THAT'S FOR THE BIRDS!

I hear you knocking, but you can't come in!
Finally, spring is here, birds are hungry and it's nesting time!

Golden Flicker...
...but I call it a woodpecker!

Those woodpeckers are active and noisy! They have been pecking on our gutters and even the chimney! Early in the morning, they peck and rattle the whole house!  I keep food for them in this covered feeder. The cover keeps the grackles/starlings out while allowing the woodpeckers access. Woodpeckers are acrobats and can cling to anything! But I wonder why they are pecking at non-wood and non-food places around my house?

A bluebird and woodpecker feeding together. Why can't we all just get along?

We used to hang a feeder out in the open and the blue birds would come eat at the same time as the woodpeckers! But, the grackles/starlings are an invasive species and we didn't want to encourage them to here.  

I dislike grackles/starlings. Someone many, many years ago, brought these birds to America because of the way they flock and fly together. Sadly, they cause problems for other birds and they also cause a disease called histoplasmosis.  This is an infection caused by the fungus found in the droppings of these birds.

Another invasive bird is the Eastern Sparrow.  It broke my heart to find a beheaded bluebird at the base of our pole beneath the bluebird nesting house in our backyard.  Yes, you read that correctly - beheaded! I did some research and discovered that sparrows compete with bluebirds for nesting space and will attack and kill bluebirds! 

If you have a nesting box in your backyard, please monitor it for sparrows.  They are very territorial and competitive. The sparrows don't give up easily and they are obviously killers!  If you know of a way to get rid of or discourage sparrows, I'm open to suggestions!

I'd prefer a flock of bluebirds in my neighborhood. They are beautiful, sing the loveliest song, and eat LOTS of mosquitoes and other bugs! (The correct term is insectivorous if you wanted to know.)

Sing along now:
"Somewhere, over the rainbow, bluebirds fly!"
I just want them to come fly around here.

STUFFED SHELLS

"Ooooo! That smells so good! What are you making?"

There's something wonderful about filling the home with delicious smells! The fragrance fills the air, whets the appetite and the anticipation builds. Are you hungry yet?

How about now?

This recipe is a family favorite from a dear neighbor who not only shared the recipe, but she also shared delicious pans of this treat! Joni Rogers is a treasure! And friends are angles on Earth!

The path between friend's houses is never very long. And neither was the path between our hearts!

As you can see, this recipe has been used many times!

Here's a clearer version for you to use.

This recipe takes a little pre-planning and preparation. The spinach must be thawed and drained well, unless you chop up fresh spinach. Then it's just a matter of boiling the pasta shells according to the package directions,...

Italian sausage, hamburger and sauce

...cooking up the meat, and simmering with your favorite sauce,...

Spinach, ricotta, eggs, spices

...mixing together the spinach, cheese and egg mixture, then filling the shells.

I used fresh farm eggs from the Farm Wife's Table. I'm so thankful I can buy fresh eggs from Angie Viebrock!

Spooning sauce on top of stuffed shells 

Then, comes the fun part of taking a scoop of cheese and filling each cooked shell. Place them in pans (notice I made four (4) pans! There is plenty to share and/or freeze for future meals. Once all the shells are placed, cover with the meat sauce and bake or wrap the pans tightly to refrigerate or freeze. I've found that it takes longer to cook once the pans have been chilled, so the baking time is approximate.

If I were a tall dog...
 (sung to the tune from Fiddle on the Roof)

Special note: make sure you don't have a tall dog, or these may get tasted before you serve them! Tara was really hoping I'd spill some so she could clean it up for me!

Please let me know what you think if you try this recipe. I love to hear your thoughts!

P.S. If you see Joni, tell her that her recipes are famous! (I've lost track of her, but I think she's in Arizona). Another one of her recipes is for the salsa that I make every summer!

Enjoy!

CREAM FILLED CUPCAKES

One of Joel's requests for his birthday is almost always cream-filled cupcakes. I stumbled across this recipe years ago and have made them often.  It turns a yummy cupcake into something WOW!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

I've always made chocolate cupcakes at Joel's request, but I imagine you can fill any of your favorite flavors. You might try substituting mint flavor for the vanilla in chocolate cupcakes. Or maybe some tongue-tempting lemon in lemon cupcakes...or? Let me know if  you try this recipe in some interesting combinations. I always love to hear what you think!

Cupcake cream filling

1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup milk
2/3 cup Crisco
1/4 tsp. salt
1 Tbl. Water
1 tsp. vanilla (or flavor of your choice)
2 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Combine all but powdered sugar on low in mixer. Add powdered sugar gradually. Mix on high for 7 (seven) minutes. Using a decorator's tube, fill 24 cooled cupcakes squirting the filling from the top down. Frost with your choice of frosting.

YUMMY!

PEACH COBBLER

Hot, bubbling cobbler!

What can go wrong with a cobbler if you follow the recipe exactly? And you know how I always follow a recipe exactly - not! But I really tried this time. (And the results were amazing!)

Delicious home canned peaches! (But you can use store bought peaches if you don't have these.)

This summer, Dayna and I put up fresh peaches that we purchased from Angie Viebrock and The Farm Wife's Table. Let me tell you, they were worth canning and savoring, even though I wanted to eat the whole bushel at once. These peaches had such great flavor! 

Side story: Angie brought these to my house (special delivery) and I put the box on the stairs as Angie was leaving. I stepped outside to tell her goodbye and when I returned to my house, Tara was eating peaches right out of the box! I told you they were hard to resist! Of course we washed all the peaches and we peeled them as we canned them so there are no doggy germs in this cobbler. 

This was an easy recipe!

OK, back to the recipe! Step one was melting a stick of butter in a 9 x 13 pan in the oven at 350 degrees. As I melted that, I mixed up the other ingredients. I poured the flour mixture into the pan then dumped in my canned peaches with the syrup. 

This recipe seemed too easy and the concoction in the pan seemed a little bit soupy. But I had 40 minutes to wait, and time did tell!

The house was filled with the mouth-watering scent of peaces as it was baking!

And the resulting cobbler was beautiful! Yes, smell was an indicator of the level of deliciousness of this hot, bubbly, mouthwatering concoction!!

A picture is worth a thousand words, but a fork full of peaches is even better!

The real test came at dinner when we tasted it! Don't you wish you could have been here for this?

What if....?

Since I relented and let Joel get Tara, I have been wondering about this.  If you read this blog, I am curious to know your thoughts.Let me know what you think.

What if we treated our spouses more like a pampered pet?

Would we:

• go on more long walks and play more games
• scratch your back and brush your hair just so I could lay my hands on you
• feed you only healthy treats and give you only the best food - not that store brand stuff
• snuggle you several times a day and say sweet things when I walked by
• take your picture and tell you how cute you are
• entertain you and play games with you to make sure you are not bored
• admire you when you are napping, even your funny flaws like your snaggletooth
• take you on visits and to lots of interesting places where we could romp around together
• bring home new toys for us to play together
• find delight in all the silly things you do
• pull you onto my lap several times a day
• tell people how fun you are to be with and brag about your exploits
• ruffle your hair with a towel and dry your back after your bath
• clean up all your messes and even the hairs on the floor without complaint
• notice if you were getting too hot or too cold or if you were getting thirsty so I could get you fresh drinks
• not grouse at you when I'm grumpy about something else
• gently lead you where I need/want to go and let you take the lead and follow you when it's important to you
• chatter on happily even though you are not listening to a word that is being said
• stop in the middle of chores to play for a moment because you are staring at me longingly
• love to have you jump on my lap and snuggle when I sit on the couch
• not get irritated if you followed me around all day, got in my way, was curious to know what I was doing and what I was going to do next
• nurture and love you without expecting anything but love in return

Here's to being happily married and treated like a pampered pet!
Merry Christmas!
Hope you also have a happy and healthy New Year!

Cranberries and apples!

I'm feeling thankful for so many things; prayerful for everything else! 

One thankful thing is cran-apple! That's why I was so happy to find my favorite Jonathan apples in the store at the same time there are cranberries! I made the best cranapple sauce and even froze several quarts so I could enjoy it all winter. 

Cranapple sauce! 

Here's how I did it: cook the cranberries as directed on the package except only use 1/2 cup sugar. The Johnathan apples are naturally sweet already; I prefer my sauce sweet-tangy (just like me). 

Freshly washed and cooked. The pop as they boil.

Wash and slice enough apples to fill your pressure cooker 1/3 full. (If you don't have a pressure cooker, it will take more water and more time to boil the apples until they are fully cooked.)

No need to peel since only the fruit pulp comes through the sieve.

Add 1/2 cup water and bring the sealed cooker up to pressure. Turn down the heat and allow it to pressure cook for 5 minutes. The best part about a pressure cooker is that it cooks so quickly, hence retaining the nutritional value of the apples. Next, I cooled the cooker by running cold water over the top. Then I used my old food sieve from Grandma's kitchen (one of my favorite inheritances) to press the apples and make the sauce. I don't have to peel or core apples because I use the sieve. 

Only the skins and seeds remain; all the fruit pulp is extruded.

Next I used my Betty Crocker Cookbook (so I could follow a recipe "exactly") and added spices as if I were making apple pie. Then I stirred in the cooked cranberries and, voilà, cran-apple sauce!

Yes, I know this is the same picture twice, but doesn't it look tasty?

This is delicious and a beautiful shade of red too! Just think of the vitamins and antioxidants in here! It practically makes you healthy just to read about it!

It's the holiday season and this would be an excellent side dish for your Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner! Let me know if you try this. Or, invite me over to taste your cooking! 

Peace, blessings, and thankfulness to you!

When the cat is away, the mouse will play!

Since Joel was in Dallas, and he hasn't had time to do what I needed/wanted to get done, I put on my big girl pants and did it!

 I have been wanting the outdoor furniture sanded and refinished for the whole summer! We have just been playing too much! I had one last blast of summertime weather here yesterday so… I got busy on that honey-do list!

I have been inspired by a couple of ladies lately.  Bridget, who is a blacksmith  (wow!) and Erika who tackles every job around the house and does it magnificently! So, why can't I attempt a few chores that don't require a vacuum or a mixer? 

I gathered the necessary equipment: a sander, (the. playful mouse)

sandpaper, the color–matches Olympic stain, (thank you Lowe's) the applicator, and yes rubber gloves.

So here is the before and after. What do you think? 

Would you like to come over and sit in the Adirondack chair to roast a marshmallow and have Smore's with me? Afterwords we could sit on the bench swing and watch the sunset!