Sunday, August 2, 2020

Chokecherry Pie and birds on the fly...

We went out to or prairie property this weekend.  I was pleased to see the chokecherries were ready to be picked.  Yes, chokecherry pickers they could be a smidge darker, but we weren't going to be able to go out to the property again until next weekend and the birds would have them gone by then.  In fact, the birds sat in the bushes and chewed me out while I was picking.  


Most of the berries will go to wine and maybe some jam, but I have been dying to try a recipe Phyllis gave me.  Chokecherry pudding.  My husband was excited. Then we decided to make a pie of it.
  
Phyllis's Chokecherry Pudding
1 quart of chokecherry juice
1/2 c. of sugar (I used 3/4 c. since the berries weren't fully ripe.)
1/3 c. of cornstarch
dash of salt

I stirred in the sugar, cornstarch, and salt.  Then brought everything to a boil and boiled until thick.  Once I thought it was thick enough I poured it into a graham cracker crust.  It was delightful and will go in the family cookbook for sure.

The photo of the pie is a bit fuzzy because the steam from the pudding fuzzed up my camera.  Remember this is a bird, bee, and berry blog.  I am not a professional cooking blogger.  


Finally, the beans in my garden were ripe enough to pick.  I found this recipe last year and loved it.  I made 4 slices of bacon.  Used the grease to sauté the beans, three small cloves of garlic and two slices of onion.  I sautéed for about 20 minutes.  Added the bacon and yum.

Now, technically the birds in this post aren't flying.  I just wanted the title to rhyme.  For the last week I have heard an unfamiliar bird call around the cabin.  I haven't seen the bird and couldn't identify the call.  Then yesterday I saw it way at the top of the tree.  Even with the zoom on my camera and binoculars it was difficult to tell what kind of bird it was.  Luckily, I was able to use the computer to zoom the photo.  Turns out it seems to be a Cedar Waxwing looking for more Cedar Waxwings.  A Robin and even a Grosebeak joined it in the tree to keep it company.  Even today it was flying around with it's sad lonely chirp.  It isn't going to find any other Cedar Waxwings around.  The last time we had any up here was about 10-15 years ago.


As I was typing this post, two mother Turkeys went by with their brood.  I was too busy trying to get photo to count how many they had.  There was quite a few.  Both mommas kept a sharp lookout while the little guys scampered around looking for bugs.  Living here in the woods I see so many wonderful things from our porch.  I count my blessings every day.  



As the sun sets on another week, I am amazed that I am able to find something to blog about every week.  Maybe not the most exciting stuff, but there is always something going on around here.  Either I'm making something, there is a new flower blooming in the garden, or some animal has caught my attention.  Do you find it easy to blog about things?  What are you making in the kitchen?  What are you seeing from your porch?  Do you even have a porch?  I hope all is well at your corner of the world.  

2 comments:

  1. No porch here in this new corner of the world for us. I write many blog posts in my head and then don't bother with them. Never have managed to get into a posting rhythm. That poor cedar waxwing. I'm surprised there weren't more of them at the cherry tree. Don't they love fruit?

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  2. You still managed to get a good picture of the Cederwax Wing. They are common around here, some of the birds that I haven't thought would be rare some place else. They love to eat the pears on the ornamental trees that get over ripe. I think they get a little tipsy out there and eat every one. Your choke cherries are lovely. Yes, I would say you are very blessed to look out your window and see what you see. Also for having and living in a place that is still free.

    I have been learning my new kitchen. Not cooking as much, but like a beginner is what I feel like. I am back to a gas stove top, yay! I have a convection oven, I have never had one of those before. Sadly, no porch. We are going to fix that though. My husband is already drawing up plans to add one on. I think blogging is getting easier. It was so hard to blog when all we did was work and trying to move. No one really wants to read about heartache. So its getting lots easier now.
    Have a lovely week, I hope your August is wonderful.

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Sit on my porch and let's chat. Due to the amount of spam I am closing my comments to Anonymous users. Sorry.