Spring is in the air, and all my wild critters seem to know it. My squirrels are playful and active and are all over the place. They just love to have their picture taken too. It seems like they are always posing for the camera. Here are some pictures of some fun, curious and playful squirrels.
He didn’t know the camera was on him here.
But now he does.
I like his little smirk here. He is such a ham.
Always make the most of your days and enjoy them all.
Once again, I invited “The Queen” to stop by for a visit. We found all kinds of good things in the fridge to work with too. Once again, from little bits of this and little bits of that, we created something really tasty. I made some Cajun dirty rice with black beans, in honor of Mardi Gras and Fat Tuesday. Usually dirty rice is made with red kidney beans. I didn’t have any kidney beans at the time, but I had plenty of black beans. I like them both and use them both for many different recipes, but then I like beans in general.
Dirty rice was invented in Louisiana around the late 1700’s. It was the food of the poor people. Rice is one of Louisiana’s main crops, so it is readily available and relatively cheap. To make it go further, to feed more people, cooks would add whatever they had leftover to the rice. Often times, these additions made the rice look “dirty”, hence the name dirty rice. Dirty rice is most common in the Creole and Cajun areas of Louisiana. Dirty rice is frequently referred to as Cajun Rice in Louisiana and other parts of the South due to the dish’s history with the Acadian immigrants of Louisiana. Cajun rice typically incorporates Andouille sausage, bell pepper, celery, and onions along with a blend of traditional Cajun spices. In some southern regions, it is also called rice dressing. I used all of the above listed ingredients and then some. I also added a little lime vinaigrette to the mix as well.
My rice was already cooked, as was my Andouille sausage. I started off by cooking the peppers, garlic, onions and Cajun seasonings, then added my Hatch green chilies and all my cooked foods and beans to the mix. I used the lime vinaigrette as my cooking oil for all my vegetables, to give a little extra zip to the dish.
Once everything was all cooked and heated up, it was time to enjoy. I served it with my Tuscan ribs. Tuscan Style Beef Short Ribs with Lemon Rosemary Sauce and a glass or two of a cool, crisp chardonnay. Laissez le bontemps roulez!
Don’t be afraid of those leftovers in your fridge. Play with them and see what you can create. You never know until you try, right?! You just may surprise yourself and come up with something really tasty too, like I usually do. 🙂
Stay safe and stay well Everyone. ‘Til next time.
When most Americans think of ribs, they automatically think BBQ. But that is just the tip of the iceberg. There is absolutely nothing wrong with BBQed ribs, but there are so many other ways of preparing ribs too. Ribs are eaten in just about every country in the world, so WHY would they only be BBQed? As with anything that makes it way around the world, there are many different and delicious ways of preparing them.
Italians, and particularly Northern Italians, love foods with lemon. These ribs were made with hints of lemon. They are similar to what the Italians call rosticciana. They were so full of flavor and just melted in our mouths. The meat literally just fell right off the bone. I served the ribs over some Cajun styled black beans and rice or another version of dirty rice and a salad of mixed greens. I used the lemon-rosemary vinaigrette for both the ribs and the salad, so you can see it is a versatile dressing.
Of course I didn’t follow the recipe exactly. You know I played with it tweaked it, and as a friend of mine would say, I “Jeannefied it”. Here is my version.
I started off by slow cooking the ribs for about 4 hours on medium-high heat. I cooked it in some ham broth I had made, along with some lemon juice, rosemary, garlic, black pepper and a dash of lemon balsamic vinegar. I didn’t measure any of it, like I normally don’t. I guestimated. I put in about 3-4 cups of broth, 1 TBSP garlic, 2-TBSP lemon juice, 1-2 TBSP lemon balsamic vinegar, and about 2 tsp of black pepper.
Once the meat was cooked, I topped it with a delicious lemon-rosemary vinaigrette. This vinaigrette was fantastic on both the meat and on the salad as well.
Lemon-Rosemary Vinaigrette
As you may have noticed, I like simple recipes that use everyday ingredients. This lemon-rosemary vinaigrette is just that too.
1/4 cup olive oil
3/4 TBSP garlic
2 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped fine
2 TBSP lemon juice
black pepper to taste
Heat the olive oil, rosemary and garlic in the microwave for about 30-40 seconds to really bring out the aromas and flavors of all of them. Then add the lemon juice and black pepper and whisk everything together well.
I spooned it over the ribs and then tossed my salad greens in it too. !Fantastico! My wine of choice was a crisp, cool chardonnay that matched the meal perfectly.
I guarantee you’re going to like this one. Stay safe and stay well Everyone. ‘Til next time.
I don’t know if all these new ducks and birds have always been around and I just never noticed them, or if they are just now coming back after a long absence. What I do know, is that after living on our lakes for 15 years now, I am seeing a whole bunch of new birds and ducks and more wildlife in general. I LOVE it. I love making new friends. My new duck friend is the American Wigeon. Aren’t he and and his mate gorgeous? 🙂
We can never have to many friends. I am always open to making new friends. 🙂
It’s been awhile since I’ve posted anything on my nature walks. I still go out walking, as much as I can, when we are not buried in snow or have frigid temperatures, but I have been busy sharing my photos from Belize with you. Belize is now a happy memory and we are home again. It’s time to start focusing on what I have in my own backyard once more.
In case you hadn’t noticed, I love my birds, as well as my ducks, and flowers , prairie dogs, and just about everything else I can photograph as well. I guess it just really comes down to the fact that I love photography, and I will do my best to capture whatever I see through my lens. 🙂 We have had a lot of birds around lately. They are all flitting about, singing their songs of joy, trying their best to woo their mates.
My robins are beginning to come back again. This guy was totally posing for the camera. He knows he is a handsome bird.
Then there were some colorful House Finches having fun with the berries in the tree.
And I finally got some decent pictures of some Chickadees. I have been trying to get some good shots of these for quite some time, but was never able to do so until now. Just when I thought I had them, they would fly off. I just got lucky this time.
Spring must be on it’s way. I can hear the birds singing and chirping right now.
Spring, winter, summer or fall, always spread your wings amd fly.
I guess old dogs can still learn new tricks. I am always learning new things. I just learned something new about the significance of blue aprons. Blue aprons are what new chefs in training wear when learning how to cook. Apparently this is a culinary tradition that is practiced all over the world. In all my years of cooking and studying foods and cooking techniques, I never knew this. Even my “little chefs” wear blue aprons. I just bought the blue aprons because I liked the color. I had no idea about the significance behind it. Now I do, and so do you. 🙂
I try my best to learn something new everyday. I love learning new things. Learning new things keeps us young, even if only young at heart.
So keep learning, stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.
I knew I was going to be making a coffee cake with some of my left over fruit, from when I made our church Super Bowl spread. Cooking At Home Again I used up the rest of my pineapple. I combined it with some macadamia nuts and toasted coconut, and the result was a deliciously tropical Caribbean coffee cake. Yet again, it was a big success. It disappeared very quickly. The Caribbean coffee cake are the squares around the edges, and in the center. I added some raspberry tarts to my platter and then sprinkled a few chocolate covered Acai berries around for added color and decoration.
I have officially used up all the fruit that I had leftover. And Larry didn’t think I could do it. HA HA HA!!!!! He should never underestimate my abilities to recreate from leftovers. When will he ever learn? 🙂 Strawberry-Kiwi Cake
For this cake, I started off with a basic coffee cake recipe, then added the rest. I knew I was going to use up the pineapple, then as I was going along, I decided to add the chopped macadamia nuts as well. As I continued, I thought, “let’s add some toasted coconut too”, and voila! The result was a Caribbean coffee cake.
Caribbean Coffee Cake
The Streussel
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup coconut flour, optional
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
4 TBSP cold butter, cubed
1/4 cup toasted coconut
Mix everything together either by hand or with a pastry cutter, until it resembles coarse sand. Set aside.
The Cake
Preheat the oven to 350* F or 190* C.
Spray cooking spray in a 9×13 baking pan and then coat with a light coating of flour or coconut flour.
2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup coconut flour, optional
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup or 1 1/2 sticks butter, softened
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cups diced pineapple
1/2 cup toasted cocaonut
1/2-3/4 cup chopped macadamia nuts
Like with most cake recipes, combine all the dry ingredients together and mix well, then set aside.
Then mix together the sugar and butter until creamy. Add the eggs one at a time and blend in between each addition. Add the vanilla and 1/2 the milk, and blend together again. Then add 1/2 the flour mixture and blend. Repeat again and blend until everything is just blended.
Once the batter is mixed, add the coconut, pineapple and macadamia nuts and fold into the batter.
Evenly spread the batter into the prepared pan. The evenly spread the streusel mix over the batter.
Bake for about 1 hour or until a toothpick that has been inserted in the middle comes out clean and the streusel topping is golden brown. Let cool completely before cutting and serving.
All the is needed to do now is to sit back and enjoy and let every bite transport you into a little bit of the tropics. A little tropical excursion like this is a much needed and appreciated break from the cold, harsh winter weather.
Stay safe and stay well Everyone. ‘Til next time.
It was another cooking day with the boys, Micah and Asher. As with their big brother Noah, I always try to have them make a wide variety of foods that are simple and fun. Noah made a Denver omelette the other day Breakfast for Lunch, so I thought it would be fun if Micah and Asher did something similar. They made mini quiches and some pan-fried potatoes. Who knows, maybe we will have a cook-off one day, brothers vs brother. 🙂 It was their first experience with purple potatoes too, though they insisted they were beets. 🙂
As you can see by their smiles, they liked their recipes.
The potatoes were just tossed in olive oil, salt, pepper, parsley and some garlic seasoning. The only difference between their potatoes and Noah’s potatoes were that the boys cooked them on the stove top in a skillet and Noah grilled his on his George Forman grill.
The mini quiches, were similar to Noah’s omelette too, but we baked them in muffin pans in the oven.
Mini Quiches
Preheat the oven to 350* F.
Spray a muffin pa with cooking spray.
Just like any quiche, you can add whatever you like to the filling. I just had the boys make it simple and we used things I know they like.
6 eggs
3 TBSP milk
1/2 cup bell peppers, diced small – we used red and orange this time because the boys like those better
1/2 cup cooked bacon or ham diced small
1/2 cup tomato, diced small
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp garlic seasoning
1/2 cup shredded cheese of your choice
Add the diced ham, tomatoes and peppers to the bottom of each muffin tin.
Whisk the eggs, milk and seasonings together and pour over the toppings in each muffin tin. Fill to only about 3/4 full. Top with the cheese.
Bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until the eggs are puffy and the center is set and does not jiggle. Remove from the oven and let stand for about 5 minutes before removing them from the muffin pan.
These mini quiches and potatoes were gobbled up quickly and both got big thumbs up from both Micah and Asher, as well as mom and their big sister. I think they were a hit. 🙂
Keep it fun and make it interesting and stay safe and stay well in the process. ‘Til next time.
Let’s play a game, shall we? It is one of my favorite cooking games. It’s called “What’s In Your Fridge?” It’s kind of like the mystery box you see on the cooking shows. The challenge is to go through your fridge and to creatively use up your as many of your leftovers as best you can. Sounds easy, right?! You can do it. OK …. Ready … Set … and GO!
And the winner is … A Pesto Surprise.
As usual, I had a lot of little bits of this and a lot of little bits of that and they all needed to be used. So once again, the Queen of Leftovers waved her magic cooking spoon and this was the tasty result that followed. All I needed to do was finish it off with some garlic cheese bread and some white wine, and dinner was served.
The “mystery box” contained angel hair pasta, chicken, ham, mushrooms, red onions, corn, spinach pesto, cream, garlic, and Peruvian peppers.
I cooked the chicken first, since that had not been cooked, and needed longer to cook than everything else, then added all the rest of the ingredients to make up the base of the dish. I also added a hint of lemon balsamic vinegar to the mix, for a little extra pizazz.
Next, I combined the pesto and the cream, with a hint more black pepper and added that to the pan.
I stirred it all together and as a finishing touch, I threw in a few of my Peruvian peppers to really make things pop.
And voila! Dinner is served. When it comes time to cleaning out the fridge, I can honestly tell you no one knows what is going to happen next. But that’s when the fun really starts. 🙂 As I always say, “play with your food and have some fun”.
Stay safe and stay well Everyone. ‘Til next time.
Well, these are the last of the Belizian flowers. I hope you enjoyed them as much as I did. Belize is now behind us. It is now time to start planning a new adventure. There are plenty of new adventures out there, just waiting to be discovered and lived. I plan on having as many adventures as possible. Never stop dreaming and never stop living out those dreams and turning them into a reality. Life is short. Always take time to smell, and to notice, the flowers.
