Since I am leaving and will be gone for about three weeks, I will share some more of the duck-a-lings with you. They will be mostly grown up by the time I return home, so I just have to share them with you once again. Besides, they are so darn cute right now.
This is another batch of tiny babies. They just look like they are a couple of days old.
Have a fabulous, ducky day. ‘Til next time.
We are getting ready to hit the road again, for our big road trip to Canada. It will be quite an adventure. We will be gone for almost three weeks, seeing all kinds of natural beauty all along the way. We will also be stopping and staying with friends in Idaho, and two different parts of Canada. By the time we return home, we will have driven about 3500 miles or more. Even though we will be stopping quite often, we will still be in the car for long periods of time too. And that means we will need nibblies to help sustain us through our travels. 🙂
This is for the four of us. I don’t think we are going to starve. I think we will make it. Just barely. 🙂 We have fruit, dried fruit, granola bars, chips and crackers, sweets, a variety of nuts and a jar of Marmite (GAG) for the Aussies. I didn’t get a chance to look for Vegemite, so they will have to settle for Marmite instead. I can’t stand either one of them, but from what I understand they are pretty similar.
I also made some Snickerdoodle cookies for us to munch on as well.
Snickerdoodle Cookies
Snickerdoodles are some of Larry’s favorite cookies, but then being German, he loves anything with cinnamon. He is going to love these. They are very easy to make, with only a few simple, basic ingredients.
Preheat the oven to 400* F or 205*C.
2 3/4 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups sugar +4 TBSP
1 cup or 2 sticks softened butter
2 eggs
4 tsp cinnamon
Mix the flour, salt and and baking powder together and set aside.
Cream the butter and sugar together, then add the eggs. Add half of the flour and mix, then add the remaining flour and mix.
Mix the 4 TBSP sugar and the cinnamon together in a separate bowl.
Once everything is combined well, take about 1 TBSP of dough and roll into in a ball, then roll the ball into the cinnamon and sugar mixture. Lightly press onto the cookie sheet with the bottom of a glass to flatten out the cookies.
Bake for about 10-12 minutes or until the centers are set and the cookies are lightly golden. Allow to cool on the sheet pan for a few minutes, then remove and place on a cookie rack and allow to cool completely.
I will be packing these up to add to the rest of our travel snacks. As you can see, I have enough for a small army. I feed people. That’s just what I do. In fact, Dennis, my “Australian brother” who is traveling with us as well as his wife Lee, calls me “a feeder”. 🙂
Dennis and I are not actually blood related, but we are definitely family. His stepdad and my dad were best friends in Australia from the age of about five until they both passed away. They were both named John, and both were called Johnny, so we lovingly refer to them as our two Johnnies. Even with my “John” moving half a world away after WWII, the two were still bonded together forever. The two Johnnies would both have been 99 this year. Dennis and his family and my family have been apart of each other’s lives for almost 100 years now and counting. 🙂
I will be gone and out of touch for about three weeks. Stay safe and stay well, and try your best to stay out of trouble, oh wait, that’s me. 🙂 I will miss you all, but I will be back before you know it, with lots of tales from our road trip and adventures. ‘Til next time.
Every day I see more and more flowers blossoming and proudly showing their off bright colors. Spring keeps getting prettier and prettier and more an more colorful everyday. I just love all of our spring colors.
Color your world beautiful today, tomorrow and everyday. 🙂
It’s time for another trip, so I am once again emptying out my refrigerator and using up whatever leftovers we have. We have family coming in from Australia tomorrow, and then Friday, the four us will be on the road again. We are doing a big road trip from Colorado up through Canada and back, visiting friends all along the way. We will be driving about 3300 miles in total.
So because I am not cooking much right now, and am getting everything ready for our trip, I will offer some more kitchen talk from the pros.
If you only knew how often I do this. 🙂
This is SO true. Sometimes when I am watching others cook, I just cringe.
Yes to the nth degree!
Just with anything, it takes years to master our trade.
Yes, and yes! I feed people. That’s just what I do. And every time I feed someone, it is an act of love, coming straight from my heart, or the heart of my kitchen (they are kind of synonymous) to you.
Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.
As a tribute to Mother’s Day, here are some more pictures of the mother geese and their goslings and the mother ducks and their duck-a-lings.
Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there. 🙂
I hope all of you lovely ladies had a fabulous Mother’s Day, and were able to do the things that make you happy with the ones you love.
We had a pretty quiet day, and then we went out to dinner with Janet, Bob and their exchange student, Luke for dinner. We celebrated both Mother’s Day and Bob’s birthday. We went to Root Down A Golden Celebration. Root Down is the original restaurant from the Edible Beats Restaurant Group. Edible Beats is known for both their fresh and innovative foods as well as their fun, recreated restaurants. All of their restaurants have an interesting story behind them, and Root Down is no exception.
Root Down was a garage in a previous life, before it was renovated and recreated into a fun, hip restaurant. “Root Down’s fresh-from-the-earth menu and funky, mid-century details have earned it a cult following. Not just a restaurant, Root Down is a neighborhood nexus and sensory rabble-rouser … served with a spoonful of nostalgia. Think: seasonal flavor, bright-AF cocktails, gas station architecture, and offbeat ebay finds. Word! Eclectic is an understatement. But so is this: It’s sure to whet your appetite.”
Anyone else old enough to remember these phones? This is the type of phone I grew up with. We had one phone in the house, and it had a very long cord. I took it in my room with me all the time as a teenager.
Most of us enjoyed the special Sunday menu, which was a selection of courses from which you could choose to customize your 3 course meal.
Larry was the only one who did not order his dinner from the Sunday menu. He was the rebel this time. He ordered the lamb sliders, which were very good. They are what I had last time we were there. He also got my salad that I had ordered.
The rest of us started out with the curried apple soup. DELICIOUS!!!!
Everything was fabulous and cooked to perfection. For his entree, Luke ordered the pan roasted chicken.
Janet and Bob ordered the vegetarian option of Kadhi Pakora.
And I ordered the steelhead trout.
Desserts were part of the 3-course dinner plan. Again, Larry got mine, though it was SCRUMPTIOUS! I had a bite or two, but I am really trying to NOT eat a lot of sweets, desserts and sugar in general. I ordered the banana cream pie.
Luke and Janet ordered the lime leaf chia pudding.
When we first arrived, we told them it was Bob’s birthday, and they made his day very special. They gave all of the adults a glass of delicious champagne and then brought Bob a piece of their candy bar cake with a celebratory candle.
It was yet another fabulously fun and delicious evening. We all had to be rolled out the door and back to the car though. We were all so full and completely satisfied, with very happy tummies. Once again, good food shared with good friends and lots of laughs. Life is definitely good indeed. 🙂
There are two Root Down locations, the one near the Downtown area and one at the Denver Airport. We went to the one in Denver, located at 1600 West 33rd St, Denver, CO 80211. Definitely call or text at (303) 993-4200. Reservations are a must, since they fill up fast! Root Down, as with all their sister restaurants, definitely offers a unique, one-of-a-kind dining experience with locally grown and produced organic food. Any time in Denver, you need to add Root Down, or one of the other Edible Beat locations on your to-do list. Trust me. You will be in for a very delicious time. 🙂
Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.
Mother’s Day is an annual holiday celebrated in the United States on the second Sunday in May. Mother’s Day recognizes mothers, motherhood and maternal bonds in general, as well as their positive contributions to their families and society. It was established by Anna Jarvis, with the first official Mother’s Day celebrated through a service of worship at St. Andrew’s Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia, on May 10, 1908.
One of the loveliest motherhood symbols is the mother and child Celtic knot. The intertwining knot calls to mind a mother protectively embracing her child. It’s sweet, simple, and lovely. The goddess is a symbol of feminine power and has been for generations.
It wouldn’t be Mother’s Day in the United States without the classic traditions Americans know best: large bouquets of roses and carnations, homemade cards, special outings, and accolades for moms near and far. Mother’s are celebrated and honored all over the world, NOT just in the United States. Here are some of the world’s Mothers’ Day celebrations.
In Mexico, Mothers’ day is called Monumento de Madre. The week leading up to Mother’s Day, elementary schools organize festivals with dances, plays, and songs. Moms are invited to watch and enjoy the treats. Families typically gather on the day for large meals with traditional menu items including mole, pozole, and enchiladas, while others opt to take their moms out to a local restaurant. But nothing beats the tradition of hiring mariachi bands or trios to serenade moms — sometimes early enough in the morning to wake them up!
In Peru, Mothers’ day is called Feliz Dia Mama! All mothers are honored, and those who have passed away are honored too. Families congregate at cemeteries to pay respect to deceased mothers, aunts, and grandmothers – particularly those who live in the provinces outside of the capital of Lima. Many bring food, drinks, and flowers to lay down on the graves. What might seem like a somber tradition is actually regarded as a joyful celebration among Peruvian families.
In the U.K., Mother’s Day goes by a different name: “Mothering Sunday,” which honors the connection to the church in addition to mothers. During the Middle Ages, people who had moved away would come back each year on the fourth Sunday of Lent to visit their “Mother” church — typically where they were baptized. This was an opportunity to reconnect after long periods spent apart. Today, Mothering Sunday is still celebrated on the last Sunday of Lent, the date of which varies each year.
Thailand makes Mothers’ day a National Holiday, giving everyone the day off. Originally celebrated on April 15, the holiday was moved to August 12 in 1976 to coincide with the birthday of Queen Sirikit, a member of the Thai royal family. Everything is decorated to honor both Queen Sirikit, as the Mother of Thailand, as well as all mothers throughout the country.
These are just a few of the various ways to honor all the moms around the world. The common thread, however, is love and respect for ALL mothers. No matter where you live in the world, or what your heritage, small gifts from the heart, flowers and gathering together seems to be an international gesture of love towards all mothers, everywhere.
My mother, Evelyn, passed away 18 years ago, though I really lost her about 10 years before that. She suffered with both dementia and a severe stroke at the age of 67. She lived in a nursing home for the last 10 years of her life, not really knowing who my father and I really were. She was a fantastic mother though, when she was healthy. She was always very supportive of everything I did, regardless of how strange and crazy my ideas were to others. She was always there for me, no matter what and gave me a tremendous amount of love everyday, my whole life. I will always love her, and I miss her terribly. But she is in Heaven, and has been one of God’s angles for many years.
Aside from family, some of my mother’s favorite things were butterflies and irises. So whenever I see either butterflies or irises, of all colors, I know my mom is close by, watching over me. When she passed away, my dad, some of my closest friends and I gathered at the Arboretum in Arcadia, CA, one of my mother’s favorite places, where we all said our prayers and offered our favorite memories of my mother. We all laid irises in the pond in her honor. Then we released balloons up to Heaven as a way of sending her home to be with God. Then my dad and I flew her to Texas and had a ceremony with her family, and buried her in just a few feet away from my grandparents. Again, there were lots of irises for her, and everyone laid an iris on her casket, along with our prayers and memories of her.
I never had children of the two-legged sort. All my babies have always had four legs, fur and tails. But they are my children, and I love them all dearly, including all our fur babies who are also in Heaven. I know my mom and dad are taking great care of them, and giving them lots of love.
Juneau and Dorrie
Nicodemus and Otis
Mothers are a gift. Honor them and treasure them for as long as you can. Without our mothers we wouldn’t be here or who we are today.
Happy Mother’s Day to all you beautiful mothers and ladies out there, even if you are only a mother to your fur babies.
In case you hadn’t noticed, I LOVE where I live. Everyday I see such a wide variety of wildlife and nature. Our backyard literally backs up to the first and second of six ponds. Our ponds are so full of life too.
This time it was the day of the Cormorants. They just kind of take over and don’t have a care in the world except staking their claimed spot and spreading their wings to sun themselves. Nothing else matters.
I just love their jade green eyes. They are so vibrant.
Today and everyday, spread your wings and fly. See how high you can soar. But you will never know until you try. Have a great day.
Orzo is a Mediterranean starch that looks like rice, but is actually pasta. While orzo is shaped like grains of rice and sometimes confused with rice, it is completely different. Rice is a grain, orzo is a pasta the name “orzo” is Italian for barley seed, which is a nod to the pasta shape, noting that while this shape looks like a barley seed, there is no barley in orzo. Other Italian aliases are semi di melone (“melon seeds” or big rice) or risoni or pastina or little pasta.
Orzo is popular all over the Mediterranean, but is only gaining its popularity and stride here in the United States. I love orzo, but sometimes forget about it. I guess, at least to me, it is kind of the forgotten pasta. That being said, I was looking for a different starch alternative to go with my citrus pork tenderloin Citrus Pork Tenderloin. I found a delicious recipe that called for toasted orzo with peas and Parmigiano cheese. That was perfect!
Toasted Orzo with Peas and Parmigiano
Of course I only used the actual recipe as a guide. Would you expect anything any different? I added ingredients and made substitutions for others. It’s just what I do. 🙂
1 lb orzo
1 shallot, minced
1/2 red pepper, diced small
1 TBSP garlic
salt & pepper to taste
2 cups frozen peas
1 cup dry white wine
3 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/3 cup Parmigiano cheese
2-3 TBSP fresh lemon verbena, chopped, optional
olive oil for cooking
2-3 TBSP hazelnut-lime butter for cooking, or regular butter
lemon balsamic vinegar or lemon juice
Get a large skillet very hot, then add the olive oil and butter. Saute the garlic, peppers, peas and shallots for about 3-5 minutes, or until the shallots and peppers have softened. Add the orzo and saute an additional 5-8 minutes, or until the orzo is lightly golden.
Once the orzo is lightly golden, add the wine and the chicken broth and mix together thoroughly.
Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer, and continue to cook for about 20 minutes, or until the liquid has evaporated. Make sure to stir occasionally throughout the cooking process.
After the orzo is cooked and the liquid has evaporated, add the Parmigiano cheese and the chopped lemon verbena and mix everything together thoroughly. Drizzle with either the lemon balsamic vinegar or lemon juice.
Then serve with your favorite entrees or enjoy on its own as a snack or light meal and a glass or two of the same wine you used to cook with. It is very light and refreshing and a perfect choice for warmer weather.
Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.
A pork loin was in our meat rotation for the week. I don’t know about you, but there is almost nothing better than a good, juicy, pork tenderloin cooked to perfection. YUMMY!
A pork tenderloin is a long, narrow, boneless cut of meat that comes from the muscle that runs along the backbone. It is called a tenderloin for a very good reason too. It is located in an area of the body that rarely gets used, as opposed to a shank or a pork butt or a shoulder. So the meat is very tender, and not tough at all. A good rule of thumb is to cook pork loin 25 minutes per pound at 350 degrees F (177 degrees C). The internal temperature should be at least 145 degrees F (63 degrees C), so use a thermometer to know when it’s done. You’ll want to let your pork loin rest at least three minutes before serving. And there is one foolproof way to guarantee your pork ends up on the tender side, even if you cook it too long: Soak it in a brine or a marinade, especially something acidic, to help break down the proteins. Pork, like chicken, is extremely versatile, and lends itself to so many different recipes. It goes well with everything. Pork is “the other white meat”. 🙂
I made an orange and apricot marinade for my pork loin and let it marinate for about 5 hours before grilling it up. Once we cut it, it was so tender and so juicy. It just melted in our mouths.
Orange and Apricot Pork Loin
1 cup orange juice
1 TBSP garlic
3-4 TBSP apricot balsamic vinegar, or regular white balsamic vinegar
1-2 TBSP orange olive oil
2-3 TBSP olive oil
1 shallot, minced
fresh ground black pepper to taste
2-3 TBSP fresh lemon verbena, chiffonade, optional
Mix everything together well then generously pour over your tenderloin. Cover and refrigerate for a minimum of 3-4 hours before grilling. Reserve some of the marinade for topping the pork later, once it is cooked.
As I have mentioned a few times, my backyard is already overflowing with lemon verbena, so I am using it in EVERYTHING, as much as possible. It gives a deliciously, fresh, lemony taste to all your dishes.
I find for this scrumptious piece of meat, grilling is the best option. And pork is something that HAS TO BE at the proper internal temperature before eating.
Once it is cooked and at temperature, let it rest for a few minutes before slicing. This will slice into nice little medallions.
Heat up the remainder of the marinade and top your cooked and sliced pork with it, to really make it stand out.
I served it over some toasted orzo, with asparagus and mushrooms, and a glass or two of a cool, Spanish white blend. It was a perfect spring or summer meal.
Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.
A Jeanne in the Kitchen 