Calling All Carboholics

Lets talk about bread for a moment here. I personally think it is one of our greatest culinary accomplishments. I have always had a soft spot in my heart for bread. When I was but a wee lass my parents could take me to the finest restaurants and I would sit ever so quietly, happily munching down the contents of the bread basket. I was no bread snob either. I was just as happy to make bread balls out of Wonder Bread as I was to crunch through the crust on a hunk of french bread. But of all the breads I love, my favorite has always been sourdough.

The facts:
Sourdough bread is different from other breads because the sour  taste of the bread does not come from the yeast, but rather from a bacteria that lives in a symbiotic relationship with the yeast. This bacteria is called lactobacillus. The bacteria feeds off the byproducts from the yeasts' fermentation process. In doing this the  lactobacillus produces lactic acid which keeps the starter from going bad but also gives the bread it's classic sour taste. Which is pretty cool.

Side note:
When explaining this tidbit of information to my husband he summed it up like this; "So the yeast poops, and then the bacteria eats that poop, and the when the bacteria poops it makes the bread taste awesome." Yes dear, that is one way to put it. *sigh* Now back to the story.

Growing up I have the fondest of memories of a little brown crock sitting in our refrigerator. In this crock was my mom's sourdough starter. From that starter she would crank out pancakes for us every Sunday. That starter was also the source of the crusty loaves I came to love so much. My mom had that starter for over 20 years. I know it breaks both of our hearts that she doesn't have it anymore. But I was left with a carbohydrate imprint in my mind that never left me.

About seven years ago I started to make my own bread. It started as a once in a while thing and has since morphed into a staple in our house. I make all of our bread now, as well as our pizza dough. Last year about this time I started thinking about that brown crock my mom used to have. I began researching sourdough starters. Both how to make your own and where to buy a reliable starter. I was a little sketchy about trying to make my own since there is the potential to catch other things that you don't want as well as going to all the trouble and then having an unreliable starter. If I had bought a starter I would have gotten it from King Arthur Flour. For $6.95 they will send you a starter that has been around since the 1700's. The older the starter the better the flavor is, and the more reliable it is. But I found a third option.

There is a group of people known as "The friends of Carl". This group of people will send you some dried sourdough starter that was brought across the country on the Oregon trail by the ancestors of Carl Griffith way back in 1847. All you have to do is send them a self addressed stamped envelope and be patient, because it can take up to six weeks for you to get your starter. This was the option I went for. And for almost a year now I have been making my own sourdough bread.

Once I received my starter and activated it a friend suggested to me that I should name it. After all it is a living thing...a sort of...refrigerator pet. So after some time I came up with the perfect name. I would like you to meet Edgar Allan Dough.

Edgar is a good starter. It just took some time to get used to how different he was from a run of the mill package of yeast. Instead of busting out two loaves of bread in a morning, it takes me most of the day. It was frustrating at first. The dough was different to knead. Most dough has a great deal of resistance and feels like...well, like dough. Sourdough will feel like dough while you are kneading it but once you stop it will go all soft and formless on you. I also couldn't control how fast the dough would rise. It was more of a guesstimate for when I could move on to the next step, as opposed to an exact timetable. But I found it to be a more relaxed way of making bread. More flexible because I could go off and do a few things and then come back and finish up when I was ready.

I have found King Arthur's site to be incredibly helpful, not only with the directions on how to care for Edgar, but also with many different recipes for the sourdough starter. We now make waffles, pancakes, bread (this is a really good way to make a plain old grilled cheese sandwich into something really special), and pizza crust (more on the pizza crust in an upcoming post).

Anyway, if you also enjoy making bread I recommend you try out the  sourdough variety. It is so low maintenance that it would really be a shame to pass it up. Especially since you can get it for free.

Peony Perfection

There isn't one thing about peonies that I don't love. They are delicate from petal to root. Peonies look like lace, smell like an understated rose, and their petals feel like satin. If  there was a bed made of peony petals I think I might never leave it.

I think another part of what makes peonies so special is that they are only around for such a brief inhale of the year. I spend weeks watching them rise from the crumpled leaves leftover from fall, forming their tight little buds. I drum my fingers while the ants work their magic eating away the edges of the buds. Then finally on a quiet morning there they are.

I hurry them inside stashing vases of the blooms wherever I might be able to sneak a whiff. Then inevitably a thunder cloud rolls overhead smashing them all to the ground. And I have to wait until the next year to enjoy their presence again.

But I am not only writing this to pay tribute to one of my favorite flowers. This year as you may have noticed I am playing around with food a bit. I just finished the last drops of the lilac simple syrup the other day in a glass of lemonade, and it left me looking out the window.

Specifically at those gorgeous peonies. And I thought to myself, "Self, do you think that peonies might also be edible?" And in fact, they are. I found this website called What's Cooking America that gives a very comprehensive list of edible flowers. It talks about how peony petals can be sprinkled in salads, also in China they make a tea out of the fallen blossoms, and make a soup from the roots. Now, a tea is basically just an infusion when it comes down to it. So if you can infuse peony blossoms in tea then why can't you infuse them into other things too?

Before I dive in here I want to put out a word of caution. Don't eat flowers that have been sprayed with pesticides or are grown in soil that is anything less than organic. You don't want to be ingesting anything except the flower. Oh, and another thing. Peonies are also poisonous to cats, so don't let kitty eat any of them or you will have a problem on your hands. 

With that said, I have three different types of peonies growing in my yard. There is a dark pink variety, a light pink variety, and a whitish variety. The whitish one is by far my favorite. The petals on the outside are like a white that has been kissed by pink. The inside petals are all lacy and have the most subtle yellow hue to them. Then in the very center is the bright pink stamen. Besides being the prettiest, they also have the nicest smell. This is important because the smell is what is going to turn into the flavor when you make...

Peony Ice Cream with a Blackberry Honey Swirl

(Makes one quart)
*This recipe was inspired by Peter at cookblog from his lilac ice cream*

Ingredients:

• 4 large eggs
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 cups heavy cream or whipping cream
• 11/2 cups whole milk
• 12 large fully opened peony blossoms (The most fragrant you can find)
• 3 cups of blackberries (I used some I had frozen last summer from a friends patch)
• Honey (to taste)

Directions:

1. Pick the petals from six of the blossoms from the peonies. You don't want the stamen or any part of the stem. Wash them repeatedly. Besides ants, there will be other little bugs who are also very fond of these flowers. I'm assuming that most people don't want to be eating those little guys. So wash, wash, wash. I used my salad spinner, which seemed to do the trick.
2. Combine the heavy cream, the whole milk, and the petals in a medium sized saucepan over medium heat. Stir the petals into the cream until the cream is at a bare simmer. Turn off the heat and allow the petals to steep. After 30 minutes strain the petals with a fine strainer and repeat the process with the other six blossoms using the same cream. You are double infusing the cream to get a strong peony flavor.
3. While you are infusing the cream for a second time whisk the eggs in a mixing bowl until they are light and fluffy. I used a hand mixer for 2 minutes. Once the eggs are fluffy, whisk in the sugar a little at a time until it is fully Incorporated.
4. Pour about a cup of the hot, strained, peony cream into the egg mixture, whisking the whole time (you are tempering the eggs here). Then pour the egg mixture into the saucepan with the rest of the peony cream. Cook the ice cream base over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture coats the back of a spoon (so that when you run your finger down the back of the spoon it leaves a line through the ice cream base). This won't take more than a few minutes so don't go anywhere, just keep stirring.
5. Once the ice cream base coats the back of a spoon lick the spoon, and remove the ice cream base from the heat. Transfer the base to a container and set it in the refrigerator until it is cooled completely. I suggest letting it chill overnight. Impatience is your enemy here.
6. Next make the blackberry syrup. Place the blackberries into a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir them and smoosh them with a spoon until they are a pulpy mess. At this point add in the honey. I used about 1 1/2 Tbs of honey. I didn't put in a measurement under the ingredients because you may want it sweeter or not so sweet. I add in the honey and taste it until it is where I like it. Also some blackberries are sweeter than others, so you really have to keep an open mind about the amount of honey you plan on using. Once the mixture has come to a simmer remove it from the heat. Strain it to remove the pulp and the seeds. Store it until it is completely cooled in the refrigerator.
7. The next day freeze your ice cream base in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturers instructions.
8. When the ice cream is at a soft serve consistency turn off the ice cream maker and place 1/3 of the ice cream into a container. Drizzle a tablespoon or two of the blackberry syrup onto the ice cream. Layer another 1/3 of the ice cream into the container and repeat with the blackberry syrup. Then put the last 1/3 of the ice cream on top of that. Take a knife and swirl the blackberry syrup into the peony ice cream gently. Don't over-do it or it will combine too much.
9. Once swirled to satisfaction place the container of peony ice cream into the freezer to harden. This will take 3-4 hours.

You can get a printable version of this recipe here.


So yeah, I went there, and I'm glad I did. The ice cream is all that I wanted it to be and a bag of chips. I think that ice cream makers are one of those toys you get (usually as a wedding gift) that either gets used all the time or ends up being a pricey dust collector. Most people can get really good ice cream fairly close to home. I find though that when we make our own two things happen; first, we get to make it how we like it. So if we want Oreos we get Oreos. The second thing is flavor creativity,  like peony ice cream with a blackberry honey swirl. I'd be willing to bet it's a flavor you won't be seeing in any store.

Plantable Paper

This past weekend a dear friend of mine was given a surprise baby shower by our Chapel. She is an amazing mother to three boys and is about to have her first daughter. At our Chapel we give a baby shower to the first child you have there. So even though this is her fourth child, since it was her first at our Chapel we threw her a shower.

Seeing as this is her first daughter it was to be a super girly shower. The theme was butterflies to go along with the whole girly thing. While discussing details, the topic of favors came up, specifically who would do them? I happily volunteered myself for the job.

Then I went home trying to come up with the coolest butterfly shower favors that had ever been made. I ran into a bit of trouble. I was thinking of icing some butterfly cookies really intricately. This would have been lovely except that I have three kids which limits the time I have. Plus a favor like that has to be done last minute, and last minute I can't really do (refer back to the whole three kids thing). I went over a few other non-perishable ideas, none of which felt "right". Then I came across a person on Etsy that made plantable paper favors for a wedding. They were handmade paper cut in the shape of flowers with seeds imbedded in them. This got me thinking. So I ran with it.

I collected paper scraps from around the house and purchased some seeds that attracted butterflies. Because that way the butterfly paper will attract butterflies...'cause the theme was butterflies...get it? Maybe I went a bit overboard but I thought it was a cute concept.

I made the paper which although it was time consuming and a little messy, was not difficult to do. I found this video which made it really easy. Before lifting the paper completely out of the water I sprinkled the seeds onto the pulp. Then they became firmly embedded into the paper when I was pressing it against the felt (watch the video if you don't get what I'm talking about here).  I found that the thicker the paper was, the better the seeds stayed embedded. I cut out a butterfly wing shape from card stock and used that as a template to cut out butterfly wings from the handmade paper.

The wings were approximately 2 inches wide an 1 1/2 inches tall. After they were all cut out I made the cards to put them on. Really after they are cut out you can do whatever you want with them. I just thought they would have looked a little silly in a basket by themselves, so I spruced up the presentation a bit.

You can click on the image to make it bigger if you want to see what it says.

I wished that the pink of the paper I made had been a little more pastel and a little less mauvish but in the end I thought it all came together nicely. I thought they had a very vintage look to them which I think suits the mom's personality. I really enjoyed making them for her. I also think it's a very doable idea for Birthdays, weddings, and obviously baby showers, especially for this time of the year.

Feeding A Family On Pennies

Budgets are so much fun aren't they? They structure, limit, and dictate how things go. Everyone loves that right? Right. Let's face it, budgets suck. And when it comes to planning meals it can be really really hard to stay under that line. Especially with Holidays, Birthdays, food for school events, etc. I get asked by a lot of my friends how I keep on track with the kind of cooking I do.

To be honest a lot of it is DIY. I make all our jams, jellies, condiments, breads, salad dressings, yogurt, and house cleaning products. I can and freeze our sauces, vegetables and fruits. I make a lot of our pastas too. My husband makes our ice cream and beer. I have a vegetable and herb garden in the summer and dry my herbs for the winter. We just planted a grape vine and a self pollinating blueberry bush. We are going to plant two apple trees and a self pollinating cherry tree by the end of next week. The thing to remember is that there is a balance to this. What I save in money costs me time. Luckily my kids love to help me anyway they can so I can include them in the process, this way it becomes a family activity instead of a chore for me.

My weekly budget for groceries is $112. That's to feed all three meals plus snacks to our family of five. Most weeks I come in somewhere between $80-$100 and I save up the extra money for special occasions. And we eat well here. But when I need to cut corners and save some money I know how to do it. So when this weeks food challenge on Food 52 was "Your Best Dirt Cheap Dinner" we sat down and talked about my budge-it friendly meals.

I think the biggest money saving meals are pasta dishes, soups, chili, casseroles, fritattas, and rice/grain dishes. They usually make a lot so you get multiple meals out of them and the ingredients are usually pretty cheap. One of my personal favorites is:

Sweet and Sour Butter Beans

(Serves 4 with a little for seconds for lunch the next day)

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbs. olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion; chopped small
• 1 red bell pepper; chopped small
• 1 clove garlic; minced
• 1 can of plain tomato sauce; 8 oz. ( I always get the salt free and add the salt on my own.)
• 1 Tbs. brown sugar
• 1 Tbs. apple cider vinegar
• 1 Tbs. Dijon mustard (I use my homemade)
• 2 Tbs. soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1 can of pineapple chunks; 20 oz. *in pineapple juice*
• 1/3 cup of pineapple juice reserved from pineapple chunks
• 2 one lb. cans of butter beans; rinsed and drained
• 1 1/2 tsp. corn starch
• 2 Tbs. water
• Rice for serving

Directions:

1. In a large soup pot heat the olive oil over medium heat.
2. Once the oil is heated add the onion, red pepper, and garlic. Saute until the onion is translucent.
3. Add in the tomato sauce, brown sugar, cider vinegar, mustard, soy sauce, salt, pepper, and pineapple juice. Stir to combine.
4. Once combined add in the pineapple chunks, and the butter beans.
5. Combine the corn starch with the water in a separate bowl and then dump the mixture in with the rest of the ingredients.
6. Bring the ingredients to a boil and the drop the heat to low and simmer; stirring occasionally for 20 minutes.
7. Serve over rice.

You can get a printable version of this recipe here.

I like to use butter beans because they are larger and creamier than most other beans. I also find that their size keeps them from getting lost in the meal.

Now for the numbers. If you have a well stocked pantry then you will probably only need a few ingredients for this meal. All I had to buy was the butter beans, can of pineapple chunks, tomato sauce, red bell pepper, and the yellow onion. This came to a grand total of $6.49. Not bad for feeding a family of five.



New Kitchen Toys And Homemade Sausage Too

taken from the interwebs

For May's Charcutepalooza challenge we were to make some homemade bulk sausage. This means that you make the sausage but you don't have to put it into casings. Let me begin by stating my excitement. First of all, I love sausage. I cook with it probably more than any other meat. Second, this challenge required no curing times or smoking, so it required less planning on my part. Third, since I didn't have a meat grinder I was *forced* to go and buy one for this challenge. I ran out and picked up a meat grinder attachment for my KitchenAid. I am a big fan of things that don't take up a lot of space, and while the romantic in me had images of a counter top meat grinder, the fact is I need space to store the new toys, ummm tools, that I tote into my kitchen. So in the end the KitchenAid attachment just made more sense.

For the bulk sausage I decided to make some merguez sausage. Merguez is a North African sausage made of lamb or beef, and is traditionally seasoned with harissa. You can think of harissa as a sort of North African chili powder; this spice mixture gives the sausage a red color. There are other spices and herbs in the sausage to give it more flavor, and those vary from recipe to recipe.

I called up my butcher and tried to put in an order for a few pounds of lamb shoulder, since that's what the recipe I was using called for. Unfortunately that was not something he carried. After discussing what my plans for the meat were we decided on some nice lamb trim that he had received just that morning from a local farm. I found several recipes for merguez that called for lamb trim, so I felt confident that the different cut would work out.

When I got the meat, I was surprised at how beautiful it was. It was marbled throughout and easy to cut. Following the recipe from Ruhlman and Polcyn's book Charcuterie The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing I pulled out all of my ingredients and set to work.

After making the sausage mix, I let it chill in the refrigerator for a couple of hours. Then I pulled out my new grinding attachment, my faithful KitchenAid and set to work.

You see that there? Yup, that's the good stuff. I got it all done in about an hour and a half. The result was five pounds of some of the most amazing sausage I've ever had. I portioned it into five bags each with one pound of sausage and froze what I wasn't going to use in the next couple of days.

Then came the fun part...the recipes. There isn't some great story to include here about how I helped my Grandmother crank out sausages in the old country. But there is a reason why I chose to make this particular sausage.

When this year started out, I set a challenge for myself - to come up with at least one new recipe a month. I love creating things; it's my outlet and I need it terribly. My creative outlet used to be art; ever since I started having kids, that's been limited because it involves mediums that have toxic elements. Also because there isn't the time for me to sit for hours and work away at something. I don't regret it for a second, I love my family, but I miss it.

What I have found is that even though I'm tied up with laundry, snotty tissues, and foot prints across the clean floors, my creative side is still alive and thriving. It is finding new ways to come out and play. One of the main places I am finding it useful is in the kitchen. So, I set this personal challenge of coming up with a new recipe every month in the hopes that within the next couple of years I will be able to put together a cookbook. Even if only a few copies end up getting made that are given out at Christmas to my close friends and family, I think it would be really cool to have a whole book of original recipes that I made up. So the reason I chose the merguez sausage was simple: I'd never had it before, and it would immediately challenge me to come up with some original ideas.

After researching North African cuisine online and jotting down the most common ingredients I sat down and came up with a few good contenders. What I've decided to share with you was not the easiest of ideas, but absolutely the best.

North African Ravioli

(Serves 10)

Ingredients for the ravioli filling (This made about 50 ravioli):

• Fresh pasta (I used this recipe from allrecipes. It made enough for the ravioli.)
• 1 lb. merguez sausage.
• 7oz. ricotta cheese (This amounts to about a cup.)
• 1 Tbs. fresh mint; finely chopped
• 1/2 cup of dates; finely chopped
• 3-4 shallots; finely chopped (You want to end up with somewhere between 1/4- 1/3 of a cup.)
• 1 tsp. harissa ( I got this spice blend from World Spice Merchants. I have a friend that used to make this as a business but she doesn't do it anymore *sigh* so I was on my own here.)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• One egg
• 1 Tbs. water

Directions:

1. Brown the merguez sausage in a ten inch skillet over medium heat, breaking it up with a fork. Once browned, remove to a bowl with a slotted spoon.
2. In the remaining fat cook the shallots, the dates, and the harissa until the shallots have softened. Add this mixture to the sausage.
3. To the sausage and the shallot mixture add the ricotta and the fresh mint. Mix it all together and check it for seasoning. (Mine was salty enough but I did end up adding a little black pepper.)
4. Place ravioli filling into the refrigerator to cool. (This is where you are allowed to start getting excited.)
5. Once the ravioli filling is cooled roll out the fresh pasta dough. Lay the pasta sheets on a lightly floured surface.  Place slightly rounded teaspoon fulls about one inch apart on the rolled out sheets of pasta. I take one sheet of pasta and place the filling centered, on one half of the pasta sheet lengthwise. Brush in between the ravioli and down one edge with the egg wash (the egg and the tablespoon of water mixed together). Then fold the other half of the pasta sheet over the filling side. Gently press out any air pockets. Press firmly around each ravioli to seal and cut them into squares.
6. Place the finished ravioli on a parchment lined baking sheet. At this point you can use them immediately, place them in the refrigerator if you are going to use them shortly, or freeze them for later on.  

Ingredients for the Tomato Sauce:

• 1 Tbs. olive oil
• 1 medium sized onion; finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic; minced
• 3 oz. red wine
• 1 can of crushed tomatoes; 28 oz.
• 1 Tbs. fresh oregano; finely chopped (Or 1 tsp. of dried oregano.)
• 2 tsp. cinnamon (I used ceylon cinnamon that I got from My Spice Sage. Most people use cassia cinnamon. Cassia has a much stronger flavor to it.  If that's what you're using, I would start with just 1 tsp. of cinnamon and adjust it at the end.)
• 1 cup of almond milk (You can buy this in your grocery stores organic section or at any whole foods kind of a store. I made mine following Jennifer Perillo's recipe on her blog Simple Scratch Cooking. It's not very difficult to make and tastes much better than what you will get in the store.)
• 1 tsp. salt
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup pine nuts; toasted
• 4oz. feta cheese; crumbled

Directions:

1. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic. Cook until the onion is transparent.
2. Add in the oregano and the cinnamon and 1/2 tsp. salt. Cook stirring constantly for one minute.
3. Add in the red wine. Cook until it is reduced by half.
4. Add the crushed tomatoes. Bring the sauce to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 30 minutes, partially covered. Stir the sauce occasionally.
5. When the sauce is done reducing add the almond milk. Test for seasoning. I added in the other 1/2 tsp. of salt at this point as well as some freshly ground black pepper. Do not let the sauce come to a boil after you have added the almond milk.

Putting it all together:

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add in the ravioli. I gave each adult 4-5 ravioli. Because they are fresh, they will cook in just a few minutes. Remove them to plates once they are all floating at the top.
2. Ladle sauce over the ravioli.
3. Top with toasted pine nuts and feta cheese crumbles.
4. Serve immediately.

*If you would like a printable version of this recipe you can get it here.

And now for some pictures of the process:

Here is the filling centered on one half of the pasta sheet. It's a little trickier than cutting out squares first,  but it's less time consuming too. So you do what you're comfortable with.

So maybe there is a small story here. I was in the kitchen making the ravioli, when my oldest daughter Naiya poked her head in: "Whatcha doin'?"

Her and I enjoy cooking together. I like teaching her; after all, when I'm older and she's cooking for me it, it will have really paid off.  She asked if she could help, so I stepped to the side and started teaching her the process. This also freed me up to take some pictures.

I began with, "The first thing you need to know about making ravioli is that if you are making it for company and they don't 'Ooh and aah' over it you should never invite them over again. Ravioli is not something you just throw together in a pinch." She smiled and got to learning.

At this point, Naiya is pressing out the air pockets and sealing the pasta around the ravioli.

The finished ravioli. 

Naiya did an awesome job. I can't wait to see what she'll be whipping out when she's in her 20's. When I was her age I was making salad, so she's a little bit ahead of where I was.

It was one of those meals that I couldn't believe I had made. Not only made, but made up. It was an "I  did that?!" kind of a meal. Everyone loved loved loved it. My husband gave me one of those compliments that you wish you could tape and save for a rainy day. He told me that my cooking reminded him of my art work, and he loved watching me grow and be so creative in the kitchen. *sniff*

Human Life

After a day of seeing different comments and points of view on the fact that Osama Bin Laden is now dead I found myself needing a quiet place to reflect. If you don't want to hear it now would be the time to go somewhere else on the internet and check back with me another day. I'm writing this for me.

I remember 9/11 clearly. I think we all do. It's like your mind takes a mental snapshot that you can always go back to. My oldest daughter Naiya was almost 18 months old. I was living in Maine at the time. It was a normal day of enjoying my time with her and then the phone rang. Her father told me to turn on the TV. I don't think I'll ever get those images out of my head. It was before the second tower had been hit. It was...surreal. I'd been up to the top of those towers to take pictures of New York City. And there the one was in flames. Everything was black smoke and confusion. People were just frozen on the streets staring...speechless. Ashes and papers. Endless sirens. I was so thankful that Nayia was too young to get what was happening. That I didn't have to explain to her the horrors that were unfolding. That those little dots falling from the buildings were in fact people choosing to take their own lives rather than burn alive. I remember watching the news a couple of nights later and they showed a rescue worker walking out of the site with a box of body parts. Legs and bits of people sticking out the top.

So no, I haven't forgotten. I don't think any of us have.

I don't think Bin Laden was surprised that he became a hunted man. I think he pretty much figured that he was going to be living a life in hiding or end up dead after 9/11. You can't just murder a few thousand Americans and expect the U.S to be OK with it and give you a free pass. And he didn't piss off just any country. He pissed of the United States of America. I think Bin Laden knew we would hunt him down until we caught him or had proof that he was dead. That was just a given. And it should be like that, especially if you are a world power. If you don't react to things like 9/11 it gives terrorists the illusion that they can get away with that kind of crap. I am so grateful for all of the U.S forces, the men and women that have, and will continue to put there lives at risk so that I can have the freedoms to live my life, practice my religion, and speak my mind the way I choose to.

I think that what bothered me about today was the reactions I saw. The posts on Facebook like, "I wish I had been able to take that shot." or "They should bring his body and leave it at the Trade Center and then hang the remains from the Brooklyn Bridge." and "I feel like going and throwing something at a mosque." It bothered me to see people gathering in the street and celebrating. So, I've been thinking about why it bothers me so much.

I think what it comes down to is the lack of respect for human life. Bin Laden was not a good man, and he deserved to be brought to justice. But I think it is important to remember that he was a man. He was a human. He was someones child. He had sisters and brothers. He had wives. He had children.

Killing him doesn't make it all go away. This wasn't some video game where the final fight was with Osama Bin Laden and they killed him, so now the credits are rolling and the game is over. It won't end here. And even if Al-Qaeda crumbles there will be other terrorist cells. Perhaps I'd be out in the streets if Bin Laden's death meant world peace, but I know better than that.

I hope that his death brought closure to those who lost loved ones on 9/11. I hope that now more of our troops can come home and be safe here with their families. 

I just wish that instead of celebrating or saying crude things that we, as human beings would instead take the time to reflect quietly on the situation in its entirety. To remember that little eyes are watching us and that how we react will greatly influence how they view the world around them and how they will choose to interact with those in it when they are all grown up. To take in the gravity of the past decade and look to see how all of this can be averted in the future so that no other generation has to witness the horrors that we have had to endure.

Backyard Birds: The April Round-Up

The newcomers have been less this past month, although the ones we did get were very pretty. Technically we only got two new birds in April since the third one was just passing through one rainy day.

The first pair of birds to show up were these Mallard Ducks. They spent the morning wandering around our backyard as well as the neighbors. Lily couldn't have been more excited. She was plastered to the window shouting for me at every webbed step they took.  I suppose that since they didn't feed from the feeders and were just resting for the morning that I shouldn't count them, but I'm still going to.

Next we got some American Goldfinches. I included a picture from the web of them since mine was barley so so. At times we will have several Goldfinches at once. Even the females are a bright yellow.

My mom ended up giving me the rest of her birdseed, which was to attract Blue Jays. It looked more like trail mix than birdseed. Apparently the squirrels were also attracted to it, which was all my mom was getting so she gave it to me in the hopes of completing what she called the "primary bird backyard". Now if you are like me you are wondering what in the world a primary backyard is. Well, I'll explain. What she meant was since I had Cardinals (red) and Goldfinches (yellow) that I needed to attract a Blue Jay (blue) so that the primary colors were covered in my yard. I put out the Blue Jay birdseed and low and behold...

I mean they were there the next day. I personally do not know how good a sense of smell birds have. I can tell you that since we started this back in January I have not seen a single Blue Jay in our backyard. I know that Blue Jays are very aggressive. Now I'm thinking they must be like some sort of Mafia. The only thing I can think of is that some other bird tipped  them off that there was now bird food for them in my backyard. Probably some poor  little Sparrow that had to bring the Blue Jays a share of the food it found and had hungry mouths to feed at home. Either way they have been in my backyard almost everyday since.

There has been one problem that I have had with the birds. With the Starlings to be exact. For the past 2 1/2 months I have been setting up a garden and growing my vegetables from seed indoors under lights. I doted on them. I have spent hours reading on different types of gardening. I have mapped out the garden on graph paper. I've driven miles to get supplies and materials. Let's just say, I've put some time in. 

Last week marked our official "last frost date" for this area. I happily skipped out to the garden that I had prepared and planted all my seedlings. I was beyond excited. Then...over this past week those *&!# Starlings ripped out and flew away with more than 1/2 the seedlings that I grew. Grrrrr...

I literally felt sick. I've had issues with rabbits before, so this garden is fenced in, but birds had never been an issue for me. I was hurt, and angry. I wanted a shotgun. I didn't want to just harm them, I wanted to blow them into little feathery pieces. Since I can't do that I found another solution. I went to the dollar store and bought rubber snakes and metallic pinwheels. This is what my garden looks like now.

All the pinwheels are red, white, and blue. So it's all very patriotic. So far it's working. Fingers crossed it will continue to do so. However, due to the fact that the Starlings are also attracted to my yard because of the bird feeders I have decided to stop filling them for my gardening season. It's not worth having my garden destroyed just so we can enjoy watching all the birds. So this will be the last installment of backyard birds until the fall crop is over. I think I will shift over to the garden and what I did there so you can be expecting to see some posts on that instead.