Sunday, September 25, 2011

Was It A Bird...Or Is It A.....Frog???

Jack and I have multiple bird feeders in the front yard - in fact our front yard is mainly birdseed "grass"  LOL.  We love to watch them feed - even the squirrels keep us entertained.  Yesterday we were standing out on the driveway and along the herb garden in front of the house is a small fence covered with Carolina Jessamine - so pretty in the spring with all of the tiny yellow flowers blooming.  I saw something on top of one of the fence posts and thought - DARN THOSE BIRDS - if you know what I mean.  LOL  As I got closer I realized it was the most beautiful tiny frog - black and white.  It looked like a primitive crackled frog and it was just sitting on that tiny little fencepost with it's front feet crossed like it was praying.  Since I can always use an extra prayer or two I imagined it was deep in meditation.  I'm not sure how exactly he hopped up there or when he left, but it was a special beautiful piece of nature that made my day.

Enjoy!

Monday, September 19, 2011

Quick and Easy Bean Soup

Here is a quick and easy bean soup.  This makes two good sized bowls so increase ingredients as needed.  I served it tonight with cornbread and YUM!  It was so good.  I'm really glad soup weather is here again!

1 15 oz. can navy beans (I use Eden organic - they are the only brand I can find who has a BPA free can lining)
onion (as much as you like - I used 1/3 of a very large Vidalia)
2 medium carrots
1 stalk celery
2 garlic cloves
4 slices Canadian bacon (or ham if you'd rather)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chicken broth

Dice onion, carrots, celery, and Canadian bacon approximately the same size.  Heat olive oil in medium saucepan.  Add onion, carrots, garlic cloves (whole) and celery and saute until tender (about 10 or so minutes).  Remove the garlic cloves.  Add Canadian bacon, drained and rinsed navy beans, and chicken broth and stir well.  Let simmer another 10 minutes or so.  Enjoy!

And don't forget to put those onion skins, carrot peels, etc. in your compost pile - now is the time to start one for spring planting. 

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Flat Betty and the Halloween Ball

You asked for it... you got it (and Georgina won her in the giveaway)...another installment of the Flat Betty Tales.


Now Tweed Town was having it’s annual Halloween Ball at the Jim Bob Yoder VFW Hall and Flat Betty was determined to be the belle of the ball. You see there was a prize for the best-dressed couple and she just knew she and Bubba could win. Flat Betty and her best friend Georgina had gone shopping and found the most perfect outfit with just a dab of glitter that wouldn’t be too shocking if Betty happened to run into Rev. Flugle from The Holiness Church of the Sacred Glade on the way to the ball.

Flat Betty was at work at the Ding Dong Dinner Diner the night before the ball and who waltzed in but Mary Lou, her old high school rival. “Oh Betty”, said Mary Lou. “I found the most bee-u-tiful costume for the ball. No one will ever recognize me and I’ll win the best dressed prize for sure honey!” Flat Betty just stood there with her mouth hanging open because she hadn’t realized that it was a costume ball. On her next break she tried to call Georgina.

Flat Betty and Bubba were double dating with Georgina and Honey Hunk (as Georgina liked to call her boyfriend, Elmer Clyde Diggins) and Georgina could surely come up with SOMETHING. Georgina’s mother, Verbena, answered and hysterically told Flat Betty that Georgina and Honey Hunk had eloped to Las Vegas the night before.

When Flat Betty went home that night she thought and thought until her hair positively frizzed. Then she went out to her mother Maude’s big vegetable garden and picked a beautiful pumpkin. Why I’ll just carve that sucker out and wear it – it IS a Halloween Ball after all. And surely no one will guess who I am.

What she hadn’t counted on was how yucky that punkin was even though she dried it off inside…and also that once on her head, she couldn’t get it off! And I do believe Flat Betty would have won the prize that night but her hair (which stuck out the top of the pumpkin despite everything she did to stuff it back inside) gave her away.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Thinkin’ too much can be bad for your hairdo