Sunday, June 29, 2014

2014 Monarch Visit

We were so excited. While my beloved was cooking and I was drinking coffee, my oldest suddenly shouted, "LOOK! A Monarch!!"  Much excitement ensued as we LOVE having Monarchs by our back door!

And, as I just looked out again, she was back laying an egg! WOOHOO!  M3 really wanted to catch her and give her a hug. I had to explain to her how important it was that we don't grab her (even though we do want to give her a hug for coming to our yard). I think it might be time to go to the museum so she can learn more about why we don't grab butterflies.






 


Go here for the 2nd of 3 posts about Monarchs this year: (Monarch - the caterpillars)
Go here for the 3rd of 3 posts about Monarchs this year: (Finally - an emergence from a chrysalis)

Saturday, June 28, 2014

End of June discoveries around the yard


We have seen lots of baby birds and have had a nest of baby bunnies in the middle of our garden this last spring. Juvenile (fledgling) robins are so much fun. They can fly a little bit, but they are not very good at it. They are also not yet scared of people. We have been able to get within a just a couple of feet of them for close observation.


The pictures here are one of the many young robins that have been in the yard. What was funny about this one as that it came up and tapped on my patio door window next to where I was sitting. I thought at first it was the neighbor lady, but there was no one outside the door. It tapped again at the window and cheeped at me several times when I saw it. Everyone got to see it - very cool! This was after the youngest one banged on the window to tell it high. Then, it eventually flew off.
Sounding the alarm
Go away Hawk!









We also have a very active hawk in the area. We know when it is near because all the birds go into a tizzy and instead of bird song, we get to hear bird alarm. We get the same alarm (although, not as intense) when our cat sneaks out. The birds tend to congregate at the top of the pine tree and yell at the hawk. 


Here we are at the end of June and it looks like we might finally get some summertime! How do we know? Because the Hollyhocks blossomed this morning!! Aren't they gorgeous? Thus far, we have 3 colors. The last couple of summers, they have not been very plentiful and have been under 5 feet tall. The plants are gigantic this year. The ones in the flowerbed outside my patio door are almost 7 feet tall! The pre-bloom picture shown here was taken about a month ago. Notice it is still fairly short and squat.




Milkweed plant just before it blooms
Do you see the creature in the upper left?
The milkweed is one of our favorite plants because it brings the Monarch butterflies up close for us to watch since the plants are next to the back step. The flower balls start out very small, but they open up into a sort of droopy ball. They are very pretty and the smell is heavenly. You need these in your flower beds! If you notice, there is another visitor in the picture. The milkweed also finally opened today. Hurray!

We have also been watching what we think is a vole darting back and forth across our patio from one flowerbed to the other. I catch her out of the corner of my eye rather often. I had to look because I have seen mice out
there on occasion, but this was not a mouse. They are newcomers to our yard this year.

Teeny tiny baby voles - the pink things.
How do I know it is a "she"? Because she had babies....in the middle of our lawn! Ack! I mowed on Wednesday night and since then, under a small pile of grass that was left on top, she built a nest. They are so very, very tiny. You can see the tiny bit of pink in the first picture on the right. I think that is at least 2 of them....maybe 3. Look at the size of the clover leaf next to them in comparison! To be expected, of course, from such a small creature, but still just amazing to think about such tiny creatures being born!

Sunday, June 15, 2014

Risotto

My mom had a pressure cooker that she used. The main thing she used for was potatoes and a simple meal that consisted of ham, potatoes, & green beans (super simple and fast to make -- hardest part is the prep work). However, I have done many more things in my pressure cooker (including super fast chicken stock). I love it and use it to make my life as simple as possible while still having tasty food. The pressure cooker and my slow cookers are my best kitchen friends....after the coffee grinder, the electric kettle, and the french press.

I have generally avoided risotto because I don't always have time to pay attention to it while it cooks on the stove. Yesterday, I had one of those light bulb moments and checked a couple of my cookbooks for recipes. Yep. There was one in my favorite slow cooker book (check out her website here -- I own all 3 of her slow cooker books - for those interested, they are gluten free recipes, but easily done with non-gluten free items if that is not a concern for you!) AND there was one in my favorite pressure cooker book! WooHoo! Since I knew I would not have time to mess with my slow cooker before church the next morning, I checked out the pressure cooker recipe. Done. I had almost all the ingredients on hand.

M2 and I decided it was perfect to go with our chicken cordon bleu recipe for Father's Day dinner (much tastier than rice!).  So, we gave it a whirl. It is fabulous! Just like what we wanted - a tasty, creamy Parmesan cheese risotto! My beloved thought it was great. I will experiment with adding some other spices & such in next time, but either way, it is a grand slam for our family. Even Sir Picky Pants thought it was good and ate his serving!!

This recipe is from Miss Vickie's Big Book of Pressure Cooker Recipes by Vickie Smith. You can find her website here. I see that she has another pressure cooker recipe book out that I need to add to my collection!

Here is the recipe:
Basic Risotto

1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 Tablespoons minced garlic
1 Cup uncooked Arborio Rice
2 Cups stock or broth, heated
1/2 Cup white wine
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 C grated Parmesan cheese

(Notes - when I made this, I had no wine, so I just upped the amount of chicken stock I used to compensate. I used shredded Parmesan cheese instead of grated. I also did a batch and one half instead of just 1 batch.)

Heat the oil in the pressure cooker over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and cook, stirring until clear, about 3 minutes. Add the rice, stirring until the grains are coated with oil. Add the hot stock, wine, and pepper.  Stir to mix and lock the lid in place. Bring to 15 psi over high heat, immediately reduce the heat to the lowest possible setting to stabilize and maintain that pressure, and cook for exactly 7 minutes.  Remove from the heat and use the quick release method to depressurize (this means I ran cold water over the top of the pan until it depressurized). Carefully open the lid after the pressure drops.  Stir in the Parmesan cheese. If the risotto isn't nice and cream, stir in a little more stock. Simmer, uncovered, over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the rice is the desired consistency (we did not do this - we stirred it up after adding the cheese and just let it set while we finished getting dinner on the table. It was perfectly done without us doing any other cooking). Serve immediately in shallow soup bowls (it served well on our plates).

Variations
  • Add 1 cup chopped seafood, such as salmon, shrimp, or scallops, sauteed in olive oil.
  • Add 2 cups chopped or sliced fresh vegetables -- green peas, mushrooms, greens, asparagus, artichoke hearts, tomatoes, squash -- whatever you like.
  • Vary the cheeses and try different herbs and wines to suit your own personal preferences.