200th Post

I don't usually post twice in a day, but I really want to share these things and I can't wait another day to do it.

I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

#1. Greatest time waster of the month: watch a live webcam of a brooding hummingbird in California.

#2. Great comeback story ever.


#3. A nod to my southern readers.


#4. Always gives me a laugh.

Guess Who?

A truer sign that Spring has sprung than the blooming forsythia?

They're back. All over my counters. After the beautiful truce of Winter, the battle has begun again.

Tasty Tuesday: Stolen Recipe Edition

Grab the button here and come join us, or just link to another site with a recipe you're going to try... or post a recipe in the comments!

You may have noticed I link to recipes from a certain site an inordinate amount. Truth be told, I really like Annie's Eats. Yes, of course I'm also a Pioneer Woman fan, but Annie's Eats is amazing. Delicious stuff (with beautiful pictures) that I actually want to make -- pretty much every time.

So because I had no time this week to cook a decent dinner (we were out of town or at evening meetings every day this week), I'm going to post yet another Annie's Eats recipe that I intend to try when I have a moment of spare time again (tonight?).

Annie's French Onion Soup
Recipe and image from Annie's Eats

Ingredients:
2 tbsp. unsalted butter
2 large red onions, thinly sliced
Pinch of sugar
2 leeks, including tender green portions, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
¾ cup low-sodium beef broth
¼ cup dry red wine
2 sprigs fresh parsley
1 sprig fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper, to taste
Baguette slices, ¾-inch thick
Sliced Gruyere cheese (or mozzarella)

Directions:
Melt the butter in a Dutch oven or large stockpot over medium-high heat.  Add in the sliced red onions, reduce the heat to medium, and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions have wilted.  Mix in the sugar and leeks and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the onions are completely caramelized and dark in color (about 15 more minutes).  Add the garlic to the pot and sauté just until fragrant, about 1 minute.  Stir in the chicken and beef broths and red wine, scraping the browned bits from the bottom of the pot.  Add the parsley, thyme and bay leaf.  Cover, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer about 30 minutes.  Discard the herbs and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Preheat the broiler with an oven rack in the upper-middle position.  Portion the soup into oven-safe bowls or crocks placed on a baking sheet.  Top each serving with two baguette slices, and layer with thin slices of Gruyere cheese.  Place under the broiler until the cheese is browned and bubbly, 2-5 minutes.  Cool a few minutes before serving.

Serves 3-4.

Originally adapted from Williams Sonoma and The New Best Recipe

Flaming Letdown

My husband and I went to Flaming Geyser State Park this weekend.

We arrived full of hope and wonder, preparing to be amazed by the shooting flames (however little) coming from the earth.

Raining on our parade, we pulled in to see it was "closed for restructuring until 2012." We're not exactly known for respecting parks, so we hopped over the "closed" sign and continued on foot.

Livin' on the edge, baby. (Not really... the park ranger waved "hello" to us as we were walking through).

Not expecting to have to hike, of course, I was wearing flip-flops.

There was some really neat moss on the trees.

It reminded me of poodles.

If poodles were green.

Kinda looked like sod draped over a branch in places. (Startin' to get a little winded. But my enthusiasm is undaunted).

 Ferns were growing out of the trees.

My feet were starting to ache from lack of arch support at this point, but I had to see the geyser leaping with flames!

There was a little bog with cattails. (I love marshes. Except I kept seeing dead faces in the water. Thanks Frodo.)

Spring, my friends, has sprung.

The park was closed, in part, because the river had overflown and was flooding the picnic areas. So not only were my feet aching, but they were getting wet and cold.

And it was muddy, so we were squishing along, too. Just keep walking. You can do it. It'll be so worth it to see the fire-breathing geyser!

Nevermind that you're getting hypothermia... the warm fires of the geyser will quickly restore health.

And then we got there.

Here she is.

Gurgle gurgle. Can you say... anticlimactic?

It's dawning on me around this time that we're going to have to walk back, too.

Hm... no wonder the park is closed.

Inching Forward

1. Am 6 for 7 (that's an .857 batting average) going to morning Mass this week! This success brought to you in part by my incredible self-disciplined husband.

2. Actually set up a doctor's appointment. This one's big.

3. Hand washed the less-than-sparkling dishes that came out of the dishwasher (yes, I use Cascade, but it still doesn't work) instead of putting them away and pretending they were clean.

Read others' small successes and share your own at Faith & Family Live!

(Don't forget to join in next week for Tasty Tuesday!).