A Surprise Visit

It was one of those last minute things. Our adopted daughter, Anna, decided to come over with her hubby and baby for visit tonight. I haven't seen this little squirt since she was born, like 8 weeks ago! Little Averie is growing.

Anna is doing great for a new mom and I am very proud of her. Boy this brings back so many memories for me.....babies, nursing, diapers, burping etc.

I was just happy to sit and hold little Averie......she's so sweet. Today was her first day wearing big girl clothes! I truly had fun holding a little baby tonight. Thanks Anna and Jeff.

Found Some Spring Color

It's not even April yet and we discovered these pretty crocuses blooming in our yard. Spring continues here in the great northwoods!

I'm a Late Night Cook!

Rice & Winter Squash Gratin

I've been wanting to try this squash recipe for several months now and finally got a chance tonight. I found this recipe on one of my blogs that I follow, Knead....Weave....Grow. The recipe was taken from "Vegetarian Cooking For Everyone" by Deborah Madison, but I adapted the recipe to my liking!

This recipe is pretty easy. You basically take one squash (butternut) and cut it up into pieces. Coarsely grate the squash and set aside. Meanwhile, cook 1 cup of brown or white rice.

Prepare Bechamel sauce: 1/2 cup chopped onions and 3 Tblsp. butter. Sautee the onions in the butter for about 4-5 minutes. Add 2 Tblsp. flour and cook another 2 minutes. Whisk in 1 1/2 cups hot milk. Stir constantly until thickened. Add salt and pepper to taste. Of course I added multiple shakes of chipotle hot sauce!

In fry pan sautee grated squash in 1 Tblsp. oil olive, 2 garlic cloves and herbs to taste. Add salt and pepper. Sautee until squash is softened and slightly browned. Combine cooked rice, Bechamel sauce, squash and 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese.

Place in a buttered 2 1/2 qt. casserole dish. Sprinkle buttered panko bread crumbs (2/3 cups) over top. Bake for 25-35 minutes @ 400 degrees.

I was so hungry tonight that I almost forgot to take a photo of the finished product....oops! This recipe is delicious and has lots of opportunities for changes and modifications. Bike man wants me to add bacon next time I make this dish. I think I can do that, but wait, it a vegetarian recipe!!!

Thanks Joanne......

Spring Winds

With 30-40 mph winds today, our yard was dotted with pine cones. Lots of pine cones everywhere you looked.....and to think we raked our yard totally cleaned this past weekend, grrrrrr!

I decided to go for a run after work, despite the gusty winds. The sound of the wind just roared and the tree branches cracked and groaned in the woods as I ran by. Many times I thought for sure a tree branch would break or fall nearby, but I just kept running along my wooded route. The wind speed is still 32 mph tonight and not stopping. Just another sign of spring, but in a bold kind of way!

Cleaning Up

The oak trees are dropping their remaining leaves from last fall, so spent the whole weekend raking and raking. March raking, that is unheard of but that's our crazy weather.

Feeling tired today. Just a normal work day today and catching up with chores tonight. Cold, windy and rainy tonight......good sleeping weather.

What Happened?

That creep! Bike man and I were mad when we woke up this morning. Apparently, we had a visitor last night while we slept. Never heard a sound!

Can you believe this? Three bird feeders on metal posts just flattened. One of the metal post actually broke....the metal split, so Bike man will have to cut the post. We are 99% sure this visitor was a bear. The only tracks we found were near the charcoal grill and it only showed the bears claws, not the actual bear paw. This must be a bear that just awoke from hibernation and is underweight, but very hungry.

Besides the damaged bird feeders, the front shelf on the charcoal grill split and broke when it fell over. Not sure why the bear went for the charcoal grill when I actually cooked on our gas grill last night. Thank heavens the bear did not come up on our deck where we keep our gas grill.

And I was wondering why the kitty cats were not sleeping with us last night! Too much excitement happening outside....the cats didn't want to miss out on the bear show!