Kim asked me to pick the lettuce from the garden and wash it today. I promptly fired up a bone (figuratively), slapped “Now I’m a Farmer” from Odds and Sods by the Who on the ear buds, and went into harvest mode. I brought the lettuce in to wash it and figured I’d put it in the dishwasher on the delicate, cold cycle. The heads promptly lost the wilt to leave so I gathered the dogs and my cat around and said “Lettuce Pray.”
Author: chappyshi
Week in Corolla on the Outer Banks, May, 2014
I spent last week in Corolla on the Outer Banks with my sister Kim and brother-in-law Don… Continue reading “Week in Corolla on the Outer Banks, May, 2014”
Curried Seafood Salad
Curried Seafood Salad
Ingredients
- 1 cup flaked tuna 7-oz can
- 1 cup chopped cooked shrimp
- 1/2 cup chopped celery
- 1/4 cup sliced ripe olives
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon Curry Powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Bon Appetit
- 1/4 cup Parsley Flakes
- 2 tbsp water
- 3 cups cold cooked rice
- 2 tbsp French dressing
Instructions
- Chill tuna and shrimp.
- Add celery and olives.
- Blend together mayonnaise, lemon juice, curry powder and Bon Appetit; add to tuna mixture and toss lightly.
- Soak parsley flakes in the water about 5 minutes, then toss with rice and French dressing.
- Transfer to serving plate.
- Spoon tuna-shrimp mixture over rice.
- Garnish with watercress or radish roses if desired.
Country Kitchen Potato Salad
Dill Macaroni Salad
Dill Macaroni Salad
Ingredients
- 1 8- oz package elbow macaroni or salad macaroni
- 1 cup chopped celery
- 1/2 cup thinly sliced green pepper
- 1/4 cup thinly sliced carrots
- 2 tbsp chopped pimento
- 1/2 cup mayonaisse
- 1 tbsp vinegar
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp Instant Minced Onion
- 1 tsp Dill Weed
- 2 tsp Season-All
- 1/4 tsp dry Mustard
- 1/8 tsp White Pepper
- Dash Cayenne or Red Pepper
Instructions
- Cook macaroni as direct on the package; drain and cool.
- Add celery, green pepper, carrots, and pimiento.
- Mix remaining ingredients; spoon over macaroni and toss to mix thoroughly.
- Chill.
- Server in bowl or on salad plates in crisp lettuce cups.
Notes
Substitute 1/2 cup chopped onions for Instant Minced Onion.
Cucumbers in Sour Cream
Cucumbers in Sour Cream
Cool and refreshing.
Ingredients
- 2 cups thinly sliced cucumbers, pared
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup commercial sour cream
- 2 tsp vinegar
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 2 tsp Instant Minced Onion
- 1/2 tsp Dill Weed
- Dash Cayenne or Chili Powder
- Cracked Black Pepper
Instructions
- Place cucumbers in a bowl; sprinkle with salt and cover with cold water.
- Refrigerate 30 minutes; drain well.
- Combine sour cream, vinegar, sugar, onion, dill weed and cayenne.
- Add cucumber slices to sour cream and toss lightly.
- Chill at least one hour before serving.
- Sprinkle with cracked black pepper.
Notes
Substitute low fat sour cream or yogurt. Use 1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion instead of Instant Minced onion.
Another Visit to Great Dismal Swamp
I went to Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) today with the intention of bicycling the Washington Ditch Trail to Lake Drummond, which is about 9 miles round trip, having lunch and returning. Unfortunately I got in about 2.5 miles where I reached part of the trail that was very low, grassy, and muddy. The water on both sides of the trail was very high and had obviously washed over the trail often this spring. I didn’t look forward to doing, on my hybrid bike, 4 miles of mud and soggy grass so I turned back.
I ended up going over to the Park HQ to see if they had updated their stock of T-shirts since the birding events there two weeks ago but they had not done so. While there I walked the short trail that I was introduced to when taking walk with a group lead by a woman who worked at Black Water NWR in Maryland. Thanks to that experience, I was able to locate two Northern Flickers, three or more Red-headed Woodpeckers gadding about, and a lone Screech Owl. I saw and heard either a Eastern Phoebe or a Peewee…I can’t remember what the song was now. I heard a Bobwhite but could never locate it. Thanks to a couple I talked to there I heard a Yellow-billed Cuckoo and then saw one but didn’t realize it until I looked it up later in my bird book which I had left at home.
This couple commented about the fact that I was bravely wearing shorts in snake country. They had heard and seen earlier, in the day, a five foot Timber Rattler when they were setting up to take a picture from their car. The guy had a couple of interesting stories about snake encounters including one in which a friend of his had gotten a Timber Rattler caught up in the spokes of his bicycle while riding in Great Dismal and one about a friend of his shooting holes in his boat while trying to subdue a Water Moccasin.
Unfortunately, I returned home on the east side of the refuge and that ended up taking me almost two hours and forty minutes which, after the only twenty-five minute drive down, there made for an awful lot of driving to get in about an hour of exercise and recreation.
Any Thoughts On Sweetwater Brewing Company Beers?
I got a six-pack of Sweetwater Brewery 420 Extra Pale Ale on the weekend, much to my chagrin. I am choking them down one day at a time. The label says the beer is a West Coast style pale ale with a strong hoppy finish. I beg to differ. This is one of the blandest pale ales I have ever had. In fact I might refer to it as the Coors Light of micro-brews. How appropriate that it is brewed in Georgia…redneck central.
Beautiful Weekend in Suffolk, VA
I took advantage of the annual 2014 Birding Festival at the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) on Friday and Saturday. Friday I was a little late for the action but got a walk in on my own on the Washington Ditch Trail. My left leg has been bothering me a bit so I had to take it easy. I ran into a guy who had been out there all day and was finally heading home who helped me spot and identify the Prothonotary Warbler. I am still not to good at this birding thing…
Saturday I went back down to Dismal to sit in on a “beginning” birding class. Unfortunately it was designed for truly beginning birders, the lecturer anticipated more youths and other newbies, and covered things like how to dress, good types of binoculars and spotting scopes, and beneficial bird guides. The unexpected bonus was a guided walk, led by a woman from the Blackwater NWR, on the Eastern Shore of MD, around the park headquarters. See below for some of the birds we saw.
Bird Sightings
- Yellow Warbler
- Prothonotary Warbler
- Red-eyed Vireo
- Red-headed Woodpecker
- Northern Flicker
- Pine Thrush
- Carolina Wren
- Fish Crow
- Red-shoulder Hawk
To wrap up the Birding Festival, I attended a talk Saturday evening by Alicia King, Communication Coordinator and Urban Bird Treaty Program Coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Migratory Bird Program. Her presentation, “Your National Wildlife Refuges – Great Birdwatching and Conservation Opportunities”, was reasonable entertaining and informative. She took questions at the end, most of which focused on the impact of wind-powered turbines and birds. I have read a few articles on the negative impact of these devices but contrary to what I have read, Alicia said that the impact on the bird population was minimal, especially when considering all the other threats to the bird populations such as changing and/or diminished environments, pollution, hunting, and outdoor cats.
Halloween 2013
I had an interesting time at a Halloween party with Kim and Don at their friends house. Here are a couple of pictures of us:
