Although we've had snow flurries at least once a week for the past month, and yesterday dawned cold and frosty, I heard my first hummingbird of the year!
This morning the feeders went up, and within 5 minutes they were being visited by my favorite garden dignitaries, the Hummingbirds!
In the front of the house, I have one feeder hanging from the eaves in front of the porch, mid-May this one will be replaced by a hanging basket of mixed flowers, that has to include purple petunias.
In the backyard, I have one feeder outside the kitchen window and one in front of my bedroom window. I cannot wait to get my window boxes planted. Hurry up warmer weather!
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Here's to the Birthday Boy
Son,
There are so many things I want for you,
as many wishes in my heart
as I watch you grow into your own life...
I wish you a world of adventure and experience--
and also the serenity
that comes from listening to your inner voice
as the world rushes around you...
I wish you the strength
to face challanges with confidence-
along with the wisdom
to choose your battles carefull..
I wish you the satisfaction
of seeing your goals achieved
and also the true contentment
that is born of simple things--
work well-done,
friends well-loved,
moments caught and cherished.
And my greatest wish is that
you will always rememer
how much
you are loved--
for you are a good and caring person...
A man we are proud
to have for a Son!
--Hallmark
Happy 18th Birthday, SonMySon!!!
As you can see from the pictures below, my youngest babe is no longer a little boy.
He's been taller than me for a couple of years now, so I am getting used to looking up to him.
Now I look up to him in more ways than one.
I am very proud of him. This is just one of the reasons.
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Breaking 2 boards simultaneously.I was pretty impressed with how high he jumped. Shoulder height to the board holders standing on chairs! and landed on his feet, nimble and catlike!
Black Belt ceremony. December 2008
SonMySon, black belt and TaeKwonDo instructor. Good work, Son! I hope your eighteenth birthday was a memorable for you as it was for me. Of course, you are looking ahead, I spent the day looking back over your childhood.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Works For Me Wednesday
This is going to be my first posting to Works For Me Wednesday now hosted over at We are THAT Family .
Making homemade soup from leftovers, this Works For Me.
Shortly after my eldest daughter moved away from home, she brought it to my attention that she didn’t know much beyond the very basics of cooking. She is an excellent baker, but the day to day cooking wasn’t something she was used to.
I felt like I had failed her, my Mama taught me so much, including cooking. I was upset with myself for not properly preparing her for life away from home.
After giving it much thought, I realized that I could cut myself a little slack. You see, both my daughters started playing highly competitive tournament softball early in middle school. As athlete scholars with very good grades, they were either in class, at practice, doing homework or asleep. Our weekends March through August, were dedicated to traveling to and from softball tournaments. After high school, they went to work fulltime during the day, and attended our local college at night. Not much free time in there to spend on domestic duties. I felt they would have the rest of their lives for domestic chores, but they were only student athletes for a short time in their lives.
One of the first things DaughterS remarked about not knowing how to make was homemade soup. As a staple meal in our family, I was surprised that although I’m sure she watched me make it a million times, she didn’t know where to start.The first step in making delicious homemade soup is also the same rule as living frugally, something we did, living on one income for 13 years, so I could be a stay-at-home-mom.
Step #1: Waste Not Want Not. Don’t waste food. Save everything for soup.Pan drippings? Scrap out of the pan and cool in the fridge, de-fat and into the stock pot in the freezer. There’s a lot of flavor in that lone tablespoon of pan drippings, well worth the effort. Left over gravy? Mashed potatoes? Last bite of macaroni and cheese no one has room for? Last few teaspoons of corn? A leftover burger patty no one wants? One last half slice of meatloaf? Crumble ‘em up and add to the stock pot in freezer! Even spaghetti sauce.
In my freezer you’ll find square plastic freezer containers, one for beef and one for poultry. I feed them generously, it’s guilt free. Why put leftovers into the fridge and let them grow fur before throwing them out, when they can go straight into the stock pot and nourish the family once again?
Step #2: Make homemade stock, it is very inexpensive to make, using the parts of the chicken we don’t normally serve. To make chicken stock for use in soups, I boil the bones and skin from the rotissaire chickens, throw in the necks, backs, wings and giblets from the whole fryers I cut up. Add whatever fresh veggies I have on hand, carrots, celery, onions-including the yellow papery skins, which will give the stock a lovely golden hue, butt ends snapped off of asparagus, woody parts of broccoli. I’ve taken to saving and freezing in a gallon ziplock baggie all the parings from fresh vegetables, such as carrot tops, onion trimmings, rind from winter squash that I’ve cut up raw for roasting, apple cores, skins from sweet potatoes, everything I can think of, till I’m ready to make a batch of veggie stock. Cover completely with water and boil down or use a pressure cooker to shorten the time it takes till the veggies are limp and the bones falling apart. Strain and then I freeze in 1 quart containers for later use.
Not sure a potpourri of leftovers will taste good together? Amazingly the flavors all blend together wonderfully, I may season with Lawry’s Seasoning Salt, or Spike Seasoning, add dried sweet basil, or an Italian herb blend or Lemon Herb Seasoning. Sometimes I’ll add a can of tomato sauce or I have even used ketchup in a pinch.
Making homemade soup from leftovers, this Works For Me.
Shortly after my eldest daughter moved away from home, she brought it to my attention that she didn’t know much beyond the very basics of cooking. She is an excellent baker, but the day to day cooking wasn’t something she was used to.
I felt like I had failed her, my Mama taught me so much, including cooking. I was upset with myself for not properly preparing her for life away from home.
After giving it much thought, I realized that I could cut myself a little slack. You see, both my daughters started playing highly competitive tournament softball early in middle school. As athlete scholars with very good grades, they were either in class, at practice, doing homework or asleep. Our weekends March through August, were dedicated to traveling to and from softball tournaments. After high school, they went to work fulltime during the day, and attended our local college at night. Not much free time in there to spend on domestic duties. I felt they would have the rest of their lives for domestic chores, but they were only student athletes for a short time in their lives.
One of the first things DaughterS remarked about not knowing how to make was homemade soup. As a staple meal in our family, I was surprised that although I’m sure she watched me make it a million times, she didn’t know where to start.The first step in making delicious homemade soup is also the same rule as living frugally, something we did, living on one income for 13 years, so I could be a stay-at-home-mom.
Step #1: Waste Not Want Not. Don’t waste food. Save everything for soup.Pan drippings? Scrap out of the pan and cool in the fridge, de-fat and into the stock pot in the freezer. There’s a lot of flavor in that lone tablespoon of pan drippings, well worth the effort. Left over gravy? Mashed potatoes? Last bite of macaroni and cheese no one has room for? Last few teaspoons of corn? A leftover burger patty no one wants? One last half slice of meatloaf? Crumble ‘em up and add to the stock pot in freezer! Even spaghetti sauce.
In my freezer you’ll find square plastic freezer containers, one for beef and one for poultry. I feed them generously, it’s guilt free. Why put leftovers into the fridge and let them grow fur before throwing them out, when they can go straight into the stock pot and nourish the family once again?
Step #2: Make homemade stock, it is very inexpensive to make, using the parts of the chicken we don’t normally serve. To make chicken stock for use in soups, I boil the bones and skin from the rotissaire chickens, throw in the necks, backs, wings and giblets from the whole fryers I cut up. Add whatever fresh veggies I have on hand, carrots, celery, onions-including the yellow papery skins, which will give the stock a lovely golden hue, butt ends snapped off of asparagus, woody parts of broccoli. I’ve taken to saving and freezing in a gallon ziplock baggie all the parings from fresh vegetables, such as carrot tops, onion trimmings, rind from winter squash that I’ve cut up raw for roasting, apple cores, skins from sweet potatoes, everything I can think of, till I’m ready to make a batch of veggie stock. Cover completely with water and boil down or use a pressure cooker to shorten the time it takes till the veggies are limp and the bones falling apart. Strain and then I freeze in 1 quart containers for later use.
Not sure a potpourri of leftovers will taste good together? Amazingly the flavors all blend together wonderfully, I may season with Lawry’s Seasoning Salt, or Spike Seasoning, add dried sweet basil, or an Italian herb blend or Lemon Herb Seasoning. Sometimes I’ll add a can of tomato sauce or I have even used ketchup in a pinch.
Which reminds me, when you cannot get another drop of ketchup out of the bottle, add a little water and shake, drain into stock pot.
For the stronger flavor of beef stock, I’ll add a couple of dashes of Whorchestershire Sauce. A1 Steak Sauce adds a very hearty, tangy flavor.
If I brown some hamburger, I drain the meat by propping one side of the pan on a small ramikin dish, when the meat drains, I siphon off all the juice with a turkey baster, let cool to seperate the fat and into the beef stockpot in the freezer it goes!
If I brown some hamburger, I drain the meat by propping one side of the pan on a small ramikin dish, when the meat drains, I siphon off all the juice with a turkey baster, let cool to seperate the fat and into the beef stockpot in the freezer it goes!
When short on leftover veggies, I’ll sometimes add canned veggies, without draining. Except for beans, I always rinse canned beans in a strainer before adding to the soup.
I will usually add some starch or carbohydrates to the mix, too, in the form of rice or pasta of some shape. To thicken to a more stew like consistency, add instant mashed potatoes. You can also add a can of condensed milk to make a ‘cream soup’.
Think of this as a primer, take it and run with it, make it your own.
Homemade soup from leftovers, without a recipe. It Works For Me!
I will usually add some starch or carbohydrates to the mix, too, in the form of rice or pasta of some shape. To thicken to a more stew like consistency, add instant mashed potatoes. You can also add a can of condensed milk to make a ‘cream soup’.
Think of this as a primer, take it and run with it, make it your own.
Homemade soup from leftovers, without a recipe. It Works For Me!
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Am I the only one who likes clowns?
When I was expecting our first child and shopping for nursery themes, I knew I wanted white embroidered eyelet and I wanted to use bright primary colors, red, blue, yellow and green, too (yes, I know green isn't primary, but it is a good compliment to the others). The only nursery theme I found that met the requisite primary colors was a juggling clown. I had always associated clowns with cheery fun, lightheartness, and playful. Years later, I find out all my sisters think them scary and sinister, my kids, too. I'm guessing DaughterS won't be asking to use her own cribset should the day ever come. Anyway...
Last weekend SisterG told a clown joke that even made me laugh.
A little boy and a clown carrying a chainsaw walk into the woods. The little boy looks around and says to the clown, "Man, these woods are really creepy!" The clown replies, "Tell me about it, I have to walk out of here alone!"
Last weekend SisterG told a clown joke that even made me laugh.
A little boy and a clown carrying a chainsaw walk into the woods. The little boy looks around and says to the clown, "Man, these woods are really creepy!" The clown replies, "Tell me about it, I have to walk out of here alone!"
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