Wordless Wednesday

Have a great day all!

Traveling Tuesday

Grand Canyon of the Pacific


I couldn't let you think that all Kauai has to offer is: world famous beaches, dramatic waterfalls, painted sunrises and sunsets, because it also has a canyon that literally takes your breath away.



From Fodor's:
Carved over countless centuries by the Waimea River and the forces of wind and rain, Waimea Canyon is a dramatic gorge which is 3,600 feet deep, 2 miles wide and 10 miles long.



I love participating in Whistlestop Cafe Cooking's, Traveling Tuesday, click here and join us!!
Let's go traveling!

Weekend Review

How was your weekend?  Hope you had a great one.
We had such pleasant weather, cool, sunny, just perfect.  Then during the night we had rain, lots of rain.  I can almost see the grass turning green again.  Yippee!

But back to the weekend.  Fall and cooler weather makes me want to bake...crazy, uh?  Something about staying indoors, windows up, I just need to cook......



Chocolate cake was first on my list.  I didn't want to use the canned frosting in the pantry so I used my sister in law (family chef) recipe for frosting.  She puts it on the best homemade brownies you ever tasted so I thought surely it would be good on cake.  It was yummy and so easy.

Next I dusted off the bread machine, set it on dough and made rolls for dinner.  Nothing smells better than yeast rolls rising and baking. (recipe courtesy of family chef) 

Steaks were thawing and I decided to top them with onion rings.  Do you make onion rings?  Oh how I love them.  So I sliced a half of onion, covered the rings in buttermilk and waited til everything was ready and on the table to drop these babies in hot grease....

You have to time all of the cooking just right to sit down in time for the football game.  You didn't think I was going to leave that out did you?  Hog game wasn't televised this week so the radio was booming, yes, you can't converse at my house during game. (hubby likes it loud)  Maybe he thinks that will keep him awake (ha)  it doesn't.  Full tummy + recliner = sleep!

Have a great Monday all! 

Lizard Patrol

There are two things Trixie doesn't allow in the yard.....lizards and squirrels.  She chases squirrels up trees and sits all day looking up, waiting (they have long gone, jumped tree to tree, but she misses that action).  Lizards are another story.  That girl is fast and if she sees one they are in big trouble.  She has learned that they run under the nearest rock so she immediately takes them to the middle of the yard where there is no cover to run under..



She proceeds to paw them, and the rest isn't pretty. She's a hunter, what can I say?

She patrols under every bush and rock in search of her prey....she sniffs them out and believe me she has a keen sense of smell.

She was sniffing out the flowers in this picture, very alert, look at that tail. lol



It's funny though, if I go in the house she stops hunting and wants to come inside. I think she likes the thought of having backup in case she needs it.

She's my buddy.....unconditional love......

Wordless Wednesday

No words to describe......

In The Yard

I am so happy that I had beautiful Lantana growing in my flower beds this year.  I always have them in pots but this year I have several growing in the beds.  They have grown so big and just bloom like crazy.  The other thing I love about these flowers is how the butterflies swarm them.  So much fun to watch. 



Aren't the colors wonderful?

Fall is definitely in the air around here.

The county fair opened yesterday and that can only mean one thing.....Rain! Yep, happens every year. The runways will be filled with muddy little feet waiting in line to ride....

Go Hogs!

Sunrise

The cooler weather is bringing about so many changes.

The sky has been so blue!

The sunrises/sunsets are breathtaking!

I'm glad you didn't see me running around the yard yesterday morning (early)  in gown.....trying to get a shot of this sunrise! lol



By the time I went back indoors and reviewed the shots, the sky had changed, no longer pink. You sure have to hurry when photographing clouds and sky!

Have a great Friday all!

Tater Salad

Hello again.....I'm back!!!

I found a delicious potato salad recipe last weekend and feel the need to share it with you.

First....do you watch Cooking with the Neely's?  I love their show and almost all of their recipes.  I googled potato salad and was drawn to this recipe. (courtesy of the Neely's)

Creole Potato Salad

3 # potatoes - cubed and cooked with skin left on
3/4 cup mayo
1/2 cup creole mustard (oh yeah)
2 T apple cider vinegar (another favorite of mine)
1 tsp sugar
salt and pepper to taste

chop 1 small onion, 2 stalks of celery and 2 cloves of garlic

Stir it all up and voila:



I cut it in half and it was plenty for 2!

I was tired of the same recipe of pickle relish, boiled eggs, mayo, etc.

This one has a completely different flavor that I really loved. I mean can you go wrong using creole mustard? Don't think so!

The ribs I cooked with this salad deserve a post all their own....coming soon.

Have a good evening all!

Friday Already?

I hope you all have a wonderful Labor Day Weekend!

 Stay safe!

 I hope to start the week with time set aside to blog.......I miss you all!

Wordless Wednesday

This great southern comfort food has been a favorite of mine since childhood! (and that's a long time)

Skywatch Friday

The sky has been filled with big puffy clouds this week. There has been much thunder and lightning.....not complaining because rain has fallen almost daily, leaving the yard green, not dead like last year!

Have a great weekend. We're having a birthday party for a special two year old tomorrow!! Fun!!

Linking to Skywatch Friday....show us your skies! 200 entries so far....

Traveling Tuesday

First stop; Opaeka'a Falls, (pronounced oh-pie-kah-ah), if you remember that you will be doing better than me.  It plunges hundreds of feet to the pool below. Opaeka'a means, "rolling shrimp," which refers to tasty native crustaceans that were once so abundant they could be seen tumbling in the falls.

I can't imagine living in the house just above the falls.  What a view!



For a closer look;



Next stop; Wailua Falls. You may recognize this one from the opening sequences of Fantasy Island.





Last stop; Secret Falls. These beautiful 150 falls are found by taking a kayak trip down the Wailua River, then hiking thru the lush tropical jungle.
I think the first view of the falls as you walk into the opening is just the best of all......



I can still feel the cool spray from the falls. The water was too cold for us to swim in but finding a nice rock to sit and just take in the beauty was worth the work of getting there.



Guess I should add that these falls are all in Kaua'i.....paradise!

I am linking with Whistlestop Cafe Cooking for Traveling Tuesday....

Macro Monday Bugs and Blooms

No Bugs on this beautiful Plumeria! Can you smell it? Oh so sweet!

I love this topic for Macro Monday hosted by Lisa.

I hope you all are having a wonderful Monday....first day of school in many places.  Where oh where did this summer go?

Random Thoughts

1.

Yee haw! The Pioneer Woman gets her own TV show!

Where have I been and why have I not heard about this?  Just saw the commercial on Food Network and I cannot wait until August 25th, 10:30 AM!!!!


The USC student-turned-cowgirl-turned-Internet and publishing sensation is also the subject of a big screen adaptation of her life on the range, with Reese Witherspoon set to play her.  How cool is that?


2.

I love Red Box!   Reserve online and minutes later a $1.00 (unbelievable) movie is in my hands.  Bye bye $4.69 for 5 nights, late charges blah, blah, blah.  Tonight it's Soul Surfer!!

3.

I discovered these crackers while on vacation and the flavor is wonderful.  Japanese Style Rice Cracker.....soy, salt, seaweed, paprika.....Yum!  I bought an extra bag to bring home and dread eating the last one......

That's all for now....have a great weekend all!

The Garden Isle

I've had a difficult time settling into my pre-vacation routine.  I seem to fall asleep earlier and sleep later.  My mind is still at the beach and I wish I was there with it!

I want to share experiences and pictures with you and will do so in small doses, hopefully not to bore you.

We arrived in the evening and didn't get a glimpse of the beauty that surrounded us.   Had to try and get some sleep in hopes of a big day to follow.  The very first thing we all noticed upon entering our rental home.....No A/C!  Uh oh!  It  would be a tough decision as to which of our homes is kept the coldest!!

The shutters were open and yes I felt a breeze.....but it was a damp one.  The rain fell most of the night and the sound was very peaceful.

Finally the sun rose and just look at the view from my bed.....



Lush doesn't begin to describe it, and yes that is a wonderful fan at the foot of my bed! Yippee, they knew I was coming. Actually there was one in every room, and we put them to use believe me.

I worried about the sound of rain and hoped it wasn't an indication of the week to come....but it was.....because minutes after it stopped



I felt better already. Time for the beach.

Tunnels Beach, on the North Shore where the waters are as calm as a lake in the summer months.


We arrived early and for a time had the beauty all to ourselves. Heaven!

Days later we chose Hanalei Bay Beach Park. From Fodor's: In summer the bay is transformed - calm water lap the beach, sailboats moor in the bay, and outrigger-canoe paddlers ply the sea.  The sailboats were there, such a pretty sight, the paddlers too.  Next time I'll be on a board paddling, looks like great fun!




You know you are in paradise when you can't decide which direction to look toward. The sight of the mountains, with waterfalls take your breath away.

Ok, enough for today. Tomorrow it's waterfalls.

I've missed you all and am trying to catch up with everyone, (in between sleeping, cleaning, etc)

Let The Fun Begin

Tomorrow is a long day of travel......but Saturday morning my view should be this.......

Maybe even this.....

Very possibly with one or all of these sitting next to me......

Only worry in the world is the tide gonna reach my chair......

See you soon!

Second Blooms

I love crepe myrtles....I really do.  We had a bit of landscaping done this summer and  they planted 2 nice sized crepe myrtles.  It was 100 degrees at the time, hot wind blowing and the bushes began to suffer.  The leaves started to curl, the blooms were wilted so I got out the pruning shears (actually my scissors).  I cut off all of the blooms and watered the heck out of them.  In no time they began to perk up.  You know transplanting during the blooming season is very hard on plants, much less when the weather is so HOT.

Buds began to reappear:



And blooms opened:



And once again the crepe myrtle blooms:



I trim the blooms off every year when they start to die and get two sets of beauty. I read this in southern living years ago and I'm here to tell you this trick works!! I love it.

Pastel Visitors

I almost missed these two beauties.....





Aren't their colors perfect?

Sometimes you just have to slowdown and look closely to see the beauty right before your eyes.

Side Salad

I've had a page tagged in one of my cookbooks just waiting until I had fresh tomatoes and cucumbers.  After my visit to the farmers market this week I decided to use the cherry tomatoes for this salad.

I knew I would love it cause it has vinegar in it. 



I wasn't disappointed.....it was delicious. (all gone now)

Marinated Tomato and Cucumber Salad

Dressing:
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
3 T sugar
1 T olive oil
1 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper

Salad:
2 cups chopped tomatoes
2 cups chopped cucumbers
1/2 cup finely chopped onion

Combine dressing ingredients and mix well. Combine salad ingredients. Add dressing to salad and mix. Marinate 4 to 24 hours (if you can stay out of it)

I made half a recipe since I figured I would be the only one eating it. Perfect side salad for almost anything.

Magicicada

I try to get outside early in the morning to water the tomatoes, shrubs, flowers, etc. This morning I thought it sure was loud outside. Then I spotted this:



Looked up in the tree and saw another:



I decided this must be the year of the locust. So I came inside and googled year of the locust.....first line of the article was, Do not call Cicada locust. They are not locust!

I wonder if it would be acceptable to call them Katydid?  That's what we always called them/ha
I remember being a Brownie Scout and our meeting place was a little building in the middle of many pine trees.  The year the katydids came we all had a race to see who could collect the most from the trees.  We had so much fun.  The pine trees were covered with them.

From Wikipedia:

The nymphs of the periodical cicadas live underground, often at depths of 30 cm (1 ft) or more, feeding on the juices of plant roots. They stay immobile and go through five development stages before constructing an exit tunnel in the spring of their 13th or 17th year. These exit tunnels have a diameter of about 1–1.5 cm (0.4–0.6 in).

The nymphs emerge on a Spring evening when the soil temperature at about 20 cm (8 in) depth is above 17 °C (63 °F). In most years, this works out to late April or early May in far southern states, and late May to early June in the far northern states. Emerging nymphs climb to a suitable place on the nearby vegetation to complete their transformation into an adult cicada. They molt one last time and then spend about six days in the leaves waiting for their exoskeleton to harden completely. Just after this final molt, the teneral adults are white, but darken within an hour.

Adult periodical cicadas live only for a few weeks—by mid-July, all have disappeared. Their short adult life has one purpose: reproduction. The males "sing" a species-specific mating song; like other cicadas, they produce loud sounds using their tymbals. Singing males of a single Magicicada species form aggregations (choruses) that are sexually attractive to females. Males in these choruses alternate bouts of singing with short flights from tree to tree in search of receptive females. Most matings occur in "chorus" trees.

Receptive females respond to the calls of conspecific males with timed wing-flicks, which attract the males for mating. The sounds of a "chorus"—a group of males—can be deafening and reach 100 dB. In addition to their "calling" or "congregating" song, males produce a distinctive courtship song when approaching an individual female.

After mating, the female cuts V-shaped slits in the bark of young twigs and lays approximately 20 eggs in each, for a total of 600 or more eggs. After about six to ten weeks, the eggs hatch and the newborn nymphs drop to the ground, where they burrow and begin another 13 or 17-year cycle.

Pretty amazing I think.

The ones I am hearing belong to Brood XIX, The Great Southern Brood:  AL, AR, GA, IN, IL, KY, TN, LA, MO, MS, NC, OK, SC, TN, VA.

If you hear them (and believe me you will, if they are in your area)  take the kids out and teach them about the Cicada....it will be 13 years before they reappear!

Farmers Market

After seeing Paula and Bobby Deen frying squash this weekend, I couldn't get it off my mind.  I had to have fresh squash.  My taste buds would not rest until squash was given to them.  ha

Yesterday I went straight to Spring Park where the local farmers market is, in search of squash.  I was just in time and bought the last they had.  You see, the market is a small one.  I think it was larger earlier in the season, but is winding down.







The gentleman that I bought the squash from gave me double what I needed and added a basket of cherry tomatoes to my order. You don't get treatment like that from a store......These farmers have somehow kept there products alive through 100 degree weather with not much rain.... The squash was delicious!



Have you visited a market this summer?

Wordless Wednesday

80 Degrees

Yes, it was 80 degrees for a short while yesterday.  We had a nice rain and the temperature dropped to a very pleasant 80.  It was wonderful.  I turned the a/c off, opened the door and enjoyed  fresh air.



Trixie even went outdoors and enjoyed some time out of the house!

Five deer came out and grazed around the pond. Hummingbirds were circling the feeders making that neat little squeaking noise that I love to hear.

We all enjoyed the break from 100+.

Did you happen to see the moon last night? It was beautiful. Full and oh so bright.



Have a great Friday. I'm going out to mow the yard. I love to mow after a rain, no dust!

Sweet Tea

Relief!
We need a break from this heat wave!!
Iced tea doesn't stay in the pitcher long these days.

Last night I was reading the new issue of Food Network Magazine and saw a section on Tea Tips....thought I would share them with you.

• Don't squeeze tea bags when removing them: The tannins will make your tea taste bitter, plus the bag could break.  (I always squeeze mine....today I won't)
• Brew with filtered or bottle water - the mineral in tap water can make tea bitter or cloudy. (wondered why mine got cloudy....another use for my brita filter)
• Cover iced tea before refrigerating so it won't absorb flavors and aromas from other food...(never covered mine)
• Drink the tea within two to three days....(no problem here)
• Serve chilled tea in a pitcher without ice to avoid diluting the flavor: add ice to the serving glasses.

I didn't know there was so much to know about a simple pitcher of tea/ha

Now let's talk brand of tea.  You know how faithful I am to brands!  It's always been Lipton for me. 
Last week as I was in the tea section of Wal Mart a gentleman made the comment he was looking for Luzianne and I replied, "I'm a Lipton fan".  He said he was in a restaurant and commented on how great their tea tasted and they said it was Luzianne.  I noticed he put a large box of Lipton in his buggy and walked on....lol

I think I've told you about Paula Deen's Sweet Tea recipe being so good but didn't share it with you;

Bring 4 cups water to a boil , add 2 family size tea bags, turn off heat, place lid on and allow to steep for 1 hour.  Remove tea bags (don't squeeze), pour into a pitcher, add 1 cup sugar and 4 cups of cold water.  I use 1/2 cup, seems sweet enough to me.

Well that sums up Tea 101 for today.  Mine has been steeping for an hour so I'm off to add the sugar.
Have a great day and try to stay cool!

Hello Everyone!

Are you as busy as I am? 
 I hope you are having as much fun as I have been having. I've missed you and have to get caught up with what is going on in blog land......computer time is just hard to come by!
 I promise to  share photos of the past two weeks with you but for now I have to tell you about the book I finished last night!

"You don't have to be a sports fan or a war-history buff to devour this book - you just have to love great storytelling." Rebecca Skloot

"This one-in-a-billion story....seems designed to wrench from self-respecting critics all the blurby adjectives we normally try to avoid: It is amazing, unforgettable, gripping, harrowing, chilling, and inspiring." New York   (Amen)

This book is at the top of my all time favorites.  It's the kind that years from now when someone asks me for a recommendation of a good read, I will automatically say "Unbroken".  

I feel it is just a matter of time before a movie is made of this remarkable man's life.  I  want you all to read it.....NOW.....what are you waiting for?  ha