Mother's Day

Wow! I was pleasantly surprised when I woke up this morning! The kids, along with Stan's help, brought me Mother's Day breakfast in bed. Everything was so delicious...eggs, bacon, sausage, waffles with whipped cream and maple syrup, a donut, coffee and orange juice. HOLY COW! Can you believe it, I ate it all!! I was really impressed! Thank you sooo much guys!!

I don't have a picture of the food that the kids brought me, but here is the loverly tray they used to bring me breakfast. I even said to them "Oh my gosh! Did you take a picture! It's so beautiful!" Anyhow, I wasn't about to ask them to run and get my camera! They put up with enough photo taking as it is!!

Easton made this sweet little sentiment in school. I LOVE the projects they do in school! Easton told me that for the letter "O", he had written "opposite of stupid". Hilarious! But...the teacher said "hmmmm, no." He told me "well, you are the opposite of stupid! You're smart!" Thanks Easton!

Here's the card Everest gave me. When you open it, there is a little recording inside that says:

click arrow to hear recording

Easton gave me a pretty little flower pot

with some pretty little flowers

tucked inside a cute little white lunch bag. This was also made at school.

Everest gave me a new pair of sunglasses

for my trip to Florida next weekend.

My son Easton

My son Everest

It was a good Mother's Day!

Rubik's Cube...you've been OWNED!!

The Rubik's Cube....a lonely unsolved puzzle collectiong dust on my son's shelf! Glancing over at the cube I said, "ya know Everest, you can get on YouTube and find a tutorial on how to solve that thing. They will show you step by step what to do." In an instant, he jumped up, grabbed the Rubik's Cube and headed downstairs to the computer. Ok....he'll be entertained for the next 10 hours!

Deep concentration, and grunts of frustration!

Lots of trial and error!

Including, but not limited to, the HURLING of the cube...and the STOMPING off up the stairs to his bedroom!

YES!! HE DID IT!!
TOTAL SATISFACTION AND PRIDE!!

SUPA STAHHH!!

That's what I'm talkin' bout!

The End!

Asparagus Frittata

OK....so everyone I talk to always freaks out about how much they love asparagus! and I am thinking..."I don't get it." I've had it a few times, but was never really that impressed. I have been told that IF it is prepared correctly...and IF the asparagus stalks are nice and thin...I would LOVE it! Ok...I will believe anyone with a convincing face! I will give asparagus another try.

One day, while leafing through Hobby Farm Home magazine, I found an article called "Help! The Hens Are Laying" (meaning...lots of eggs and what's a girl to do!) Alongside the article was a recipe for Asparagus Frittata. Scanning the recipe, I was very intrigued, so I decided to give it a whirl! I am so glad I did! Not only have I gained a new appreciation for asparagus, but I was also FORCED to buy a cast iron skillet to make this recipe. (I have been putting off buying one forever!) Have a look!! Maybe you will be inspired to drag out your Mamma's old cast iron skillet and whip up this great meal! Don't forget, frittatas aren't just for breakfast! They make a wonderful dinner!!

Just so you have an idea of what we're talking about, here is a picture of the finished product cut into wedges served up with some crisp bacon.

Definition of a frittata: an egg based dish, similar to an omelette or quiche.


Let's Get Started!

Ok, first thing...prep the asparagus! Wash your asparagus and hold each spear at the bottom with one hand. With your other hand, hold the tip of the spear and gently bend the top of the asparagus down until it snaps. Discard the bottoms, this is the tough part of the spear.

Now that we got that out of the way...

Start by chopping 1 "bunch" asparagus, 1 small onion, and 2 cups fresh spinach. Measure out 1/2 cup cottage cheese and 1/2 cup shredded swiss cheese and set aside.

Beat 5 eggs in a bowl and set aside.

Preheat oven broiler.
Next, heat 2 Tbsp. of extra virgin olive oil in an oven proof frying pan. Here's where the cast iron skillet comes into play! But, any OVEN PROOF skillet will work.
Add onions to pan and cook over medium heat until softened.

Next add asparagus and saute until tender approx. 5-8 minutues.

Add spinach to pan and toss until wilted.

Add cottage cheese and mix well.

Next, sprinkle the mixture with HALF of the swiss cheese.

Pour the beaten eggs into the pan. Season nicely with salt and pepper.

Cook mixture over medium-low heat WITHOUT STIRRING until eggs are almost set. Eggs will still be runny in the center. Remove from heat and sprinkle with remaining swiss cheese.

Place in broiler to finish cooking. Cook approx. 3 to 5 minutes.

Keep a close eye when cooking in the broiler. If possible, set broiler on low temp.

Eggs will be completely cooked, and frittata will be light golden when done.

Allow to cool a few minutes and cut into wedges. Serve warm.

Mmmmmm!!! Yummy!!! This even tastes great leftover!!!

Beggars!!

Almost daily, I have 2 beggars at my back door. Sometimes they knock with their beak...that's usually how I know they're there! Their names are Riley and Sleepy, and they love graham crackers, corn bread, cucumbers, zucchini, and apples.

Buttermilk Pie

I had never heard of buttermilk pie until I got a request from my friend Ruth, to make it and feature it on my blog. I am not one to deny a friend's request, and I was very intrigued none the less. Ok...buttermilk pie...time for a little research! I found many buttermilk pie recipes on the internet, all of them fairly similar.Each recipe called for a few eggs, 1 to 2 cups of sugar, 3 Tbsp. flour, and of course BUTTERMILK! So really, it was a matter of closing my eyes, picking one, and praying it would be a good one! The recipe I chose was posted by a man who saw it featured on a cooking show. Even better, it was an Amish recipe! Ok...how can you go wrong with an Amish recipe! He raved about the pie, claiming he had made many buttermilk pies, but this one was THE best. Well, needless to say, he had me, hook, line and sinker! One great thing I had going for me, I had JUST purchased 2 pints of buttermilk from Brunton's Dairy!! I was actually going to use the buttermilk to marinate chicken overnight. Well, the recipe for buttermilk pie only calls for 1 cup, so I would still have plenty left to make my chicken. (Let's see if I ever get around to it.) The recipe was very simplistic, and I like that! Sometimes the most simple recipes are the BEST recipes, letting the true essence of the star ingredient shine through! Without further hesitation, I present to you....BUTTERMILK PIE.....recipe by the Amish, of course!

Before baking.....very beautiful, creamy, buttermilkey color!

WOW! I have to humbly say, my pie crusts are getting better and better looking! I used to be horrible at making pie crusts! They would always crumble and fall apart or be too sticky and never even make it off the table where I rolled it out! I have come a loooong way! Please don't think I am bragging. I am just celebrating a personal accomplishment! It's the little things in life that THRILL me!

Fresh out of the oven!! My loving husband is graciously holding the pie for me...OUTSIDE...so I can get better light...cause the lighting in my kitchen stinks! (It makes everything look yellow!) He is a good sport that man of mine!

Ok...so this is what the pie is SUPPOSED to look like! It is NOT burnt! It forms this wonderful, golden, crisp, caramelized, sugary layer of goodness on the top! All the photos of this pie that I found on the internet ALL looked like this! So...at least I was prepared! If I had put that beautiful, creamy, buttermilkey looking pie in the oven and checked back and hour later...I would have died!! I would have thought I burned the HECK out of it! Even still...even though I KNEW it was going to look like this, I was still a little freaked when I checked in on my pie around the 50 minute mark! But, once I checked the pie for doneness in the center, I could see that just under that browned, crisp layer, was that BEAUTIFUL, creamy, buttermilky filling! Whew! Just checkin'!

After letting the pie cool for a couple hours, I couldn't wait to try a slice! It was worth the wait! It was very yummy! This was my first taste of buttermilk pie, and I liked it!! It reminds me of a cross between cheesecake and custard. I can definately taste the twang of the buttermilk, and then...there is the SWEET taste of the custard that follows! I even went back for seconds! oh me oh my, can you imagine that! me?? going for seconds!! HA!

Here's the cut pie. I wanted to show the thickness of the pie. I used a pretty big pie pan. It was a 9" deep dish. I did bake it on a cookie sheet as reccomended by several people (ahem, ahem!) and had no problems with spillage! or oven fires!!!! I caught my oven on fire too, once! ONCE! and that's enough for me, I was scared to death! Sooo....here is the recipe! Please give it a whirl, and let me know how it turned out!! Please! I'd so love to hear from you!!

Recipe for pie crust click here crust-pie-recipe.html

P.S. Don't forget to cover the edges of your pie crust with foil to prevent burning! This pie takes a long time to cook. Remove foil during last 15 of baking.

The end!