Footprints in the snow

We have dear in our yard most days - but I didn't think they'd come right up to the front door!

Catching up

I haven't blogged in a long time :(

So this is a 'catch up' post.

RANDOM NEWS FROM THE PAST FEW MONTHS:

Scary headless kitty decides to move in



My husband hates cats, I kind of like them - so I sneak this neighborhood kitty in occasionally. It showed up yesterday morning after a big snowfall crying at my door. I let it in. It looked around, zeroed in on the softest spot in the house and fell asleep for eight hours!

It has a head - somewhere

I cooked!

Life is so busy lately that this is a rare occurrence.

I made my Dad's dill pickles



I used to can them in the summers - but that was ages ago. Recently I discovered the Costco bag of a dozen or so small tender cucumbers. I brine them and put what's left after sampling in the refrigerator. Here's the recipe:

Put the following into a large glass jar or bowl:
Sliced cucumbers (I cut them lengthwise)
3-4 cloves garlic (sliced)
piece of hot pepper or pinch of pepper flakes

Bring the following to a boil:
1 1/3 cups vinegar
1 quart water
1/3 cup salt

Pour over cucumbers. Cool and store in refrigerator.

We are into Quinoa lately. It's supposed to be a wonder grain - great source of protein and all kinds of good things. We bought a big bag of it at Costco so I went hunting for a good recipe. I came across this Citrus Quinoa salad that was fabulous



Citrus Quinoa Salad

1 cup quinoa
1 cup diced cucumber
1/2 cup diced figs or dried apricots or raisins
1/2 cup drained canned mandarin orange sections, halved (I used the whole little can)
1/4 cup sunflower seeds or toasted almonds
2 green onions, diced
2 Tbs chopped coriander or parsley

Dressing:
1 tsp grated lemon or lime rind
3 Tbs lemon or lime juice
1 Tbs sesame oil (I used olive oil)
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp each ground cumin and coriandor
salt and pepper

Rinse quinoa and drain. In saucepan bring 2 cups water to a boil; stir in quinoa. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until water is absorbed and quinoa is transparent; drain and let cool.

In salad bowl combine quinoa, cucumber, figs, orange sections, sunflower seeds, onions and coriander.

Dressing: In small bowl mix lemon rind and juice, sesame oil, sugar, cumin and coriander; pour over salad and toss to mix. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days.

Makes 8 servings of about 1/2 cup each (it was so good I ate 2 cups)

More catch up news tomorrow - I ran out of time as usual

Fun cooking blog

Fab Frugal Food is a cooking blog created by one of my friends. Take a look. It's fun (and fab)!

And they have a KitchenAid mixer giveaway going on right now!

New youth website

An LDS  website for youth went live yesterday. My hope is that it will bless the lives of young people all over the world by inviting them to keep the commandments and  live the standards the Lord has set to bless them.

It is in Beta version - that means we need feedback on what you like, what you would change, what you would add, and what doesn't work well.

Take a look and tell me what you think via a comment or email - dfrweb@gmail.com

It would really help if you could have young people take a look too since it is all for them.

This is exciting!

Shopping

I'm not a big fan of shopping. I don't like crowds and driving and parking - especially during the holidays. My kids introduced me to this  website that I love. I was able to buy some really fun Plan toy sets (dollhouse and parking garage)  for Christmas and a few little things for myself - all at half price or less :)

It's called Haute Look and it's free. You just register here.

Surfing the Web

Saturday's Deseret News had an article called "Time to waste? Just surf on over" with a list of fun websites.

I surfed and found some I will use:

Pandora - my family love this. It streams music based upon preferences deduced by the songs your choose. I tried it out during Christmas by putting in Bing Crosby's "White Christmas". Then it gave me hours of classic oldie Christmas music - fun!

Retail me not - a great coupon source with a list of each day's best deals.

Slick deals - this wasn't in the article but Jenny (J#3) found great deals on her Christmas shopping through this site. It has a regularly updated list of great shopping deals

Snopes - "where urban legends go to die"

This one is my favorite:

What should I read next? - enter the name of a book you like and it suggests others. If you register you can build a database of books you like and their suggestions.

I love to read and I'm always asking, "What is your favorite book?"  Here's my latest favorite. It's been spreading through the family and multiplying (a couple of kids got it for Christmas) - Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Be forewarned. If you read it, you will rush to buy the sequel - Catching Fire. That one also will leave you gasping for more - and we all have to wait until August for the 3rd book in the series.

Speaking of books - check out these gorgeous editions of  some old favorites, including my all time favorite, Pride and Prejudice.



You can buy them on Amazon. The illustrator is Coralie Bickford-Smith - so just search her name.

We had a dinner table discussion with our family last Thanksgiving about everyone's favorite books. I remembered and then bought most of them as a Christmas gift for Jamie (youngest J). Here are a few I included:

• Hunger Games and Catching Fire


• The Road


• The Thirteenth Tale

So - WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE BOOK?

Flourless Treat

I just made these Coconut Macaroons and topped them with melted Sharffen Berger chocolate.

They were wickedly good.

(I added some almond extract to the recipe)