfinch on the feeder. He isn't quite done exchanging his brownish winter wear for the yellow wardrobe of warmer months but I thought he was beautiful all the same. I caught a glimpse of him during one of the brief periods when there was no rain falling - a rarity these days - and my mood was somehow lifted by his appearance.

Having bird feeders in my yard really is a "cheeper" investment (get it? cheaper) for helping me out of the doldrums than any counselor. I highly recommend it.

"And Hold the Tartar Sauce, Please."

It isn't unusual to hear honking in the queue at a restaurant drive-through. It's just that the sound is usually made by a car horn.

Frugal Sunday Dinner, 3/6/11

It was a smaller crowd than usual yesterday. First, The Bear chose the menu . . . and then forgot and went home with friends, but not before giving me strict instructions that we were to save some leftovers for him! Second, Princess and her little family had a better offer. But the rest - all 7 of us  - feasted accordingly.

These were the things on yesterday's menu:

• Mexican Chicken casserole
• Mexican rice
• Refried beans
• Mock Mexican fried ice cream

One version of "Mock Fried Ice Cream" recipe can be found here. I was inspired by this recipe but then modified it to fit our tastes by using some frugal items we had on hand. Here is my version (pictured above):

Vanilla ice cream

Honey nut Cheerios (they were on sale this week) - about 2 1/2 cups crushed

Pecans - about 1/2 cup chopped

Coconut - about 1 cup shredded

Butter - 1/2 cup melted

Light corn syrup

Honey

Whipped cream

Cinnamon

Form ice cream into balls. Crush the cereal. Mix cereal with nuts, coconut, and melted butter. Roll ice cream balls into cereal mixture.  Wrap each ball in plastic wrap and freeze until hard.

Meanwhile, mix about 1/4 of light corn syrup with 1/4 cup of honey.  When ready to serve, place one ice cream ball into serving dish.  Drizzle with honey mixture. Add a dollop of whipped cream and finish with a shake of cinnamon.   Serves about 15.

The Bear rated this an A+ (obviously we had leftovers.)


Here is the Mexican Chicken casserole that I fixed because The Bear requested it:

Cube about 1.5 lbs. of baked chicken breasts.  Place in 8 x 8 inch baking dish.  Mix 1 can of cream of chicken soup with 1 small can of red enchilada sauce.  Pour soup mixture over chicken cubes and mix well.  Crush by hand enough original flavor Dorito chips to make a crust for the top.  Place shredded cheese over the chip crust.  (The fact that I am not exact on my measurements proves that I quit measuring many years ago!)  Bake in 350 degree oven until cheese melts on top.

(I doubled this recipe for yesterday's meal.  Yes, there were leftovers enough to feed The Bear.)

This picture of the spring robin doesn't have anything to do with yesterday's meal.  It just goes to show you that I feed all my visitors well, including the birds!

Not An Ordinary Sunday

It was an unusual day today. "Unusual" for a couple of reasons.

First, Pastor Dad got a nosebleed. And I don't mean just a small one either. He doesn't have them very often so the fact that he had one at all would qualify for such designation, but it was . . . well, . . . I'll spare you the details.

Anyway, we have a Sunday morning routine that we've modified lately so that Pastor Dad can return to the house to pick up the Bear and me after his early morning run to the church. Soon after his arrival this morning the nosebleed commenced and refused to quit. Once it became obvious that Pastor Dad wasn't going to make it to Sunday School I hurriedly drove The Bear there so that he could lead our class in, oh, I don't know . . . prayer, quietly singing "Kum Ba Yah," or something appropriate. Then I returned home even more hurriedly because this nosebleed stuff is uncharted territory for Pastor Dad. The Bear and I? Not so much. We get 'em often. We . . . well, once again, I'll spare you the details.

The next unusual thing happened when I got home. The hemorrhage was pretty much over and an ashen Pastor Dad was sitting in my rocking chair in the living room. "I see your big woodpecker in that tree across the street," he said.

"Which tree?" I asked, thinking that it was good that he was talking and also thinking that it must be the biggest bird from my photos that he was talking about. The only thing I was trying to figure out was how he could see the bird from that distance. The one I photographed looks large close up but it wouldn't be that noticable from such range.

"That tree," he said pointing at a large, stately growth located in our across-the-street neighbor's yard. "If you look quickly I think you'll see him."

Well, I looked quickly but I didn't see anything but the tree. As if I wasn't worried enough about my husband's physical health I was now worried about my husbands -- oh, never mind! I don't want to say things I'll regret. But I wasn't sure how much blood he'd lost and it wouldn't be the first time I'd questioned his sanity. I'm kidding!!!!

Anyway, to get on with the story.

"Did you see that woodpecker that I worked so hard to photograph a few weeks ago?" I questioned.

"No. That wasn't him."

This answer caused me to walk into the kitchen for my Peterson's Field Guide to Birds so that he could show me a picture of just exactly what he'd seen. I never made it to the book. There on the deck railing was a gorgeous pileated woodpecker! Unfortunately, this unusual bird flew away before I could take his picture.

If you've never seen one of these majestic birds go here and take a look at those photographed by someone who has had more success than I. We've had pileated woodpeckers visit us before but it has been over 4 years since the last one was sighted here. I truly hope that their visits will happen often enough now not to be considered all that unusual.

(I used paper and elements from Vicky Day of Today's Scrap kit "Winter Wonders")

This Is For the Birds!

We have some fine feathered friends living here in our neighborhood. Besides the beautiful wrens and cardinals we have a wide variety of woodpeckers that drop by each day for their meals. They range in size from the little downy woodpeckers to the large northern flickers. We used to have a pileated woodpecker as a regular visitor but we haven't seen him in a couple of years. Having him staring in the kitchen window was enough to give anyone a start!

My woodpecker friends are a lot like toddlers. They are early risers who let you know when they are ready for their breakfast. When we had toddlers in our household they would knock insistently on the bedroom door around daybreak until a sleepy parent got out of bed and fixed the food. Now we have birds knocking on the wood siding right outside our bedroom window about the time that the sun begins peaking over the horizon. Groan!

Consequently, I try to keep suet cakes in stock and to make sure that the window feeder is full before I go to bed at night. With the recent cold-and-snowy weather that we've been experiencing my bird-brained neighbors have been going through the suet cakes at an alarming rate! Thankfully, I've developed a recipe for using some of the odds-and-ends on hand to keep the feeder filled and the early morning window-knocking to a minimum.

Do you compost? I do. It's a good way of returning plant-based materials back to the soil in flower and vegetable gardens. But one of the cooking by-products that shouldn't be composted is animal fats. I recycle those by making my own suet cakes. Here is my recipe:

• 1 cup fat (bacon grease, lard, beef drippings)
• 2 1/2 cup of grain (I bake bread so I always have whole grain wheat, winter wheat, rye, or cornmeal on hand)
• 1/4 cup peanut butter (smooth or crunchy)
• 1/2 cup bird seed, millet, or sunflower seeds(The stuff that goes in the regular bird feeders)

Melt the fat and peanut butter in a saucepan. Add the grain and cook until bubbly. Remove from heat and add the seeds. If you have a suet basket and have previously bought commercially prepared cakes be sure to save 2 or 3 of the plastic cases to use as molds. Otherwise, cool until the mix is hard enough to handle and roll into balls. Wrap in plastic wrap and freeze until ready to use.

If you have leftover pieces of nuts, peanuts, blueberries, raisins, or cherries they can be added at the same time as the seed. I had a piece of left-over blueberry pie that I broke up and added to my last batch. I've had fun watching the birds digging through the fat to reach those pieces of berries.

Just remember to keep that feeder full once you take the birds on to raise. Like toddlers, they don't seem to understand the words, "No! It's too early! Go back to bed!"

Not Exactly "Fieldtrip Friday"

Is Saturday close enough?That's when we went canoeing with a group of our friends:

We launched our flotilla.

Some went by canoe and some by kayak

And some just went side-to-side .  Again.  (Guess who!)  :)

But all got to witness an awesome sight! A Bald Eagle! This is the first time I've ever seen one outside of captivity. What a beautiful sight!

Two Morning Songbirds

There is a large oak tree outside of our bedroom window and I am often awakened by songbirds that are sitting in the branches awaiting their turn at the breakfast diner. Last week I became aware of a beautiful new song being sung. I am not an expert ornithologist but I do like good music!

A couple of days ago I was in the kitchen when I became aware of a bird that I didn't recognize perched on the suet feeder. He was very shy so he would not allow me to take his picture, but since I have a copy of Peterson's guide I was able to identify him as a Yellow-throated warbler. When he flew to a nearby tree I could hear him singing. He is the mysterious a.m. crooner.

The last four mornings I have been awakened by another little songbird singing in a nearby room. There aren't many words to the little songs (at least not many recognizable ones) but this little birdie also greets the morning by singing her little heart out at the top of her lungs:

I'm not much of a morning person, but how can I resist a day that begins with such beautiful music?!