Kindness

I don't even have many words for this. It just breaks my heart.



What is wrong with people!? :(

CHALLENGE: Help someone out today!
Show a little kindness. The world needs it.

Griffin

My fluffy kitty Griffin loves going for litte strolls in the back yard with me. He doesn't get to go out often, but he's always begging at the door. We got some snow the other day (not much of it this winter), and he thought he wanted to go outside to check it out. Once out there he changed his mind. He's about as much a fan of being in the snow as I am. :/

It's Always Grilling Season

We love to grill. All year. Sunshine, rain, snow.... doesn't matter. I've ruined a grill cover or two chiping the ice away to get 'er going.

And one of our favorite things to grill is pizza. No pizza tastes as good as a grilled pizza. Especially when the combination of toppings is as perfect as what I chose last night. It was my best ever. I was worried it would be an odd combination, but my BBQ-Pepperoni-Hot Turkey Sausage-Pineapple-Tomato-Hot Pepper pizza turned out simply amazing. Sweet, tangy, spicy, smokey..... delicious. All topped off with my favorite brew from right here in the mitten.

It's too cold to bike, rollerblade, swim - all the summertime things I'm anxious to do - but when I'm at the grill with a beer in hand I'd almost think it was summer.... if we hadn't gotten inches of snow just hours after I finished. :)

Maybe it really is winter?

I am not a winter person. In fact, I usually despise it. So I've had no complaints this year about the lack of snow, ice, and cold. Zero. But I do have to admit that when we had a very, very heavy snow the other day, I was quite pleased. We hopped in my husband's truck and went for a country drive (thank goodness because my car NEVER would have made it in that snow.) It truly was a winter wonderland.

Maybe it's a matter of "absence makes the heart grow fonder", but for once, I remembered and appreciated just how beautiful winter can be.

Winter Warmth

It felt so nice this weekend to go out and enjoy the unseasonably warm weather we've been having this winter. Though it's been warmer than any winter I can remember, being Michigan it has still been very grey and dreary. This perfect combination of winter "warmth" and sunshine was too much to pass up. I spent some time at our favorite metro park with my husband and my father, and it was a perfect afternoon.

But what REALLY made my day, were the chickadees! They landed on us time and time again to take seed we offered. I love chickadees, and they sure added that magic touch to the afternoon.

Finally!! I made restaurant-tasting Thai food at home!

I have tried several times to make my beloved coconut curry from scratch. I've tried them all - red, yellow, green. It never seems to work out right. On top of finding a really good recipe, I also finally broke down and purchased the one ingredient I swore I would never use - fish sauce. FISH. SAUCE. (Yuck! - just the sound of it!) But it has made ALL the difference.

So I gave this new recipe a whirl and was so excited that it actually tasted like the red curry I get at the restaurant. *Squeal* You don't understand - I love Thai food. I mean, like I REAAALLLY LOVE Thai food.


It's pretty easy and I found everything I needed to use at Meijer. I did, however, use regular coconut milk instead of light coconut milk. My thai food is the one place I will not sacrifice or cut corners.

I added a LOT more crushed red pepper than the recipe called for. I went a little heavy to start, tasted it when it was done and still added some more.

The recipe can be found HERE at MyRecipes.com.

I also made it a second night without the chicken - just mushrooms, onion, green onion and garnished with cilantro. Voila! Coconut soup. But it you do it that way be sure to use extra coconut milk.




Without the chicken to soak up some of the marinade it was a little too concentrated, so I wish I'd had more coconut milk to dilute it a little. Still really yummy though!

Out On A Limb

Such a beautiful animal. I was so happy this one hung around as I stood there on the side of the road snapping shot after shot.

I'm posting this first shot on Sweet Shot Tuesdays. :)