Sweet potato gnocchi

Camera still not working, so you have to put up with some blurry videos and screen grabs :-(

This morning when I got up to feed Stephen at 4:45 I had a vision of sweet potato gnocchi-- gnocchi are fat doughy pasta nuggets usually made with regular spuds. We already used all of our potatoes in the behl puri and in aloo gobi.

Here's how I made them:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup packed cooked sweet potato (7 minutes in the microwave made it nice and mushy and sweet)
1/2 cup water
garlic powder, lemon pepper, salt and oregano to taste.

Knead the dough until a ball forms, then divide into six balls. roll each ball into a rope with 3/4 inch diameter. cut into one-inch pieces, press lightly with tines of a fork.

drop into boiling water and cook until they float. Serve with fresh chopped basil, sliced olives, salt and olive oil... MMMMM!

Lovable laughter

This one has sound, so get your headphones ready.
In case you're wondering, I had to jump up and down and flail my arms like a muppet to get this footage.

Happy in the morning

This is for you, Mom.

Feeling kicky

Salad rolls and a heated tatami!

Can I just take a moment to marvel at how genius the Japanese are? What could be more appropriate on a nippy night than snuggling under a tablecloth that's actually a comforter and heated blanket while eating sushi and drinking green tea with friends?

Here's a little video of Saya rolling her sushi with a bamboo mat.

Audubon State Park

Saturday was a near-perfect day: Joe and I slept in (a little) after a long-- long-- Friday night. Then we packed up a picnic lunch and headed with my folks to the John James Audubon Park in Henderson, Ky. We dined in the shade of Sassafrass and Maple trees on sandwiches, spring mix salad with basamic vinaigrette, blue corn chips, guacamole, farm-stand strawberries and chocolate chip angel food. Bluebirds were nesting across the way and Carolina wrens were chudle-lee-chudleing in the distance.
Before heading out on a hike, we stopped to watch the hummingbird feeders.
The top photo has a male ruby-throat, and this photo shows two females.
After our hike, we enjoyed the AC in the bird observation deck, where I saw a tufted titmouse (he was shy, so his tuft is down), a pileated woodpecker, chickadees, jays and cardinals.
In the museum, they had some interesting animals, like this Eastern Box Turtle eating a grape. And this ultra-adorable frog.

Our backyard just got bluer

On Friday I notices some of the bluberries, which have been green for a month, began to blush. Today I snapped this shot... visions of bluberry muffins dancing on my tongue. Yes. My taste buds have an imagination.
As if one miracle wasn't enough, we've finally got our long-awaited, much sought-after, often anticipated pair of bluebirds at the nest box. Here's the female in action. Sorry my hand was so shaky.

Calico bunnies

Joe and I drove out to Todd County on Saturday morning to explore some Mennonite businesses. I like shopping off U.S. 68/80, where all the venues are marked with makeshift billboards that say things like "Books 3/4 mile ---> 1843" or "Wood furniture, bicycles, flowers." We first went to the Country Barn, a popular garden center with beautiful hanging baskets, trays of seedling herbs and farm produce. We always find this nursery by looking for the Jefferson Davis monument that spikes the horizon behind it. This is the South, remember.

We followed a string of signs and arrows to the house of a Mennonite family that sells books. We purchased a Kentucky Bird book that has kept me entertained for hours this weekend. Then we drove further down 1843 to the furnature/bicycle/flower shop. At first, we couldn't find the shop keepers but just beyond a greenhouse we saw minature horses and cages full of very active speckled creatures. Enjoy!

Microcosm

I already knew several reasons my cilantro wasn't doing well... For one, I grew it from seed in my house and it got very gangly from lack of light. Then I transferred it outside and it had a bit of culture shock with a week of full sun which turned into a week of no sun and nighttime frosts. Half its little leaves were face-down in the dirt and the rest had to learn to be strong and stretch toward the sun.

But if those weren't enough obstacles, this morning I discovered several other reasons my cilantro isn't doing well. Can you spot the three critters in this photo?
And if you're as crazy as me... you can watch my inchworm video:

I like the part where the ant knocks him off his course.

Bison snacks

OK, I've actually eaten a buffalo burger before -- at the Indiana State Fair -- it was pretty good. But the snack I'm referring to here is GRASS, which the LBL bison herd enjoys in abundance. Here's a little video.

Chatt Critters

"Always keep your chin down" -- Joe says that should be the motto of the sea horse.

These are Barbour's Sea Horses... taken Sunday at the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga. I don't think I could ever get tired of watching the cuteness that abounds at that place. I'm considering another career change.

Moody caterpillars (Food Quiz below)

My brand of humor.

While I'm waiting for more guesses on Food Quiz #3, I thought I'd share a little video Joe found on the web.