Grandbabies, Pheasants, and Mountains of Snow

 Anyone else just love sewing notions??

Besides double-seaming the satin binding,
I hand sewed the mitered corners closed. I've learned from experience that babies like to stick their fingers in the corners and undo them.

Hi friends,

I was sorry to miss Terri's Wednesday Medley because I was hurrying to get a baby blanket done for grandchild #12, due a couple days ago.  (The 11th was a great-grandchild, remember? I've still not recovered from turning 70 AND getting our first great-grandchild all in the matter of a couple weeks last summer.) It's kind of late, I know, but I had ordered the fabric from fabric.com and after waiting for it to arrive, I suddenly got a notice of a refund from them. No explanation, just a refund. Okay, so that means I need to go out and find fabric. When I chose this particular fabric (shown above) in a local shop, the lady looked puzzled and said, 'This isn't very babyish.'  I told her that as soon as this child is old enough to realize that he even has a blanket, he will like the moose and bears on it. Besides, it's a gorgeous shade of green and this flannel is of incredible quality. In case anyone wants to know, it's called 'Return to Cub Lake' by Holly Taylor. And of course the flannel and the satin binding couldn't be found in the same shop. That would have been just too easy. ANYWAY, it was a delight to make and I will look for that artist and manufacturer another time, Moda Fabrics.

Now on to the matter at hand, or the matter that everyone in Wisconsin is talking about: the long, snowy winter.  This is the kind of winter I remember as a kid.

I was only four years old in this photo, but I do remember that when we were kids, we would carve thrones and dishes out of the huge snowbanks, and also make tunnels. I'm wondering why my mom didn't make me wear a jacket. But at least I'm wearing tights and a sweater. It could have been March, Wisconsin's snowiest month, typically, and warm enough at times to stand outdoors for a photo.

 The backyard

 The backyard again

 The top of the driveway, having just been plowed
by
this
guy:
Son #2

And this is the pose he gave me first time:

 Very funny, Rob!

 On the way home from town today
I love our rolling hills!

 Good thing we know what that wee bit of red means.

 So you get the picture.
We've had a ton of snow
and more expected.

 But this morning's sunrise was beautiful.
I love seeing all the bunny tracks in the snow.

Besides feeding the birds their bird seed, we're putting out corn for the other critters too. It's been a harsh winter for those poor creatures. Everywhere we go, we're seeing pheasants along the side of the road, looking for food. A month ago, we were unusually snowless (for January), and they could find lots to eat. But now, everything is covered in far too much snow.

This poor (huge) fella was sitting on an old bird feeder just outside the office window. I think he was keeping an eye on the other bird feeders, besides eating cranberries in the nearby cranberry bush.  It looks like we won't have any cranberry bushes next year. The bunnies have completely girdled all the cranberry bushes. It's a pitiful sight to see them gnawing on the bark of the bushes. They are so hungry. And yet I know it will irritate me next summer when they're eating my peas and beans (IF I plant them).

 And checking in on the Christmas tree on the porch:
Still going strong. No needles dropped yet. It's been well below freezing.

 One more glimpse of the walkway.

 Tommy & Smokey
(Tommy looking rather sassy, wouldn't you say?)
:-)


*** UPDATE ***

In the wee hours of the morning, February 28, grandchild #12, Tobias William, was born.

Praise God for this new little one!

 7 lb. 15 oz.
and just missing his auntie's birthday by a couple hours.





***

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GF Basil Pesto Pizza Recipe

Before I begin this post with my pizza recipe, I want to let you know, in case you've not already heard, that www.lavenderdreamstoo.blogspot.com  blog (Diane) was been removed, suddenly, by Google. She has no idea why, but while she and Mr. Lavender Dreams are  trying to get her information back, she has created a new blog, www.lavenderdreamsnew.blogspot.com. If you've ever lost your account or found your information to be stolen, you'll know how devastating that is. Please visit her new blog and give her a word of encouragement (and read her story!). Thanks.

GF BASIL PESTO PIZZA RECIPE

For years now, I've been making pizza using Food For Life gluten-free tortillas as the crust. And they're always good, but after visiting Roman Candle in Fitchburg, WI last weekend, I decided to take this pizza making up a notch. At the restaurant, I ordered their gluten-free pesto pizza. It was DELICIOUS. So, of course I had to try to replicate it at home. I will have to say, I actually liked my version even better.

Basil Pesto Gluten Free Pizzas, thin crust - Recipe 

Makes 2 pizzas, 1 serving each, but actually they were filling (especially when accompanied by a green salad) so we each ate 3/4 of a pizza and saved the rest for the next day.

Preheat oven to 460 degrees.

Ingredients:

2 Food for Life gluten-free tortillas. (one tortilla per person) Each tortilla is about 7" diam.

1/2 chopped large onion, sauteed in a bit of olive oil (along with the pepper)

1/2 large red bell or Italian pepper, seeded, chopped, sauteed with the onion

Basil pesto, about 2 T. per tortilla

1 can tomato paste (1/2 can per tortilla)

1 can  (13 oz) chicken breast (drained, of course)

Kalamata olives, chopped

Feta cheese (some)

Roma tomatoes (one for each, thinly sliced)

Mozzarella cheese (just a sprinkling on each pizza)

I used a large jellyroll pan to bake the pizzas, side by side. It worked fine, but next time I will use two of my cast iron skillets (shown above). That might work even better.

Instructions:

Using two tortillas (one each for Mr. C. and me), I spread the basil pesto over each. (A few years ago I raised a ton of basil in the garden and had made and frozen pesto in small batches). Of course, Basil Pesto is available in small jars at the grocery store.

Spread half the tomato paste over each tortilla

Sprinkle the sauteed pepper and onion over each tortilla

Shred chicken and place half a can of chicken on each pizza. (minus a chunk each for Tommy & Smokey who were hanging around, begging).

Place Kalamata olives over the top of each pizza. I didn't put an amount here because we like lots of olives, some people probably wouldn't want as many. (At least I have heard of people like that) ;-)

Sprinkle a nice layer of Feta cheese on top of each pizza - not too thick.

Slice the two Roma tomatoes thin and place them on each pizza.

Bake the pizzas side-by-side in a greased (I used a cooking spray) jellyroll pan or skillets.

Bake at 460 degrees for 9 minutes.

Open oven door and Quickly, sprinkle a wee bit of mozzarella cheese over each pizza. Not too much. I'm trying to keep this a fairly low-calorie, low-sugar, but high protein pizza.

Close oven door and bake another 8-9 minutes.

These pizzas were amazing!, Crispy, so full of flavor, so easy, gluten-free, a minimum of dairy, and no sugar (except for what's already in tomato paste).

I hope you'll try it. And of course you can heat leftovers by putting them on a cookie sheet and into the oven heated to 350 - for a while.  They're much better that way than merely getting them hot in a microwave. Yuk. Who wants soggy pizza!

***

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