YELLOW HEADED BLACKBIRD HEAVEN

For five and a half years I have been enjoying seeing these big guys at my bird feeders and they quickly became my favorite bird. They are Yellow Headed Blackbirds. I was a little confused when a few years ago I looked in our Utah bird book and saw that they are marsh birds. I couldn't for the life of my figure out why they came to my feeders but I figured they lived in one of the golf coarse water holes. But until last night I never went searching for them.

Each year we have more and more of them come visit out f

eeder along with the female

yellow heads. This year we had 11 males and 6 females, I assumed that was all there were...until I saw this.

There are HUNDREDS of the cuties living in a large marsh right by the clubhouse. I was in bird heaven, so of course I had to take a ton of pictures and walk around the marsh. I was amazed. If you get a chance to visit Eagle Lake in Roy...sto

p and enjoy my

bird family. it is quite an experience.

11TH BIRTHDAY

Today I am the proud mother of a preteen and while the thought terrifies me, nothing scares me more than realizing I am two years away from a full-fledged teenager.

In preparation for the big day my daughter, who has a seriously funny sense of humor, decided that she wanted a "sheep" cake. Don't ask me how the fascination with sheep happened because I am not sure of the answer. All I know is one night I tucked my child into bed and the next morning I woke up to farm animal sounds. "baaaaaa" I decided to go with the flow and have learned, as any shepherd has, to know which animal sounds to ignore and which to come running for. I swear though, every few hours she has to let out a stray "baaaa". It's like she can't "baaa" control herself. Heaven help us all.

Anyway, back to the birthday. Where was I....oh yeah, she wanted a sheep cake. Okay, so we start calling the bakeries and all of them seemed to scratch their heads. "Do you want it 3D?" "A what cake?" "I will have to get back to you" It was really disconcerting when no one was able to help me. I scratched my head for a minute and then though....google images. LOL I was SURE my child wasn't the only person who had ever asked for a sheep cake so I logged onto the trusty internet and hit the mother load.

Once we found a few cake designs she liked I hit the local grocery store and asked if they could make a cake similar to the ones she liked and they said "sure". Here is the result.

Last night the family got together to celebrate the big day with ice cream and sheepy cake. My sister had the funniest comment of the night when she said "The frosting was a really sweet so I had to shear my sheep." LOL

My father, who just loves to tease people had a blast putting marshmallows under the large sheep's eyes for tears and under his nose for umm...well...you know.

Good times, good times!

Happy Birthday my precious child.....baaaaaaa

Mom

Charity's Homemade 3 Bean Chili

1 (15 oz) Can Kidney Beans
1/2 Can Black Beans
1/2 Can Pinto Beans
2 Cans Diced Tomatoes (15 oz each)
1/2 Onion - chopped
1/2 Green Pepper- chopped
3 Garlic Cloves -minced
16 oz Tomato Sauce
1/4 Cup Ketchup
2 tsp Chili Powder
1 tsp Ground Cumin
1 tsp Oregano
1 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Pepper

Drain juice from all cans of beans and rinse. Do not drain the diced tomatoes. Add all ingredients to a large pot and bring to boil. Boil for 15 minutes stirring occasionally.

Add 1/8 cup crushed Ritz Crackers

Serve and enjoy

***You can also cook in a crock pot on low for 6 hours or on high for 3 hours***

CHARITY'S ZUCCHINI BREAD

3 Whole Eggs

1 Cup Vegetable Oil

1 3/4 Cups Sugar

1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract

1 teaspoon Baking Soda

2 teaspoons Ground Cinnamon

1 teaspoon Salt

1/4 teaspoon Baking Powder

2 Cups Grated Zucchini

3 Cups Flour

Preheat oven to 350

Mix ingredients together in the order shown above. Mixing well between each ingredient.

Grease and flour two loaf pans.

Pour equal amounts of the mixture into each loaf pan.

Bake for 45 minutes or until the center is done.

CANNED MILD SALSA

*This recipe uses fresh tomatoes from your garden, that is why I love it so much*

Makes about 6 Quart

24 Whole medium tomatoes
2 Bell Peppers
1 Red Pepper
5 Jalapeno Peppers
1 1/2 White Onion
1 Red Onion
12 oz Tomato Paste
1 Cup White Vinegar
1/2 Cup Sugar
1/4 Cup Salt
4 Tablespoons Cilantro
3 Cloves of Garlic (Minced)

• The tomatoes need to be skinned. You do this by boiling water in a large pot and then putting the tomatoes in the boiling water for 20-30 seconds. Place them in ice water afterwards. Then you can peel them.
• Cut all of the peppers and remove the seeds. If you don't remove the jalapeno seeds your salsa will not be mild.
• In a food processor or chopper, chop the bell peppers, onions, jalapenos, garlic and the tomatoes. They can be chopped by hand, but the food processor is easier. Also I don't like my salsa really chunky, so the food processor works better for me. If you want chunkier salsa you can chop half of the vegetables by hand.
• Put all ingredients into a large pot. Bring to boil and simmer for 25 minutes. This process boils off some of the liquid from the tomatoes.
• Place the lids and rings into a small pot with water and bring the water to a boil. This will get the lids soft so they will seal better. Leave them in the hot water until you place them on the jars.
• Also, start your water bath (canner) water on the burner at this time. It takes a while to get the water boiling.
• Pour the salsa into jars, leaving an inch of air at the top of the jar.
• Wipe the rim of the jars with a wet cloth to get any drips off and then seal them with the lids, making sure you screw them on tight.
• Place the jars into a water bath and bring the water to a boil again. The water in the bath needs to be at least an inch above the jars. Boil the salsa for 20 minuets for quart sized jars or 15 minutes for pint sized jars.
• Take the bottles out of the canner and place them on a towel. they will seal as the jars cool. You know they are sealed by pressing down on the lid of the jar. If it doesn't pop when you push on it then they are sealed.
  

GRILLED PORK CHOPS

This is a great recipe for pork chops. I use the thicker boneless ones that are about as big as your fist.

4 Pork Chops
1/3 Cup Water
1/3 Cup Soy Sauce
1/8 Cup Oil
1 tsp Minced Garlic
2 Tbsp Lemon Pepper Seasoning

Mix all ingredients (except Pork Chops) together in a bowl. Add the Pork, cover and marinate for 1-2 hours. Grill and enjoy! Do not over cook the meat.