What the Heck is a Guinea Hen?

My husband came in Saturday afternoon from an errand stating there was a turkey in the yard.  We live in the city, so I grabbed my camera and went out looking for Mr. Tom.  Strolling along the front yard I saw a bird which looked a little like a turkey, but didn't have many feathers.  And it was white.  He let me get relatively close to him and snap a few photos before he made a beeline across the street to another neighbor's yard.  Hopefully he found somewhere safe to go and didn't run into any loose dogs!

I posted the photo on Twitter with the hash tag #turkey and someone tweeted back it was a guinea hen.  A guinea hen is native to Africa.  I googled and found that guinea hens are kept domestically and perhaps this one got loose. They are a great natural insect killer and I read they are great for tick control.  I am not sure where this one came from, but it was pretty neat to see. 

It just goes to show you never know what you'll see in the city!

Poking Fun at Potholes

Let's face it, it's winter.  There's been snow.  Lots of it.  Snow, more snow, then plowing, sand and salt which in turn causes potholes.  It can't really be helped, and even some of the newly paved roads have developed the dreaded potholes.  

It's been pretty challenging driving around and dodging some of these monster craters.  A few days ago, I came across a wonderful blog post highlighting photos taken by professional photographers who repurposed potholes.  

I decided to try my hand at this and the following were the results (with the assistance of my sons).

Gone Fishing.

Looks like something may be swimming in there!

The Fishing Hole.

Sending out a message in a bottle.

Rubber Ducky you're the one, you make bath time lots of fun....

Candles, a good book, a bottle of wine and a nice warm bath?   

Drive carefully!  You never know what's lurking in that pothole!

Overcoming Obstacles

Today I have to brag about my 6th grade son David.  Several months ago he decided to participate in his middle school spelling bee.  This afternoon, the spelling bee was held at school and he scored third overall among 6th, 7th & 8th graders, and second among the 6th graders.  He was so proud to receive a silver medal.

His accomplishment may not be overly significant to most, however, to stand in front of a large number of people, keep cool under pressure and spell from memory without the ability to write the words down (something I certainly can't do) was mind-blowing to me for two reasons.  The first is that this is really not his forte.  He is very smart and loves to read, but again, spelling in your head is so much different than writing it down.  The second is because he is autistic.    

When we first received his diagnosis many years ago, my husband and I were basically told he would never amount to much.  It was one of the worst days of my life.  But we always pushed, helped and exposed him to different things.  He has a love of learning, museums and books.  He is confident, stood up to a bully this year, has achieved high honors all year and became a member of his middle school Student Council.

We are so proud of him, so grateful for the wonderful teachers we have had along the way, so thankful for our fantastic tutor (and friend), Carol and proud of ourselves for our continued efforts in pushing forward and continually overcoming obstacles.   He is growing into a very driven and successful young man.

I revel in the multitude of ways he has proven and continues to prove his prognosis was wrong.  He continues to amaze me with his scholastic accomplishments.

I love you David and I am so proud of you!  

A Taste of Spring at the RI Spring Garden & Flower Show

The Rhode Island Convention center hosted the 21st annual RI Spring Flower & Garden Show this past weekend.  This end of February show is always a welcome taste of spring, especially this year after a winter full of weekly snowstorms and arctic cold spells.  

This year's theme was vintage gardens using vintage cars as centerpieces.  

There were dresses made of flowers.

Lovely tables were set. A gorgeous pizza brick oven/bar or a tiki barbecue/bar would look really nice in my yard.

I'm getting spring fever, are you?

Winter Blues? GO OUT AND PLAY!

Just in the past couple of weeks Mother Nature has graced us with several snow storms.  This week has been February vacation, but there was a snow day the preceding Thursday.  This set off a flurry of activity on my Facebook feed as it has done all winter, every time snow was forecasted.  And pretty much the same people are complaining.  While I do appreciate the dilemma of finding child care when school is cancelled but work is not, these same people that  whine "They cancelled school for THIS?", are also moaning, "Why didn't they cancel today, the roads are a mess."  And they will also be bitching in summer when "It's too freaking hot out".   

The only complaint I had was during one storm in January.  I wanted to go sledding and my sons wanted to watch some DVD's.  Seriously?  Who's the kid here?  

The weather has caused me to make some delicious comfort food.  And drinks.  Well, what's a couple of extra pounds?  Spring is coming soon.  Really it is.  I think it is.   I hope it is.

Home-made Mac & Cheese

Pat D's Pulled Pork

Leftover Mac &  Cheese With Mimosa ~  For Breakfast!!!

But in the meantime we've tried to enjoy ourselves.  We've gone sledding, had a movie marathon for two days, and the board games came out.  I even sat down over a period of three days and read a book I had bought a couple of months ago, but hadn't yet had the opportunity to read.  It was wonderful!  

Tuesday's storm was a surprise.  Originally supposed to give us an inch or two, we instead got 5 inches of snowman snow!  Yippee!  We all suited up and went outside.  We made a snowman, I finished shoveling, made a batch of lemon drops and watched the kids pelt each other with snowballs and roll around in the snow.  I made NY System Weiners (It's a Rhode Island thing), took a nap and finished my book. 

NY System Weiners

We live in the Northeast.  It's winter.  It's cold.  There's snow.  People can either whine, moan, groan and complain, or sit back, enjoy a little extra time with their families, eat some comfort food and indulge in a couple of drinks, but for heaven's sake, GO OUT AND PLAY!!!

Beach time yet?

Best way to chill Lemon Drops!

Watching the Sunset

A Saturday Special ~ Homemade Mac & Cheese

This Saturday was filled with early morning errands and now hunkering down for another snow storm.  We are expecting nearly a foot of snow on top of the several inches still on the ground from earlier this week.  We were supposed to go out for Chinese food but instead I have pulled pork cooking and fresh cole slaw chilling.   And since the diet is pretty much shot after all the indulging during these storms, I am making home-made macaroni & cheese.   To me, this is the ultimate comfort food and I am re-sharing last year's post of my lower calorie version of this tasty treat!

My Ultimate Comfort Food - Homemade Mac & Cheese

Let's face it, Mac and Cheese is just not meant to be a low fat, low calorie dish.  I found an online recipe with the total cholesterol being 160% of the daily allowance and there was 60 grams of fat per serving.  So I doctored it up to reduce as much cholesterol and calories as possible without losing the taste.  If you are watching your cholesterol and fat closely, you may want to skip this one. 

I start with my favorite Vermont Cheddar from Grafton Village Cheese Co in Grafton, VT.

Homemade Mac & Cheese

8 oz cooked pasta

4 tbsp butter

4 tbsp flour 

salt

pepper

1 cup of milk (I used 2% milk)

1 cup cream (I used 1/2 and 1/2

2 cups of shredded cheddar (I cut small squares of Grafton Village Cheese Co. Cheddar Cheese from Vermont)

Buttered Bread Crumbs (I used seasoned Panko bread crumbs, no butter)

Buttered baking dish (I sprayed with Pam)

Cook the pasta as directed and set aside.  

Preheat Oven to 400.  

Melt butter in large saucepan and then stir in the flour, salt and pepper.  Keep stirring until smooth.  Slowly add the 1/2 & 1/2 and the milk, constantly stirring to keep the mixture smooth.  Bring to a boil, boil 2 minutes, then lower heat and cook for 10 minutes stirring constantly.  Add the cheese a little at a time, stirring until cheese is melted.  Remove from heat and stir in the pasta, thoroughly coating with the cheese mixture.

Pour mixture into a baking dish liberally sprayed with Pam Non Stick Cooking Spray.  Sprinkle the seasoned Panko bread crumbs on the top.

Bake at 400 degrees for approximately 20 minutes or until bubbly.

I don't know what the final fat & cholesterol counts are, but they are bit lower than the original recipe - ENJOY!!!