Cooking Marathon

It's that time of year when Bike man organizes his annual stream monitoring training with his citizen volunteers.  With the training, comes the homemade food.  Our annual cookout is a way to say thank you to all the citizen volunteers that help monitor our local streams.  So, I took the afternoon off from work so I could help cook.  The first dish was the homemade quinoa polenta, which will turn into polenta lasagna tomorrow.  Since several of our quests are vegetarians, we always offer a meatless dish.  We will also be grilling a variety of good old Wisconsin brats.

So we cooked up more quinoa to make into a large salad.  Such a simple salad to make.  Mix up a double batch of red wine vinegar dressing and you have a very delicious and healthy salad.  

And for the meatlovers, we'll be offering a nice size burger with onions and peruvian gold grilling sauce.....yum.  I also made a large broccoli-raisin-cashew salad and Bike man whipped up a batch of roasted red pepper hummus.  I'm also planning on making a creamy cucumber salad tomorrow morning.....and then I'm done.

Cooking time begins tomorrow (Saturday) at 12:30 pm and eating by 2 pm.  Hoping for decent weather and NO RAIN!

Guess Who's Back?

Guess what I heard yesterday while out running?  My beloved White Throated Sparrow.  It's beautiful bird song sings "pure sweet Canada, Canada."  Unfortunately, the White Throated Sparrow will continue to travel north to live in the northwoods.  My favorite bird passes through our county in the spring and again in the fall.  I promise, if you hear this bird song, you will fall in love with this tiny bird.` 

Pannekoeken

I'm really falling behind in my blog posts and I must apologize, but life has become busy so I can only post when time allows.  With that said, I have to say that it was an awesome weekend with the Son visiting along with his fiance Trisha. Then we attended a Saturday wedding in a nearby town, and also had a work day out in the yard collecting brush to burn.  Yes, it was a full weekend and I even got to whip up my old-time favorite breakfast dish.....a pannekoeken.  I put a little twist to my pannekoeken this time and sauteed apples and then added blueberries and cinnamon.  Baking in a cast iron skillet is a must for this breakfast recipe.

Our spring is progressing slowly and we are getting eager to get out in the garden to plant our vegetables.  The portable greenhouse is up and the vegetable seeds were planted a month ago.  The kale will be planted first, then the tomatoes plants will follow. Still waiting for the 70 degree temperatures.......

      

Is It Spring?

 It was a difficult long winter and now we continue to have a cool spring.  So,when we do have a sunny day, between the cloudy and rainy days, I just have to share a photo.  Friday was one of those days and I wish we'd have more.  I really need the sunshine right now.

I did capture the progress of spring while walking along the steep lake bank.  I'm not sure what type of shrub this is, but I was intrigued by the emerging bud.

I promised last week to tell you my other big excitement.  Back in late January, I decided to become an Arbonne consultant after falling in love with this Swiss skincare & wellness company.  I've been looking for two years to find a line of skincare products that do not use harsh chemicals like Paraben, petroleum ingredients, mineral oils or perfumes.  I finally found what I was looking for.  Arbonne products consist of botanical ingredients, and are free of harmful chemicals.  The nutrition products are vegan and GMO-free.

So what are my goals with this new adventure?  To enjoy my Arbonne products while introducing them to friends, family and new acquaintances.  I'm definitely learning how to step out of my comfort zone as a new consultant.  And yes, I'm still working full time with my library job, so if you don't see many blog posts lately.....now you know why.  Thanks for checking in with me.        

Here's My Surprise

Well, here it is, my surprise!  The Son and his girlfriend Trisha got engaged the week before Easter, but made the announcement to my side of the family at our Easter weekend.  It was perfect and we celebrated with a glass of champagne and lots of love and laughter.  I gave my "mom" speech about adding a daughter-in-law to our family and I truly meant everything I said.  I am so happy to finally have Trisha as an official member of our family.  It's kind of funny because the very first time I met Trisha, I just knew this was the special lady for our son.....I felt it in my heart.

So when is the wedding?  Not sure, just waiting for the kids to pick out their wedding date and the location.  You'll be hearing bits and pieces of wedding planning throughout the next year.  I'm super excited!!!

I also have something else to share, but of course, I'll leave that for later.  Sorry, but another teaser for you.  All I'll say right now is that life is crazy busy.  I apologize for my lack of blogging, but once I tell you my other interesting piece of information, you understand why I'm not blogging everyday.

Thanking for stopping by everyone and I do appreciate your visits.

Easter Weekend

I'd like to wish all my blogger friends a nice Easter weekend.  Hope you all can spend time with your families.  I'll be spending time with my family and then will get to see Bike man's mother later on Easter day.  I have some great news to share with you all, but you'll have to wait for my surprise.  Don't you just hate it when people do that?  I'll leave you in suspense.........

The Happy Life of a Cheesecake

The happy life of a cheesecake starts with 5 key points.....according to me!

1.  Start with the right attitude and a little love.  If you don't feel like making a cheesecake, DO NOT MAKE A CHEESECAKE.  Plain and simple.  Be sure to take your time and enjoy the baking moment.

2.  Surprisingly, don't over mix your cream cheese batter as it will give you too much air and will lead to the cheesecake developing cracks.  

3.  Remember to use fresh and high quality ingredients.  Set the cream cheese and eggs out on your counter for an hour or two to bring to room temperature.  Then begin to mix your ingredients.  

Look at the beautiful color of the batter since I used fresh farm eggs from my Co-op.

Oops, here's my secret.  Add some Heath Toffee Bits with or without chocolate.

Gently fold the Heath Toffee bits into the batter.

 

4.  Always, always use a springform pan.  A high quality heavy springform pan is my choice of bakeware.

5.  Put the cheesecake in the oven at the proper baking temperature and baking time and DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR.  I know it's tempting, but no peeking!  When your cheesecake has baked the proper amount of time, turn off the oven and crack the oven door open and leave the cheesecake in the oven for at least an hour.  This will prevent your cheesecake from developing the Grand Canyon crack. 

And here it is.  My special dessert for Easter dinner.  This pretty baby is going in the freezer until our family get-together next weekend.