Playing Catch-up...

African chicken peanut soup

Thought I'd try to play 'catch-up' a bit here. Made this soup last week, ate on it for 2-3 days and froze the rest. We really like it! Sent a pic of it to my cousin in New Orleans. She asked for the recipe and made it herself yesterday. 

Vic (one of my followers who doesn't have a blog - I think) mentioned in her comment that the cheese biscuits sounded good and was looking for some recipes. Here's the one I use... it's so simple and good thought maybe I ought to share:

Great Cheese Biscuits

Ingredients:

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1 cup melted butter

1 cup sour cream

2 cups self-rising flour (which I normally don't have... but can make by substituting 2 cups AP flour mixed with 2  teaspoons baking powder and 1 teaspoon salt)

Preheat oven to 425. Mix all ingredients. Then either spoon into well greased mini-muffin tin (makes 24 mini-muffins) or cut with biscuit cutter. Bake for 10 mins (till golden). Cool on wire rack for 5 mins.

I have also halved this recipe to make 12 mini-muffins for just the 3 of us.

There's not much to tell here as since my last eye surgery and the Arctic freeze we haven't gotten out much. 

Ferals doings fine. We have one raccoon that comes by every evening around 9pm... looking for a hand-out. He stands up on the Kitchen French doors and basically says "I'm here!" (sometimes he even bangs on it) We give him bread or cookies or whatever is on hand that day. One day he got a left-over cream puff... he was excited. I think raccoons have a sweet tooth... 

And we still have the 2 feral cats (the gray we call Shadow and the black we call Missy). They come by almost daily... and are usually waiting by the door in the morning. And if it's really cold, sometimes they will sleep under the heat lamps on the back porch. 

But we still get an occasional coyote in the yard... even though we had coyote rollers put on the back 6 ft fence. We think one comes in from our next door neighbor's retaining wall. He scares away easily, but it's still a concern for the ferals. 

However, it is mating season and our local newspaper says to be alert for seeing more feral activity (coyotes and bobcats). They recommend keeping a close eye on small pets when outside and not to call Animal Control unless an animal is acting sick or weird. Clapping your hands or banging a pot (we use an air-horn) will make them run away. 

And our crows have gotten quite comfortable... both in the front and in the back. They 'caw' whenever they see us and hang about the trees waiting for their peanuts or cheetos. Some are a bit greedy and try to get 2-3 peanuts or cheetoes in their beak at one time... occasionally one does it, most give up and take just one.

Our youngest son came by yesterday afternoon and said that the crows are all cawing and hanging about in the front when he came in. We said we know - they have gotten to know that we are OK with it.

Closing this before it gets too long and boring. Will post a few memes or pics I like.

and

I would buy this coffee...

and lastly I'm going to post 2 poems that have been running around in my head lately... not sure why. But both these poems I read years ago and they somehow made a point with me.

"Loyalty" by Berton Braley.

HE MAY BE six kinds of a liar,
He may be ten kinds of a fool,
He may be a wicked highflyer
Beyond any reason or rule;

There may be a shadow above him
Of ruin and woes to impend,
And I may not respect, but I love him,
Because — well, because he's my friend.

I know he has faults by the billion,
But his faults are a portion of him;
I know that his record's vermilion,
And he's far from the sweet Seraphim;
But he's always been square with yours truly,
Ready to give or to lend,
And if he is wild and unruly,
I like him — because he's my friend.

I criticize him but I do it
In just a frank, comradely key,
And back-biting gossips will rue it
If ever they knock him to me!
I never make diagrams of him,
No maps of his soul have I penned;
I don't analyze — I just love him,
Because — well, because he's my friend.

and

"Outwitted" by Edwin Markham

He drew a circle that shut me out—
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.
But Love and I had the wit to win:
We drew a circle that took him in! 

OK, yes, I know I've jumped around a lot here... but that's just how my mind works. (Deal with it! - no, just kidding)

Really closing this now. Wishing you all a good weekend. Thanks for being still here - if you got this far.  

Hugs (virtually),

Rian