MIssing

Right now I am mostly MIA. We were on vacation for a week, and J has come back with us for 2 weeks, so that is keeping me hopping. To add to the mix, our cat of 16 years passed away last week, and that has been a bitter pill. I'll be back in a week or less, with lots of pictures to share.

Potato yuminess

I had some leftover cooked potatoes and Mr. GV suggested potato cakes. Sounded like a good idea to me! All I needed was a couple tablespoons of flour, salt, pepper, bit of water, oil for cooking, and of course the potatoes.




Mash all but the oil together.



Put heaping tablespoons into your skillet, and mash flat. Let them cook for 3 or 4 minutes on each side on medium heat.

Burn your mouth since you can't wait until it cools, and enjoy!

This is also a great way to use up leftover mashed potatoes for a delicious breakfast dish.

Red-bellied woodpecker

During one of our snowfalls in January, I spotted a red-bellied woodpecker in our backyard. We hear woodpeckers when we sit outside on the deck, but don't spot them too often. I was calling this one a red-headed woodpecker, but did my research to double check and found I was mistaken. The red-headed one looks like good ol' Woody Woodpecker. The red-bellied one has a tuft of red on its belly but you rarely get a glimpse of it.

I realize the pictures aren't that great, but it was so grey outside that day, and I had to shoot from right inside the door. Whenever I opened it up, the woodpecker of course flew away.

Indian food night at our bangala

I recently received a much-anticipated cookbook authored by the Happy Herbivore. The first recipe I chose to make was Channa Palak Masala. HH's recipes are low in fat and don't use unusual ingredients. It was nice to just pick out a recipe and know I could get the ingredients at my local grocery. Actually, I had every ingredient already, except for the spinach.

To go along with the main dish, I made The Spice Goddesses' Potato Parathas. There is some technique involved but after making a mess of the first one, the rest turned out pretty good.

After mixing the wheat flour and water, I started by rolling out the dough.

I put some filling in the middle.

Then pinched up the dough around the filling.

I then flipped it over and gently rolled it out again, and miracle of miracles, the filling stayed (mostly) inside!

A quick cooking in a cast iron skillet, and the parathas were ready to serve up with the channa palak masala over some brown rice.

This was a delicious meal, and I can't wait to make more from the Happy Herbivore cookbook!

Apple chips

I had a few apples that had become a bit wrinkly, had some spots, and well, just weren't the kind of thing you want to put in your husband's lunchbox. My sister and bil had recently used their dehydrator to make apple chips, and I thought I'd try it out as well.

I had about 3 trays full, and the apples were cut so thin that they dried in just a few hours.



Verdict: apple chips are yummy. So sayeth both Mr. GV and myself.