Sleepy Gambo

Well, guess who got up with (actually before) the birds yesterday morning, made a coffee and went off to take some snaps.....yep, moi!!!!!!

I've often thought that it would be magnificent to look at the sunrise from Joey's Lookout, but of course, that's always when I'm on my way to work....I don't think my carpool buddies would appreciate that!!

So, I woke at around 6 am, peeked out through my blind and thought, I'm gonna do it.

When I got there, it still was not very light and I was a little apprehensive, especially in light of the black bear problem in these parts of late, but I bit the bullet, and look what I got........

All of these were taken between 6:30 and 7:00 am from Joey's lookout on the TCH.  What a spectacular site.  I actually have a ton more, but I'm having trouble uploading them.  It keeps saying that I've exceeded my quota, so I'll have to try and iron that out.  Hubby and I are going to the city for the weekend, so I'll take my laptop and get some help.

I'll post more of these pics asap

Cheers
;o)

Blueberry Cake

Here is a simple and delicious recipe you can try to use up some of the blueberries that you picked this summer.  Great for weekend brunches, when you have overnight guests!


Blueberry Cake

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup white sugar
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour  

Topping

3 tablespoons white sugar 

1 teaspoon cinnamon 

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). 

 Grease and flour an 8 inch square pan.
Cream butter or margarine and 1/2 cup sugar until fluffy. Add salt and vanilla. 

Add egg to the sugar mixture; beat until creamy.
Combine 1 1/2 cups flour and baking powder; add other ingredients.

Coat berries with 1 tablespoon flour and add to batter.

Pour into prepared pan. 

 Sprinkle top with remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar and cinnamon.
Bake for 50 minutes, or until cake tests done. 

 

Here's how mine looked, step-by-step......................

 

Flour-coated berries

 

 

Ready for sugar-cinnamon topping

sugar-cinnamon topping forms a crusty golden top when baked

the smell of this right out of the oven is divine

Yummy--melt in your mouth!!

 

Let me know if you try this recipe, especially if you add a new variation!!

 

Cheers

;o) 

Chicken in Creamy Mushroom Sauce

Well-I made a supper yesterday that I want to share.   It was so easy and is simply delicious!!!

Here's my recipe:

Chicken in Creamy Mushroom Sauce

2 lb           chicken pieces(skinned)

1 tin       low-sodium chicken broth

2 tins      cream of mushroom soup

Preheat oven to 350*

Place skinned, washed chicken in a roaster with a little water, lightly season of desired.  

Roast in preheated oven until chicken is well done and lightly browned.

In a large bowl, whisk chicken broth and cream of mushroom soup until well blended.  

Pour over roasted chicken and place back into oven and cook until sauce 

mixture bubbles (about 20-25 minutes).

Serve with your choice of veggies, rice or pasta.

Delicious!!!

Here's how mine looked, step-by-step........

Baked and ready for sauce

Sauce is poured over cooked chicken pieces and returned to oven

This is how mine looked after baked in sauce---Ready to eat!

Yummy-this is a simple meal that tastes like you were cooking it all day!!

 

 

If you have any quick and easy supper recipes I'd love to hear about them.  I do love to cook but I don't want to be stuck at the stove for hours!

Cheers

;o)

 

Birds at the feeder

Hey everyone, hope you all had a great weekend.  We had a nice relaxing weekend...did lots of yard work, but it's that time of the year.  We had friends over on Friday night and had a great fire in the fire pit and enjoyed a few drinks, great food, and lots of good laughs.

I managed to get a few shots of some birds around our backyard on the weekend. 

What do you think??...........

Cheers

;o)

Bird Watching after "The Storm"

Well-we survived Tropical Storm Leslie!!

Folks in this area were bracing for a repeat of Hurricane Igor of September of 2010, but thank goodness, it was not to be this time around.  Not to say that many parts of the province weren't hit hard.  In fact there was massive flooding on our west coast and the winds really took a toll on the eastern and Avalon portions of the island, especially in the capital city of St. John's.


Last evening. between my bike ride and my regular nightly visit with Mom, it was so beautiful outside I decided to take my camera and go for a little drive.  I was drawn out around the shore of the bay.  The light was so beautiful  and the water was literally like a mirror---quite a contrast to the day before.  I wished it could stay like it for another few hours---I was really in the mood to take some snaps!!  On nights like this, it is not hard to be reminded how lucky I am to live in a place like this.  Sometimes the beauty around me almost takes my breath away.  What do you think??

 

I also got a few shots of some seabirds.  These are called Greater Yellowlegs.  There are lots of 

different birds on this shore.  Here's a few shots of the yellowlegs.......

Hope you like these photos.

Have a great weekend!

This Little Piggy went to Market!!

Well, there is nothing like the fresh fall air to make you want to go for long walks and visit the farmer's market.  And visit the farmer's market, I did!!!!!  Take a look...

Look at all the goodies I brought home......

 I see making a batch of apple sauce in my future.......

 Perhaps a big pot of stew..............

Definitely a big batch of brushetta....and yes, some cabbage rolls....YUMMMY!!!!

...................................................

I stopped by Cal's garden for a peek as well...... Look who I met today!!!

This little guy told me to go check out Cal's pumpkin patch.....

I suspect that some of these guys will be sporting some pretty awesome carvings in another month  or so.

It is so amazing how this stuff grows from a seed....of course, you need a green thumb to help it along too ;o)

Cheers everyone.

Fried Green Tomatoes

 Well, it's that fabulous time of the year....the time when there is beautiful produce everywhere, waiting to be brought home and cooked up or preserved with love.......

 

I went by my brother-in-law, Cal's greenhouse this morning.  Wow, he has a green thumb!!

 

There were loads of green tomatoes ripening on the vines, so I took a few photos..... and a few tomatoes..ha ha

 

I wanted to try something a little different, so I dug out a recipe for fried green tomatoes.

 *****************

 

 These green beauties were just begging to be taken home by me......

 

 They are so easy to prepare....

 

They cook really fast....

 

 Our lunch consisted of fried green tomatoes with some homemade salsa

 and a dollop of light sour cream.........

 YUMMY!!!!!

 

Here's my recipe...

Fried Green Tomatoes

6 large green tomatoes, sliced 1/2 inch thick

2 eggs

1/2  cup buttermilk (I use 1/2 cup milk with 1 tablespoon of vinegar)

3/4 cup cornmeal

1/3 cup flour

1 1/2 tsp cayenne powder

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper

cooking oil of your choice

In a large frying pan, heat about 1/4-inch of oil over medium high heat. 
In a wide shallow bowl whisk together the eggs & buttermilk.  In a separate dish combine the corn meal, flour, cayenne, salt & pepper.  One at a time dip the tomato slices in the egg mixture then lay in the corn meal mixture and cover the tomato completely with the coating..
Once the oil is hot, add the coated tomatoes to the hot oil being sure not over crowd the pan. Cook the tomatoes until golden brown on both sides, trying to only turn one time once the bottom side is cooked and golden. Remove from the pan and place the tomato slices on a wire cooling rack which is covered with a paper towels.  Season with salt.  Serve hot, warm or cold, any way you eat them they are delicious!


Enjoy!

 

 Try some of your own and let me know how it turned out!!!!!

Cheers

;o)