ghostbones texture
Orzo Salad
This recipe has been updated and moved to the new blog.
You can find it here: Mediterranean Orzo Salad
Wren will he ever learn?
We had a lot of drama with wrens last year. [I apologize for sending you back to my old blog, but as is the case with a distressing number of photos, these have not yet been moved to the new joint. I should have done it last night instead of watching the Mets/Yankees game. Maybe I will do it tonight while I am not watching the Mets/Brewers game. Losing to the Brewers would just be too depressing don’t you think?] But, I digress. As I always do.
Before I left for Arizona, I noticed that Mr. Wren was once again determined to occupy the bird house on the porch. He kept bringing sticks to put inside.
And then sitting outside the house [on my gardening gloves in this case] and singing his fool head off about what a great stick gatherer he is.
So, I made sure to turn that house face down before I left. The one out in the garden was already in place, so it’s not like I was leaving him with no options. Besides, wrens will try to put a nest anywhere and we have a whole lot of anywhere around here.
By the time I got back, he had apparently had a whirlwind romance, a quickie Vegas wedding and there seemed to be some egg tending going on inside the house in the garden. Last week I heard babies cheeping and this morning I went out to grab a few shots of the Mama and Dad feeding their family.
They would greatly prefer that I just went away. But, I work in this garden all the time, so they are somewhat used to me being around.
In a few days, they will probably all be gone, as wrens finish raising their families in trees, leaving the nest pretty quickly. Though considerig how early they got started this year, chances are they will be back with another batch of eggs before the summer is over.
And standing out in the early morning sunshine to take these photos is a pretty darned good way to start the week. It almost made up for a 3 game sweep I will likely never hear the end of.
A little remembrance of the spring just past
Have a great weekend, friends.
Posted in garden, photos
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Cranberry Almond Blondies
Once the weather gets hot, I don’t turn on my oven. We don’t have AC, so heating up the house, even to bake some really yummy cookies is pretty much out of the question. But it has stayed cooler than normal this year, so I thought I would grace Larry’s Father’s Day with some cookies. I wanted to make blonde brownies, and he loves fruity cookies, so I looked to see what I had. Dried cranberries and almonds – perfect! Toast the almonds ahead of time, so that they have time to cool before adding them to the batter.
This is a pretty standard cookie recipe – cream this, add that, mix in some other stuff and you are all set. So, here we go.
Preheat oven to 350º
Cream
1 cup soft butter
Add
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup white granulated sugar
Cream until very fluffy
Beat in
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract [the real deal, not imitation]
Add
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
When that is thoroughly incorporated, stir in
6 ounces of dried cranberries
6 ounces of toasted, coarsely chopped almonds
Spread evenly in a well greased 9×13 inch baking dish
Bake in 305º for about 40 minutes, turning halfway through baking time. The top should be nicely golden brown and a toothpick inserted near the center should come out clean. Immediately scatter 3 ounces chopped white chocolate over the top and allow to sit for 5 minutes.
Spread out the now-melted chocolate. I wanted it uneven, but you can spread it evenly if you prefer.
Allow to cool completely, or as was the case on Father’s Day, as long as people can stand to wait, and cut into 2 inch bars.
Need a closer look?
Keep in a sealed container and they will stay moist and chewy for a week at least. The extra vanilla in the batter really shows in the flavor, and the white chocolate melts so nicely in your mouth – all in all, a very successful experiment!
