Lately my morning coffee has been spent with our red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus for those of you who want to know the genus species name). Well, me with the coffee and watching the red squirrels run around and eat the sunflower seeds and nuts I put out. I love watching their antics. My "regular" job, … Continue reading How to Lower Stress With Red Squirrels
How to behave outdoors – sounds silly doesn’t it? And yet I see signs of misbehavior no matter where I go. It ranges from something as simple as littering to disturbing wildlife and destroying habitat. Let’s look at animals, since that’s my first love in life. Many people believe that if a baby fawn is … Continue reading How to Behave Outdoors
Upstate NY has at least two food icons - chicken spiedies and chicken riggies. Both are beloved by the locals. Today I'll introduce the spiedies...... and riggies when I remember to take pictures. Chicken spiedies are cubes of white breast meat, marinated 1-2 days in a lemony-garlicky-herby mix. Then just thread onto skewers and grill. … Continue reading NY Chicken Spiedies – a regional specialty
I haven't purchased a box of bread crumbs since I don't know when, because I make my own. I got tired of paying several dollars for, well, crumbs. Rather than throw away the leftover bread that's almost stale, or the end pieces no one wants to eat, I turn them into usable crumbs. Saving money … Continue reading How to make and use Homemade Bread Crumbs
We eat lots of vegetables, but let's face it, everything steamed, grilled or fried gets boring. I had a couple decent sized zucchini and decided to stuff one. I relied on a stuffing mix, but turned it up with some add in ingredients. The easiest way I've found to scrape out zucchini is to use … Continue reading Easy Stuffed Zucchini
Spring brings fresh fruits - strawberries and rhubarb come about the same time, and are often used together. Several years ago I posted my Rhubarb Rollup dessert. This year I had en epiphany....why not use strawberries in it too! I mean really, after all these years how did I never think of this? The original … Continue reading Decadent Strawberry – Rhubarb Rollups for dessert
The other day my husband asked for chicken and rice for dinner. So I'm thinking it needs to be a one dish wonder, not roasted chicken and a separate pile of rice. This dish turned out fantastic, and was super easy. For convenience I used a big cast iron skillet to saute the vegetables and … Continue reading Wonderful and Easy Baked Chicken and Rice
Cake and pudding was something my mom frequently did for us as kids on the farm. Basically it involves using cake, especially something you have that may be just a little bit stale, and pouring hot pudding over it. We always considered it a great treat! Use up any cake And that's exactly what I … Continue reading How to make a Simple Cake and Pudding Pots
Here's a nice vegetable heavy soup featuring chickpeas or other beans and some form of greens - kale, spinach, collards, Swiss chard....whatever you have really. Leave out the bacon or pancetta to make it truly vegetarian. Spring seems to be delayed with a snowstorm in May, so I decided to see what was in the … Continue reading Using Beans and Greens in Soup
It’s not always easy feeling good about right where you are in life. However, I am a firm believer that things always work out exactly as they are supposed to. As the saying goes, if you want to make God laugh, tell Him what your plans are. I am reminded of this lesson today, on … Continue reading How to be at Peace Right Where You Are…another Life Lesson