Feeding Pumpkins to the Animals

Wisconsin, along with much of the country, has had unseasonable weather.  The temperatures have been below freezing for the past ten days.  Usually we wait until Thanksgiving is over to deal with the decoration pumpkins.  Then, before the Christmas decorations go up, we break up the pumpkins.  The deer and the squirrels love to eat them.  This year was different.  The pumpkins froze solid.  My friend suggested that I throw them on the sidewalk to break them up.  Most years we hit them with an ax or sledge hammer, and they crack into pieces.  It was a funny sight to see me on the top step throwing pumpkins as hard as I could.  They just rolled down the sidewalk like a bowling balls.  I didn't even put a dent in the pumpkins.

The pumpkins were frozen so solid they just rolled down the sidewalk.  I see two bite marks from squirrels before the frost.

Tomorrow the temperatures are supposed to rise into the 40's.  I know as soon as the pumpkins start to thaw, they will turn into a mushy mess.  We had to deal with them today.  We loaded the smaller pumpkins into our wheelbarrow, and wheeled them out to the edge of the woods.

We did a little brainstorming because hitting these pumpkins with an ax or hammer was not working.  I thought of a Sawzall type reciprocating saw.  Those saws can saw through anything including nails.  I asked my husband to help me.

 

We gave it a try.

 

It went through the frozen pumpkin like a hot knife through butter.

Within a short period of time, we (meaning my husband) were able to cut the pumpkins in half.  They made cute little bowls perfect for the animals to eat out of.

Next we loaded up the big ones.  We knew the smaller pumpkins could easily be cut in half, but we weren't sure about the big ones.  We were able to cut them just as easily.

These were covered with ice and snow.

Yum, I hope the animals enjoy these.

Thawing Frozen Ground Beef In The Microwave

I had my Tuesday recipe all planned today, but then I saw a very interesting tip.  I was watching Living with Amy on our local Green Bay Fox 11 station.  She often has a representative from the Beef Council of Wisconsin.  They make some delicious recipes.  Today they showed how to thaw frozen ground beef in the microwave.  We have all thawed a chunk of hamburger in the microwave and ended up with hard cooked spots and the rest still frozen.  That is why I came up with the method for cooking the ground beef first and then freezing it.  http://www.thecabincountess.com/2014/10/different-technique-for-browning-ground.html

Here is the link from the Wisconsin Beef Council:
http://www.beeftips.com/thawingandfreezinggroundbeef.aspx

I thought I would try this.  I found a couple chunks of frozen hamburger in the freezer.  They recommend taking the flat pieces off the meat tray and freezing it flat.   Mine were lumps, but it is all I could find.  I put the hamburger in a clean plastic bag.  They said it doesn't have to be a freezer bag, just a regular plastic storage bag is fine.  Some people have voiced a concern to me about using plastic and the microwave.  All I can say is that it doesn't get hot or the beef isn't being cooked in the bag.  I wonder if the Beef Council has addressed this concern.  I imagine a vented glass dish would work.  Then chop up the hamburger after 1 minute instead of kneading it.  Eventually I will try that method. 

These are chunkier than they recommend.

Put the plastic bag in the microwave.

Put the bag of frozen burger in the microwave.  Seal the bag leaving one inch open and not sealed.  Cook on high power for 1 minute.  Take the bag out, let it rest for a minute and knead it to break up the frozen hamburger.  Return it to the microwave and cook for 30 more seconds.  The exact instructions are in the chart and on the Beef Council website.

It worked.

Let it rest for 30 seconds and knead the bag again to break up the rest of the pieces.  It worked beautifully.  There were no hot spots or overcooked pieces.  Ground beef thawed and recipe ready.  Who knew?  You learn something new everyday.

Dog Dish Birdbath

Oh my gosh it's cold.  We are having January temperatures in the middle of November.  I can handle a lot of cold.  I actually prefer it, but this is too cold, too fast.  The birds are being very active at the bird feeders, but the bird bath had to be put away for the winter.  The frozen water doesn't do the birds any good, and if water is left to freeze, the bird bath can crack.  My daughter gave me a bird bath heater several years ago.  It worked but the squirrels would always knock it out of the birdbath.  This year I wanted to come up with another plan.  While at the store buying more birdseed, I saw heated dog dishes in the pet department.  They were a lot less expensive than any other options I found.  I bought it and set it up last week.  We filled our fountain base with sand.  Then we set the dog dish on the sand.  I filled it with water and plugged it in.  When the temperatures fell below freezing, the water didn't freeze.  Some birds and squirrels are beginning to use it.  I haven't taken a photo yet, but I have seen critters there.  I was concerned about the birds freezing while bathing in the winter.  I researched it, and it is safe.  The feathers will shed most of the water and insulate the skin from water.  It is small enough so it provides water, but the birds can't submerse themselves.   I would think that is a good thing.  I just have to remember to check the water level everyday.  The downside is that it has to be plugged in so I couldn't put it where I wanted it to be in the yard.  I didn't feel good about running an extension cord far across the yard.  It isn't where I want it, but it is more important for the birds to have water than it is for me to be able to see it easily.

Dad's 90th Birthday Party

The dust has settled on our wonderful weekend.  We celebrated my dad's 90th birthday on Saturday, November 15, 2014.  He actually turned 90 the day before.  He is such a kind man with such a gentle nature that everyone who attended our open house left happy.  He is a kisser so all the girls (and maybe the guys for all I know) got a big smacker for coming and sharing his day.  I can't thank everyone enough for coming.  He wondered how he was so lucky to have so many people come to see him.  I told him that he is loved a lot, and as sad as it is, most people get together like this at funerals.  We agreed that this was much better.

All decked out in Wisconsin Badger red waiting for the party to start.

Luckily many of my first cousins on my dad's side were able to attend. I hadn't seen many of them in a long time.  I wish we would have gotten a cousin photo.  Sadly one of my cousins has passed away, another couldn't come, but the other eight were here.  I have over 30 cousins on my mom's side of the family.  Some of them I don't know as well.

My dad's only living younger sister came with her two daughter's.  His brother had to stay home with some medical problems.  Hopefully he will get well soon.

Dad with is sister Patricia. 

Dad's Happy Birthday cake.

Lighting the giant candle on the cake.

Five of dad's great grandchildren who live nearby were here.   They love their great grandpa.  They were so good and he got hugs and kisses from each of them.  He has 4 more who live in Michigan.  They tried to make the trip but the roads were terrible.  My sister, her husband and daughter made the trip from Michigan.  They ran into ice, sleet and snow.  Many cars were in the ditch.  They called home and encouraged the rest of the family to stay home.  It was too dangerous.  I am so grateful they made it safe and sound.  Dad went back home to Michigan with my sister.  He is spending the holidays with them.  He will be able to see that part of the family then. 

All and all it was a beautiful day to remember.  I want to thank each and every person who came.

Sugared Pecans

It's recipe Tuesday.  I am having a 90th birthday Open House for my dad next Saturday.  I am having snacks and a light lunch for those who come.  I am making very simple things because I have a tendency to overdo it.  Then I get nervous and can't enjoy the party.  I know people are coming to see my dad and to wish him a Happy Birthday, they aren't coming for the food.  Today I made some simple sugared pecans.  They are so good, I hope they last until Saturday.  Hiding them won't help because I will know where they are, and I'm the biggest culprit. 

Sugared Pecans

4 cups of nuts (I used pecans but any nut works)
1 cup sugar
1 T. cinnamon
2 egg whites

In a bowl mix the egg whites with a fork until blended and slightly frothy.
Stir in the sugar and cinnamon and mix well.  If you want more cinnamon, add it now. I actually used 2 tablespoons of cinnamon.
Add the nuts and stir around until they are well coated.

Place in a single layer on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper or foil.
Bake at 300 degrees for twenty minutes.  Take out of the oven and let them cool. 

You can make any flavor nut using this method.  If you want taco flavor, use taco seasoning.  I think pumpkin pie spice would be good with pecans, but I didn't think of it until I had added just cinnamon. 

Sea Gulls Away From The Sea

We do not live by the sea.  In fact, we are about as far away as we could be.  In spite of this, Wisconsin still has more than it's share of sea gulls.  They are everywhere.  They are in farmer's fields and even in the Walmart parking lot.  Any place there is a morsel of food, you will see them.  People chase them away, and they have become a real nuisance in some towns.  In fact, some towns will not allow people to feed ducks, geese or gulls.

I don't mind them though.  In fact, they are interesting to watch.  They soar and dive with the best of them and float like ducks. 

We usually don't have a lot of gulls at one time.  I have seen 20 or more, but usually there are just a few.

Here he is lining himself up to dive into the water.

I couldn't see if he got anything.

Over and over again, they fly and dive.

I don't know what kind of sea gulls they are.  Apparently there are a lot of different types.  I do know that they are beautiful to watch.  They are very graceful.  They can dive into the water and fly away in one fluid motion.  I'm sure if they were messing up my lawn or arriving by the hundreds making loud noises, I may not care for them either.  For me they are welcome to entertain me daily.

Finding Some Old Knitting Patterns

I was looking through my knitting patterns recently.  Even though nearly every pattern is now available somewhere online, I just can't part with my old patterns and books.  I have some favorites that I won't ever make again, but I like looking at them. One of my favorites was put out by Cottage Creations. Cottage Creation patterns were written by Carol Anderson.  Carol graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and was a teacher in Madison Wisconsin.  I believe she lived in Cottage Grove Wisconsin, which is a suburb of Madison.  This is probably where the name Cottage Creations came from.  I have several of her patterns because they were readily available in our part of Wisconsin in the 1980's.   I like the little booklets and the way the patterns are written.  I have made several "Wonderful Wallaby's" and the "Big Sven Sveater".  In the Big Sven book she mentions my hometown of Stoughton, Wisconsin and their Syttende Mai celebration.  I liked all of her patterns, but the pattern I have used the most is the Scandinavian Cardigan.  In the center of that booklet she even included some Scandinavian recipes.   The easiest way to find her patterns is directly through her website http://cottagecreationspatterns.com

What the little booklets look like.

These are the only pictures I could find of this sweater.  I only made little children sizes, and I didn't take pictures of the others.  Seeing these, I may have to make another just for the heck of it.  I can always donate it. 

What's New On The Trail Camera

These are the days between seasons where I don't have a lot to write about.  I like to take these quiet days to post some pictures and use some of the photos that no one ever sees.  I didn't take today's photos, they were taken on the trail camera.  We haven't seen any big angry bear or wolves, thank goodness.  We have had hundreds of pictures of racoons, possums, deer, crows, squirrels and rabbits.

I delete most of the trail camera pictures because we can get 150 pictures in one day.  These next photos were from yesterday.  They are of a doe with her twins.  I have been watching the twins since they were young fawns.  Now they are almost as big as their mom.

Here they are eating some shelled corn I put out for them.

One of them is eating on a pumpkin.  They like the Halloween pumpkins .

Even though the twins are bigger and on solid food, I guess they need a little mama's milk to wash it all down.

I haven't seen our buck with the deformed antler for a while.  I showed photos of him in the following blog.   http://www.thecabincountess.com/2014/09/update-on-whooping-cranes-deer-and.html
This other buck comes around almost everyday.  Hunting season is almost here.  If these deer could read, I would post Safe House signs on all the trees in our woods.  I featured this buck on one of my Facebook cover photos.  I think he is young, and I hope he is smart enough to dodge the hunters.

The deer and raccoon get along fine.

Then the crows as big as chickens come and eat anything that is left over.  With their Caw, Caw, Caw, they invite their friends over too.  They always know when food is available.

I look forward to checking the camera every day or two to see who has been in the neighborhood overnight.

Soft Frosted Pumpkin Cookies

Last weekend my daughter and her family moved into their new house.  They have been gradually moving for the past several weeks, but Saturday night was the first night sleeping there.  The old house hasn't sold, but it was time to move before winter sets in.  Anyone interested in a nice older home on the Fox River in Berlin Wisconsin, it is available.  Moving is a chore no matter how efficient a person tries to be.  That is why, at the end of the day, my daughter's friend brought a big plate of delicious pumpkin cookies.  I usually like crunchy cookies, but these are super good.  I asked for the recipe, and here it is.

It looks like the original recipe for these cookies came from
http://dianaskitchen.com/page/recipes04/a40226t.htm 
These cookies would be good by themselves, but she frosted them which made them even better.

Soft Pumpkin Cookie

Ingredients:

• 1 (15 ounces) can pumpkin
• 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1 cup (8 ounces) butter, softened
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 4 eggs

Instructions: Into a large mixing bowl, measure all ingredients. With a mixer at low speed, beat ingredients until blended, scraping bowl occasionally. Increase mixer speed to medium and beat for 1 minute longer.
Preheat oven to 350°. Using 2 tablespoons of batter for each cookie, spoon batter into mounds on ungreased baking sheets, keeping mounds about 2 inches apart.  Bake cookies for 14 to 18 minutes, or until golden brown. Loosen cookies with spatula and move to wire rack to cool. Store in tightly covered container for up to 4 days. Freeze in portions, if desired.

Makes about 6 dozen

Frosting:

1 stick softened butter

1 (8 ounce) cream cheese

4 cups powdered sugar

Mix ingredients until creamy, adding a little milk to get the right consistency to ice the cookie.

What Are These White Webs?

I was going to write about this subject last week, but I was curious to see if this phenomenon would happen again.  I haven't seen it before and I haven't seen it since.  It was shortly before the sun came up.  I always look out the window to see our view.  I look to see if there is anything new and what the weather is like.  At first I thought that there was frost on the trees.  Then I realized that it was much too warm for frost.  I went out on the deck to get a closer look.  This is what I saw.

It was foggy out on the marsh, and I thought there was a lot of frost on the bushes.

I zoomed in.  What was that?  It wasn't frost.

It looks like hundreds of spider webs.

As soon as the fog burned off and the sun came out, I could see better.

The bushes (mostly willow) were covered with white webs.

I started searching for what this was.  I found a lot of information on tent caterpillars, but they are usually seen in an area on a tree, but not on the whole tree unless they have already killed the tree.  I couldn't get close enough to see if I could see worms or insects.  I think these webs are from something I'm not familiar with.  I still don't know if it was a temporary thing or if the lighting was exactly right that day, but later in the morning they were gone.  At least, I couldn't see any webs, and I have not seen any since.  I am open to any ideas.  I am sure there are people who specialize in this and know exactly what it is.  If I find out, I will update this blog with that information.

The webs are gone or became invisible to me.

Chocolate Eclair Cake

My family always loved Chocolate Eclairs.  They were a pain to make because you had to fill each eclair with pudding and then frost them.  The little frozen ones in the grocery store are good, but they didn't have those back when my kids were small.  One day I came across this recipe for Chocolate Eclair Cake in a cookbook.  I think it was in the late 1970's or early 1980's.  The first time I made it, it was a complete success.  It is very easy to put together and tastes just like the individual eclairs.  I have made this recipe many times over the years.

Chocolate Eclair Cake

1 cup flour
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
1/4 t. salt
1 cup water
4 eggs (room temperature is best)
2 packages instant vanilla pudding
2 1/2 cups cold milk
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
12 ounce whipped topping (Cool Whip)
3 oz. chocolate chips
2 T. butter
1 cup powdered sugar
3-4 T. milk

Bring water and butter to a boil until all the butter is melted.
All at once add flour and salt; beat until mixture forms a ball that leaves the sides of the saucepan;
cool slightly.  Add eggs one at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition.  Spread mixture onto a ungreased jelly roll pan (15 x 10 x 1).  Bake at 400 degrees for 35 minutes.  Remove from oven.  It will be puffy so pierce the bubbles with fork while hot.  Cool completely.

*Beat the softened cream cheese with the milk, then add the instant pudding and beat according to the pudding directions.  
Spread on the cooled crust.  Follow with the whipped topping.  Then melt the chocolate chips with the butter over low heat, mix with the powdered sugar and milk until you have a thin glaze.  Drizzle the chocolate glaze over the whipped topping.  Refrigerate for a least an hour.  Cut into squares to serve.

*Hint:  Mixing the cream cheese with milk and instant pudding works really well in a cream pie.  I cut up bananas in the pudding and put it in a pre-baked pie crust.  It sets up and cuts so much better.  I learned to do this after I took a pie to work for a treat.  My boss Dan liked banana cream pies.  When we cut it, it ran all over.  You needed a straw to eat the pie.  After that experience I figured out how to do a better job.  This method always works.

Pelican or Whooping Crane...You Decide

For all who know me or have read my blog,  know how fascinated I am with the Whooping Crane.  I have written about them many times.  I follow their migration every year from Wisconsin to Florida.  I have seen them in person following the ultralight aircraft, but I have never seen them out on their own in the wild.

Yesterday I thought that had changed.  I was sitting outside at our daughters new house with Piper the grand dog.  My husband was busy finishing up a drywall project he was helping them with.  My dad was along and sitting in the living room listening to a book.  The weather was so perfect.  I looked up and saw some beautiful white birds flying around overhead.  I tried to take some photos.  They were quite high, and I thought they were probably sandhill cranes.  The sandhill cranes have become quite light in color this time of year.  In the summer the sandhill cranes are a rusty color which they apply to themselves with sand.  When I got home, I put the photos on the computer.  I got so excited, I thought the photos looked like Whooping Cranes.  A week or so previous, five Whooping Cranes from the Class of 2013 were spotted in Fond du lac county Wisconsin.  I was just a few miles from the county line.  Here are some of the photos I took. 

I wanted to be sure so I sent my photos to Operation Migration.  They told me they were NOT whooping cranes.  They were white Pelicans.  Now I'm not a professional, and I haven't devoted my life to stop the extinction of the whooping crane....but these don't look like pelicans to me.  I have seen tons of pelicans in our area.  They are white, and they do have black on their wings, but they have a much different head.  Pelicans don't have a long neck.

 So I don't want to question the professionals or be a sassy old lady, but I choose to think I saw five whooping cranes. Does believing hard enough make it true?  It works for Santa.