Popcorn (and other stuff)

I am obsessing about cooking and entertaining.  And cooking and having friends over. And cooking and baking chocolate chip cookies.  And cooking hosting book club for a brunch.  And.......
....well, it's all still a dream.

Our floor is 'getting there'.  It will  look so nice when it's done, but as of yesterday, it looked like this:

We made grilled cheese sandwiches on the grill last night.  And then we made popcorn on the grill.

Here is the Handyman shaking the popcorn on our bbq grill.  He is wearing a denim jacket, because  God hates spring in Northern Nevada and so it's still winter temps.  Brrrrrr!!!  (it's driving me crazy!!)

My children (three grown boys and a couple of daughter-in-laws) all think this popcorn tastes weird.  They are of the microwave popcorn generation.

It's actually the best popcorn ever!!

Old Fashioned Popcorn

a heavy pot
add some oil.  Just eyeball it.
add some popcorn.  Just eyeball it again
put the pot over the fire/heating element
shake until it pops and begins to push the top off
put in a big bowl
melt REAL butter and pour over the top
add salt to taste.

There you go.  That is my food post for the day.


So......maybe I'll talk about birds now.

Yes, birds.  I just got back from a weekend of bird watching.  Before you go 'uh, big nerd' and close this blog, let me tell you;  you need to expand your horizons.  I did. This was my first birding experience.  I've been a backyard birder for some time, but this year I went with my friends (who are experienced birders ) to the Spring Wings Festival in Fallon,  Nevada, as Mitzi is pointing out below.  And I had so much fun!!

We arrived on Friday at noon, for our 1st tour/class

Friday afternoon:  Stillwater shore birds
Friday night:  Rapture Rapture
Saturday morning:  Wood ducks
Saturday afternoon: Birding Hot spots
Sunday morning:  Carson Lake
Sunday noon:  Release of the Golden Eagle ( a rescue bird)

The Big Year, a birding book (or rather a book about birders) is being made into a movie.  A comedy staring Owen Wilson, Steve Martin and Jack Black.  I can't wait to see it.  But first....I have to read the book.



See?  Birding is fun!  And apparently funny!!  All I know is that I had a good time.   We went out to different areas in tour vans and saw all kinds of birds, had a presentor and there were a few presentations thru-out the day.
I do have to laugh to myself tho, being a brand new birder, these kinds of conversations made me laugh...
"look over there, is it? "
"I think it is."
"Look, look.....awwww, ahhh, ohhhh, there, there,  a long beaked curlew!!"

My birding friends.

Mitzi is the teacher's pet---actually she could lead a class all on her own. She knows all the stuff.   We can be sitting on my patio enjoying a summer evening meal and she will hear a bird and say,  "that's the Red Winged Black Bird."    or she will see a bird in flight and say, "that's a Barn Swallow."
She can identify birds by their song and their flight patterns. She is amazing!

Jolina is the studious note taker. She was writing down everything the tour guide said.  She was marking off every single bird we saw  (this is how I know we saw over 50 species---and I saw every single one of them too) and I am so glad that she was  keeping track!

Maris fed us and let us sleep in her house.  She and her husband were THE BEST HOSTS  ever.

I got to see a Marbled Godwit.  Mitzi said this was very exciting and that I was extremely lucky!

and seriously?  If you are a birder...look at that map...I was in Nevada, where the little yellow part is.  I REALLY WAS LUCKY to see the Marbled Godwit!  He was just migrating thru.

I do feel lucky.  Lucky to be able to have fun wherever I am.  And lucky to have friends who have fun wherever they are too.

So, if you can hang with me....here are some of the birds we saw:

The Avecet and the Black Necked Stilt

A little Barn Owl who had been shoved out his nest.

He was probably scared to death.

The female Wood Duck.

We went with the biologist. They keep stats on Wood Ducks.

We take her out of her box (Wood Ducks are cavity nesters, so they make wooden boxes for the ducks to nest in.  It's easier to study that way)

We check the wing span.

And measure her.

And we weigh them.  By sticking them head first in a plastic pop bottle  (soda, coke, whatever you call it.  I call it pop.)

It's  just for a moment and she won't fly away while they weigh her.

And then you just throw her in the air. Which is what I'm doing  here.  I was nervous to just throw her, but she just took off flying....

....which left the young biologist to check her eggs....

to make sure the babies are alive and developing and to know when they will hatch.

Just FYI--the Wood Duck population is down this year.  They are not sure why.

to be continued.....(at a later date)

(I don't want to bore you to death)

(I'll just drag it out over the next few days instead of getting it over in one shot)

BEA envy and It's Monday, What are You Reading?

I am feeling envy.  BEA envy.  As all of the Book Bloggers I read are 'spending this week getting ready for BEA' .   That's BookExpo America.  (sigh)  I guess I will just be excited from afar.  I will not let the green-eyed monster take me over...no, not me.  I'll just go back, exclusively,  to my food blogger friends for a few weeks until all this excitement calms down.
Okay, no I won't--not really.  I'm just feeling so JEALOUS!! On one hand.  But on the other   I am really looking forward to reading all the blogs about it and seeing all kinds of pictures and  adding more books to my TBR list.

It's Monday!  What are you Reading is a is a weekly meme hosted by Sheila of "One Person's Journey through a World of Books"

It asks what are you reading this week? What have you read and what are you going to read.


This is what I finished last week (I already mentioned this in my last post, but  I'm sure it went unnoticed because of the great salmon patties and the bird pictures--that I took. With my very own camera.  I had a great weekend.  will tell you more about it very soon.  I digress.) What I read last week:
 
 
The Great Santini by Pat Conroy. Loved it.

My Reading Life by Pat Conroy. It was very interesting. (and it led me to finally read The Great Santini)
Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher. An Audio CD. Read by the author. I love her cynical wit. And I love memoirs.
Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin. Liked it very, very much. (it was nominated for an Edgar Award this year)

                           What I started this weekend:

Ten Little Bloodhounds by Virginia Lanier.  It's a cozy mystery set in Georgia and the main character has tracking Bloodhounds, who help her solve all the mysteries.  Sadly, Lanier has passed away, and I think this is the 5th in a 6 book series. There can be no more.   Lanier began writing when she was 65. She passed away when she was 72. 
I really like these books.  (and I'm a hound dog lover.  We are doglesss right now, but we'v had Bassett Hounds for the past 25 years)

On the back cover (of the paper back books) instead of showing a picture of Lanier, it has a picture of a Bloodhound and then a description of the author.  I understand that she and her husband raised champion Bloodhounds and she must have loved them very much and  it shows thru-out the book.
If you like a cozy mystery and love dogs and want to spend an afternoon curled up with a good 'get-away' book,  I suggest this series which starts with "Death in Bloodhound Red". 

Have fun everybody at BEA!

Catching up, Salmon Burgers and Birds.

Everyone who uses Blogger, knows that Blogger was down for over 24 hours last Thursday/Friday.  I don't post every day like some of you, but I did want to post before I left for the weekend. 

Here is what I would have written on Thursday:
Tomorrow I leave for Spring Wings. (and hopefully the Handyman will be able to lay the tile and grout the kitchen, so I will have a stove again come Monday)



Spring Wings is the annual birding festival held in the Lahontan Valley of Northwest Nevada. I'm very excited to be going with my friends, who call themselves "the Bird Nerd Herd."


We'll leave tomorrow morning to make it in time for our first class: "Wild for the Woodies".


The Handyman is laughing his you-know-what off, as I tell him this. And to be truthful, having raised 3 boys, who have left me with their sophomoric sense of humor, I'm kind of laughing too. Wild for the Woodies! What are my friends taking me to?


WOOD DUCKS my friends.....Wood Ducks.


and then later on in the weekend? The Owl Prowl.


Very excited!

update:
I came home and he has the tile set in the kitchen (not grouted).  IT WILL LOOK SO NICE...when it is done.  I still have no stove/oven, but he's worked very hard and done nice work.

And then on Friday morning before I left I would have written:
The first night that the Handyman took out our stove/oven, I decided to make salmon burgers. I had bought THE BEST canned salmon (contained no skin or cartilage whatsoever!) and I wanted to use it. So I made the patties and we fried them on the one burner on our gas bbq grill. The burgers turned out great!! I just didn't have any place to take a good picture.
(also didn't think of it until after we had started eating)

I used my friend Karen's recipe from KarenCooks.  She had a great recipe for Mexican Salmon Patties. They were so good. Salmon with a little spice! The recipe stated to use  half a fresh jalapeno. I was worried that they might be a bit too hot, so I only used 3/4 of the 1/2 of the fresh jalapeno. Next time I will use the whole half....maybe even a bit more, because the heat was not intense at all, just gave the salmon a great little Mexican bite.


My whole family liked these salmon patties.
I just tucked them into a bun, called them a burger and opened a bag of salad to go with.


Mexican Salmon Patties

1 can salmon, drained
1 egg
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 tsp lime juice
1/2 jalapeno, stemmed, seeded, and finely diced
1 rib celery, finely diced
1 T finely chopped cilantro
4 green onions, finely chopped
3 T crumbled Queso Fresco
3 T bread crumbs
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper


Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and mix well. Shape into patties. Cover and refrigerate at least an hour.


Oil for frying
1 egg, beaten
Panko bread crumbs

Dip each patty into the egg. Roll in Panko bread crumbs. Fry at 350F until browned on both sides.


Serve with rice and garnish with sliced avocado, lime wedges, and crumbled Queso Fresco
Makes 4 12-oz. patties

Since that night---this whole past week---we've either grilled hot dogs or gone out to dinner. I'm getting tired of hot dogs.
Pray that the kitchen is put back together soon.  For a few days, during a project, one can be  good at ignoring the mess in one's house, but honestly, it's beginning to drive me NUTS. So, I've been hiding my head in a book and trying not to look at my house.


I've read.... (hmmmm, what have I read in the past week or so? I missed It's Monday What are you Reading this week and I hate when I miss it, because I like to keep track of my books that way.) oh....

The Great Santini by Pat Conroy. Loved it.
My Reading Life by Pat Conroy. It was very interesting. (and it led me to finally read The Great Santini)
Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher. An Audio CD. Read by the author. I love her cynical wit. And I love memoirs.
Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin. Liked it very, very much. (it was nominated for an Edgar Award this year)

I am off to Spring Wings! I have my birding book, my binoculars, my sunscreen, my camera and NO MAKE UP. My friends told me they don't wear make-up this weekend...we will be trudging thru swampy marshes looking for woodies. (wood ducks).


*****************************************************************************



and here it is Monday morning, but  you will have to wait until I have time to write a new post (a day or two) to see what a great time I had at Spring Wings!  I don't have the time right now. (It was amazing and I saw over 50 species of migrating birds!!  Woo Hoo!  Yes---I'm a nerd)

So nerdy, we looked like this all weekend:

My friends, Jolina and Mitzi.

while seeing this all weekend:   a Black Necked Stilt  (doing some kind of dance--we think she had a nest and was dancing us away from it)  and an Avicet looking on.

and this......  a Clarke's Grebe

A good time was had by all (the bird nerds)

Here lies the apple

The Handyman is still working on my kitchen.  Not so much cussing going on today--which is a good sign, I think.
I'm going to have to do all my cooking on the Grill on the patio for the next week or so.  I was planning on making salmon patties.  Mexican Salmon Patties!  And put them in fresh bakery buns to have as salmon burgers.  If this doesn't work out for me, and I don't get a picture to blog about,  go here, to see where they do work out.  (It's Karen's blog from Karen Cooks)

Now....because of kitchen construction....on to my  'non' foodie post:
The apple.

The apple has a lot of lore.



Johnny Appleseed... Adam and Eve... An Apple a Day Keeps the Doctor away... The apple of my eye... One bad apple can spoil the whole bunch... William Tell shooting an apple off his son's head.... and the whole Sir Issac Newton and gravity thing. The apple even plays a part in the Trojan War.


 I like apples. I like apple pie and apple turnovers. I love apple cake and I like apple strudel. I like fried apples and homemade applesauce. I like apple dumplings and I like--well, you get the picture.


I like to eat different kinds of apples fresh too. A few years ago, I even had an apple tasting party, where I ordered a sampling of 12 different apples and we tasted. It was a lot of fun, and you'd be surprised at how different apples can taste.


See this apple? The Piñata apple? It was really a great tasting apple, but....

....let me maunder (I learned this new word from Wondrous Words Wednesday on Bermuda Onion's blog)


When I do my grocery shopping, I take a list, but I don't have a budget to follow. I pretty much buy whatever I want--at the grocery store. Within reason, of course. It's not like I just buy eggplant and artichokes to fill a basket, never planning on cooking them! Well, okay, I really did that once. They are beautiful! It's kind of like buying cut flowers for your table---you have to replace them, but they look so good!


Anyway I don't go crazy---I make a list and stick to it for the most part.


So, when I read apples on my list, I only got 4, because, like I said, I don't go crazy.
When I was checking out, the clerk ran my apples over the scale and the register said $9.26. I was too shocked to say, WAIT! I'm not paying $10.00 for 4 apples!!! TAKE THEM BACK.   So I just bought them and came home and made everyone eat an apple.  And I made them enjoy them. At $2.50 an apple, you can bet they LOVED them. Even if they didn't.


See here?

I went back today and bought different apples, but I did a price check this time. (I had my phone, so I snapped a picture) It's hard to tell, but yes, they are $2.47 a pound. What kind of idiot pays $2.47 a pound for an apple? I have an apple tree right in my own back yard for crying out loud. Of course it's just now blossoming....but still, $2.47?


The Pinata Apple was actually a pretty good tasting apple.
It was the first apple to have it's own facebook page. Maybe that's why it thinks so much of itself!? It thinks it's a pretty classy apple....not a lowly Red Delicious @ .99cents a pound, or a Gala at $1.29/lb.


Even if the Pinata Apple played a part in all the apple lore put together....I will probably never buy one again. (unless I'm having a party and need a pretty bowl full on my table, because I'm all out of cut flowers)

Snapshot Saturday

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Alyce of At Home With Books.  If you are interested in participating, just post a photo (new or old), but make sure it's not one that you found online.

I cut open this watermelon last night and this is what we saw.....

It looks like a cat face to me.  Or some weird Mother Goose illustration--something from Alice in Wonderland.

I was concerned that it was ruined, but I cut it up anyway and we gave it a try.

I was pleasantly surprised!

It was one of the sweetest tasting watermelon's I've ever had. 

Would you have eaten it?

coffee?

I just lost a coffee taste test with the Handyman.    I swear that Dunkin'  Donuts coffee is THE BEST, but he is a Folgers (or whatever is less expensive) coffee man.  Right now in our house we have both DD and Folgers.
We get up at 5:00 to walk and we make the coffee before we leave the house.  If he is dressed and ready before I am he makes Folgers, and I make the DD if I am ready before him.
This morning he told me he made DD, but I knew...I KNEW it was Folgers, and he said it wasn't.  He is laughing at me.  (now after more than one taste I can tell it is DD, but it was right after our walk---he took me off guard).

Can you tell the difference in coffee's?  Just your home brew, I mean.

This is not exciting Friday Friend food talk!  (Or book  talk, for that matter)  But we are still under Kitchen construction and it will be a few weeks before we are done.  We are taking out the stove/oven and dishwasher this weekend, so truly---I won't be cooking.  Maybe  grilling some meat outside and having  salad from a bag, but nothing blog worthy.  About food, that is.  It might just have to be books and 'other stuff' for the next few weeks.
So, now all the bookworms are going  YAY!!  and the foodies are thinking,  "hmm, she's lost me.  (who cares what kind of coffee she likes)"

And probably no one (except my mother) will care about this:

I was thinking this morning while I was walking, how much I used to love to go to my grandparents house and look thru their old photo albums.  Memories saved and put lovingly into an album.   They only had about 7 photo albums, and these were not huge.  They only took one picture to commemorate an event or milestone in their lives---while I take 25-40 on my digital camera---and they were all  there in those photo albums.
We could see our family history in a glance.   Ahhhh, how I loved to look thru those old albums.

I have many  myself.  I have 100's of pictures in photo albums and photo boxes.  But....those photo albums stop about 8 years ago.  Then I have nothing.
Unless you look on my computer.
And there...I have hundreds more pictures stored.

I think it's funny, in an odd sort of way.    
My grown children have no photo albums in their homes at all.   One of my daughters in law does scrapbooking when she can find the chance, but I know she can't keep up like she'd like too  (and neither can most people).

Remember how we used to pull out our wallets or billfolds to show people the latest pictures of our kids?  Then for a while women had little photo books to carry in their purses?    Now, we whip out our phones and can show people many, many pictures of all kinds.

It's just funny how things change.

And that's the stuff I think about while we are walking at 5 in the morning.  Heavy stuff.
And then I have to go home and drink Folgers.    Ugh.

Cookbook Sundays and....a whole bunch of other stuff

I have not been posting any food posts lately, because we are in the process of  'fixing' up our kitchen.  I'm not sure what to call it exactly.  It's not a remodel, but it is a complete up do!  Renovation?  Oh yes!!  This must be what we are doing, because  the dictionary says this about renovating:

1. to restore to good condition; make new or as if new again; repair.

2. to reinvigorate; refresh; revive.



Yep.  That's what we are doing alright.
Here sits the Handyman  in his lonely job of taking up the old floor.

Old Floor: 

I will keep you updated on the progress, as it  'slowly' goes.  We are doing the work ourselves.  And we own our own business and we only get 1 1/5 days off a week.   So, last week, tear up the floor and put down plywood to make the dining room and kitchen level.  This weekend,  put down backer-board and go order our new appliances and buy paint.
Anyway---it could be a while before I do much food blogging.

BUT....a few weeks ago, I happened to make (and take some pictures of)  a coffee cake from one of my cookbooks, which I will post for Cookbook Sundays, which is now being hosted by Melynda at  Mom's Sunday Cafe. This is the 1st time I've been able to participate since Melynda began hosting, but I am excited about getting back into the swing of things!  (hello Melynda!)

About a year ago,  the bloggers that are following "Tuesdays with Dorie"  all made  "Swedish Visiting Cake."  I used to follow along and try to bake from Dori Greenspan's   Baking: From My Home to Yours, but I had to drop out. I followed for a about 5 months and I just couldn't keep up with baking and posting every Tuesday. It was becoming not fun for me, so kudos to those of you who have kept up!
As I was saying tho, about a month ago, I was looking thru Baking and came across this great coffee cake and decided to make it...it was everything it promised to be. 

You've seen it around the food blogging world many times,  (even my friend Brenda made it a few months ago, and she's never been a part of Tuesdays with Dorie ) but it is so good, and so easy, and it deserves it's place on a brunch table, believe me.  (and also....I made it and it counts towards my own personal cookbook countdown)

At the same time, I also made Baked Eggs, which I had never made before.  I had been talking to my friend Karen (at karencooks) and  she couldn't believe I'd never had or made a baked egg.  So included are a couple of photos of my baked eggs, which we had with our Swedish Visiting Cake.

Baked eggs are easy.  I just put a couple of eggs in a custard dish, with splash of half and half, salt, pepper,  slivered green onions and a sprinkle of cheese, then bake till set but the yolks are still runny--so you can dip your toast in it!


Mmmmmmm.....

Swedish Visiting Cake
by Dori Greenspan
Baking: From My Home to Yours

1 cup sugar, plus a little more for sprinkling

grated zest of one lemon
2 large eggs
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. pure almond extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 stick (8 tablespoons or 1/2 cup) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
about 1/4 cup sliced almonds (blanched or not)

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a seasoned 9-inch cast-iron skillet or other heavy ovenproof skillet, a 9-inch round cake pan or even a pie pan.


Pour the sugar into a medium bowl. Add the lemon zest and blend the zest into the sugar with your fingers until the sugar is moist and aromatic. Whisk in the eggs one at a time until well blended. Whisk in the salt and the extracts, if you're using them. Switch to a rubber spatula and stir in the flour. Finally, fold in the melted butter.


Scrape the batter into the skillet and smooth the top with the rubber spatula. Scatter the sliced almonds over the top and sprinkle with a little sugar. If you're using a cake or pie pan, place the pan on a baking sheet.


Bake the cake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until it is golden and a little crisp on the outside; the inside will remain moist. Remove the skillet from the oven and let the cake cool for 5 minutes, then run a thin knife around the sides and bottom of the cake to loosen it. You can serve the cake, warm or cooled, directly from the skillet or turned out onto a serving plate.

I am also linking this to Weekend Cooking at  Beth Fish Reads.

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs

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Yesterday I walked in the March of Dimes walk with my son and his family.  He and his wife had twins 2 years ago, who were born at 32 weeks (that is 8 weeks early).  Our babies spent a month in the NICU.  Today they are healthy and happy and thriving.  That is not always the case for every baby born prematurely.

March for Babies is America's favorite walking event. When you walk, you give hope to the families of babies born too soon or sick. The money  raised supports programs in each community that help moms have healthy, full-term pregnancies. And it funds research to find answers to the serious problems that threaten our babies. 

 March of Dimes is the champion for all babies, those born healthy and those who struggle to survive.

I enjoyed the walk very much.  The weather was nice, the view was great and it was for a good cause.

It was fun.

Those little babies walked most of the 2 mile course.

While their dad was happy to have them walk and not be carried (we had a stroller too, but they wanted to walk the walk ) it made us one of the last who crossed the finish line. He had to grin and bear it tho, because he is really not the type who wants to be last.  He was just glad his kids were having a great day and that they are able to walk and run and dance and clap during the festivities.

Some premature babies are not so lucky.

And that is why we walked to raise awareness as well as money.