cupcakes and kitchen windows

Wow...I am tired. Just what you wanted to hear, right? I haven't blogged for over a week, and then I complain to you!! What's up with that? Well, I am tired. LOL
I was missing in action because I went north to "check in on", "check on," "see about" and "visit" my parents.
I thought, I would do a couple of blogs while I was up there, but I really didn't have any downtime, so I didn't.

But here I am. Back in action. (I can hear you now...the hoorays are echoing in blogland )

Seriously tho, my garden grew while I was gone...the Handy man, didn't neglect it. And later in the week when the Handy Man came up to Washington to join me,
the in-transition-adult-son-who-needs-to-figure-out-his-life, didn't neglect it either.
See pictures here:
And what's outside my kitchen window here, the before and after.... April vs June in the high Nevada Desert:
After:
Before:
The tree has leafed out. (as is apparent in the before and after pictures) When we first planted it, it was a stick, and we didn't have the cover on the patio, so I put it there for shade someday. It might be a tad bit too close to the house...and now we do have a cover on our patio. It towers over the other trees, which are sticks compared to this one.
Last evening there were some quail walking around in our rocks. Here is one...

One of our favorite things to do in the summer is to eat outside on our patio. Supper always, and coffee in the mornings. Coffee, the newspaper and a CUPCAKE. A banana cupcake--that is semi-healthy, right?
Melissa of "Schweet and Savory" made some banana cupcakes a while back and they looked so good, that I made them too!
They were good and dense and moist, just how I like my banana breads/cakes/muffins/cupcakes.
You should try them if you like banana stuff. I have pictures of mine, but she has the recipe she used, so check out her blog and find out!

Great with coffee...and a friend. A Friday Friend! (check my profile to see what a Friday Friend really is ).

What's outside my kitchen window?

What's outside my kitchen Window?

Well.... I have a picture of outside my mom's kitchen window!
Here it is.

I have been gone (I still am) up checking on my mom and dad after my dad's hospital stay.
It came at a bad "blogging" time for me. I had signed up for Operation Baking Gals, and this is the mailing time. I have never found out my guy (Luke)'s address. I will probably get kicked out of Operation Baking Gals! But seeing my parents was more important. (sorry Operation Baking Gals)
My saving grace is that ....no one signed up. LOL
Except Karen from Karen Cooks,

and some of the Friday Friends who don't have blogs.
We'll mail, but we'll be late....

more of what's outside my mom's kitchen window

And.... VERY IMPORTANT NEWS.... my grand babies came home.
Eli and Emerson YAY!!
I can't wait to go to Connecticut too! That is next on my traveling agenda. LOL

Aren't' they the cutest things!

She was just 4 lbs and he, a bit over 5 lbs and they got to come home this past weekend, Sunday and Monday respectively.

I'll be back to blogging next week.

What's Outside my Kitchen Window--Root Beer Floats

What's outside my Kitchen window this week?
This is. (for my garden/yard info check out this website )

I don't know if they participated this week, but be sure check out these great bloggers who have been such good sports in showing me what's outside their kitchen windows. (you can too, if you want!) They have something great in store for you.

Terri of Terri's Table (and that is Virginia Creeper growing up and around my patio, Terri)

and

Karen of Karen Cooks

The official kick-off to summer was yesterday, Memorial Day. I hope everyone had a good day and/or weekend however you celebrated.

When I was younger, (even in my younger married years) the family would gather in Wallowa County, Oregon, where my great-grandparents homesteaded, and most of my ancestors lived, died and are buried. Have any of you been to "Wallowa Lake?" If not, click on it and see how beautiful it is.

While we no longer have the family ranch, we still have a vacation home at Wallowa Lake. My grandparents bought it when I was a baby... (almost 50 years ago!! ) and it has been in the family every since then. Wallowa Lake is our vacation of choice.

On Memorial Day weekends, we would all gather and put flowers on the graves. It was a HUGE thing to do. My mother would always "tsk tsk" if she saw an undecorated grave site.... because, no one remembered them. To this day, my parents go and decorate the graves...and I will continue to do it once they are gone.
After the cemetery tho, we would go to a dinner put on by "The Rebecca's" The Rebecca's were the female counterpart of the "Oddfellows". These were fraternal organizations like the Elks and the Eagles, but a bit more obscure.
Tthe Rebecca's made the most wonderful HOMEMADE PIE you could ever imagine. Thus began my life-long love affair with "pie". But I am a pie snob... I want homemade crust. I'll do a Pillsbury crust in a pinch, but really.... I want a flaky, tasty homemade crust.

But, this post is not about pie...(that was just one Memorial Day Memory) it is about the official kick-off to summer, Memorial Day.
Did you have a picnic? A BBQ?

We did. And while it was a very nice afternoon with friends, I forgot to take pictures of the meal....except for.... a few here and there.
We deep-fried a turkey, had many side dishes and.... root beer floats for dessert. YES...root beer floats. All because of Mary at "My New 30".
She made them and posted about her root beer float memories.

I love memories. I love memoirs. I love nostalgia. So, when Mary started talking about her root beer memories (check out her post), I thought of mine...and decided to have floats for dessert on our Memorial Day BBQ. It seemed to fit....since it was only in the summertime my dad would take us out for root beer floats at the A&W drive-in. Once every couple of weeks, he would call out to us as we were playing in the neighborhood in the evening (no one was ever inside in those days....some dads would whistle for their kids ) and we would jump in the car and head to A&W for root beer floats.
Then he would flinch, because my dad was a real "car lover" and the thought of one of us kids spilling or sloshing our sticky root beer in his car was torture. Most of the time, he would make us get out and sit at the tables between the two lines of drive in parking spaces. A&W had a menu with a speaker....You drove your car up and when you made up your mind, you pushed the button and gave your order. Then the carhop would bring it all out on a tray that hung on your car window.
If we were getting burgers...which was rare....we would beg, BEG for a "teen burger", but usually had to get a "baby burger", while our parents got (seriously) a "papa burger" and a "mama burger". Teen burgers had bacon on them. Yum.

Ahhh...the memories. So I made Mary's root beer float. Except....I used A&W root beer. I like Barque's, but A&W is what my memories are made of.
Check out this post of my "bourbon and rootbeer" glazed ribs. See? I did get Barque's. Mary told me about Barque's history... I love stories like that.

Deep Fried Turkey. If you haven't had it, you should. It's great. Crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside. You can inject it with a flavor or marinade, or you can just cook it as is. I don't really have a recipe and besides, it's the Handy Man's Thing.

We enjoy entertaining all year long (entertaining...fancy word for having friends over), but in the summer time, it's just nice to be outside.

Root Beer Floats. They really were great! Brought back lots of memories.

Can it get any better than this?
Well.......if you are a bird nerd.....it can.

I have a HUMMINGBIRD NEST under my patio cover. HOW COOL IS THAT????
If you want to see pictures, go over to my big backyard blog here.

It's way too cool. Okay....one tease...

A Hiking Picnic

What do you take on a hiking picnic?
Me?
Well......
hard boiled eggs w/salt and pepper
fresh radishes w/salt
dill pickles
black olives
fried chicken from the deli
cookies

Things we could easily eat with our fingers, pull out of a backpack.

We went with our friends, the Storms to see the Great Blue Heron's nesting. The Storms are some of the nicest, easy going people ever. Very laid back. They have two cute little boys, who were great troopers today, as we hiked a bit.
We were lucky enough to also see a Great Horned Owl nesting, some pelicans, a Great Egret, King birds, a Red Winged Black Bird and Starlings.
The drive out was short enough but we had to hike about a mile or so in to where the Blue Heron's nest. It is in high desert country...here are some pictures.

The hike begins.

Hurry up, you don't want to be left behind.

This is where the birds are nesting.

Trying for a family picture....it didn't work.

This one is better. The Storms. Looking at birds.

There it is....The Great Blue Heron.

Nests. The Great Horned Owl was really hard to see... and this picture is little... but if you look closely, you can see her head...the side of her head anyway.

Taking Flight.

More nests

When we came up close to the trees, they, of course got nervous and flew away.

an old barn with the door just hanging there.

We found egg shells under the trees, which means the babies have hatched, but we didn't see them, Just their parents.

Checking out red ants is much more interesting than looking at far of birds!

Another Blue Heron on the nest

Pelicans above the river.

We decided to head back to the trucks because there were some menacing clouds coming in....and some distant thunder.

On the walk back to the trucks, we found ourselves in a pasture with cattle.... and a Long Horn Bull, who was not happy to see us. It made Mitzi and I a bit nervous, but it all turned out fine.

It was a nice afternoon, a nice day with friends.

A nice little Hiking meal too!

What's Outside My Kitchen Window

This is what I wish was really outside my kitchen window!! What I really want to see right now. :~)
Eli and Emerson.
They are doing so well.
That is Eli with his mom, and Emerson getting changed by her mom. She's a teeny little thing, but look at her looking at her mom! They sent me a video yesterday of this (the changing), and when Sadie said something, Emerson's eyes went right up to Sadie's face.
(ahhhh.... )
And then look at that contraption they have to change them thru... the isolette. No one would find that easy!!

*******
What's outside my kitchen window right now?
This....
I was actually standing "outside" my kitchen window, where I took the same set of photos I've been taking from inside.

My friend Terri from "Terries Table" asked me why I always say that my yard "doesn't look to bad now" and "I'm really greening up"?
She said it looked very nice.
Well, I say it, because, I can see what is just down the street from me...THE DESERT.
My yard is not fancy, by any stretch of the imagination, and we have a dog, who makes a path, but we do work at making it a nice place to have people over, or to read a book in, or to just sit and have your morning coffee.
So, yes, my yard looks nice, but really.... if you could only look outside my upstairs windows! You could see sagebrush for miles and miles.

Check out my "big backyard" blog for further info on how we're coming along with our garden.

And Check out, My Desert Walk, to see what is really just down the street.


And don't forget to check out both Terri's and Karen's yards/gardens/blogs. They both have fun blogs to check out as well as they are putting up with me and showing me every Wednesday "What's outside Their Kitchen Window". Just click on their names for a link.


Before I get to that "good little sandwich" I told you about yesterday, I have to tell you that I went for a walk this morning. It was my 2-mile day. And I wore my new walking shoes. Lots better on my weak ankle.
As I was walking....alone, because the Handy-man does not feel well (he has a cold and he's GROUCHY, when he doesn't feel well, so I left him in bed at 5:00 a.m. this morning).
One of the nice things about a small town, is that you run into people you know all the time. But really, do I need to at 5:30 a.m.?
I guess I do.... there was Mitzi's husband Larry, riding his bike, and my friend Gini walking her dog, and my neighbor walking with a cup of coffee in hand, Jean's husband walking in his orange vest (he goes very early and for a very long way, it's dark when he starts..and he's an engineer, he is "safe" )
But me? I roll out of bed, sift thru my closet to find the pile of walking cloths I left there on Tuesday. It's dark, I can't find my bra, do I dare go without? 2 different socks.. I notice this when I'm putting on my shoes downstairs, too late to turn back now.
I went to bed without washing my face, I have two black raccoon circles of mascara under my eyes. My hair is flat on one side, sticking out to high heaven on the other side, I don't brush my teeth...
I leave the house......and meet......tons of people I know, out walking like fools at 5:30 in the morning!!! (and they look much better than me!)
***************************

We have a deli in town called Uncle Ham's Deli. I get e-mail blasts from them every day telling their breakfast and lunch specials. Last week, they had a grilled mozzarella, tomato and basil sandwich.
That sounded good to me, so I bought the stuff to make them, for when we needed a fast meal this week. (which turns out to be every night ).
Tuesday in the mail, I got the new Taste of Home magazine and in it there is a recipe for a sandwich just like that one, from Stacy Johnson of Tacoma, WA.
Only she added a slice of sweet onion and some wasabi sauce to hers. And they made toast, didn't grill the whole thing.

That's what I did!!
We needed a fast meal.... after work, our grandson had a baseball game, then we ran to Wal-mart, then home, so we had these sandwiches at 7:50 pm on Tuesday night.
I liked them a lot. My husband....not so much. Although he did eat two of them.

I should have used "toast", but I tried to grill the whole thing...AND I tried to do it fast, because we were so late...and so hungry.
As you can tell by the picture (in which you can mostly see Doritos ) I didn't do a good grilling job. I was in a HURRY.
(we had to get our plates together to sit in front to the TV and watch NCIS. )
Anyway, as I said, I liked the sandwiches.

Fresh Mozzarella Sandwiches

sourdough bread, toasted
wasabi mayonnaise
fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced
tomato slices
sweet onion slices
fresh basil leaves

And then take a better picture than I did. LOL

You know the Friday Friends history? It's on my sidebar....in my profile.
Anyway, Tracie is an original Friday Friend. She does not have a blog, but in the FF forum, she sent pictures of her garden too.
And her "Handy Man". And her dog, who is just sure there is a bird in the bush!

Traci's garden in pretty, sunny, central California.