Heerreee, ducky, ducky!

We normally have nesting pairs of mallards here in our cove, but this morning 3 boys were congregating and probably plotting ways to find women. I'm sure they didn't notice how the flame azaleas are popping out on the other shore.

They did notice but ignored the bread I threw down for them. Oh, they wanted it...they were just too shy to paddle over. Or...they noticed and were probably scared of Missy. Oh yes, she was on high alert... Meow! Come on, boys...make my day!

Wordless, wet Wednesday...

Another cruise...

Another cruise is in the works...looks like we'll be heading to Venice at the end of the month. Surely this swine flu craziness will be settled down by then...surely.

Of course it is bad timing for some pretty important family events--Scooter's first birthday; Miss A's 11th; dance recital for three of our girls. Sigh. What's a gal gonna do? Shop and bring back some neat *stuff* probably! And take lots of pictures and bring back memories to share. And work on the family cruise for October for sure.

And, of course, it is bad timing for our economy. But........Life is short...make fun of it! Ciao, y'all!

Aww Monday...

Missy the leader---Scooter, the follower...

The race is on to get to the water bowl first...

Time to wash paws...come on, Missy!

Now we can share lunch! Don't tell anyone though...

Nobody around here likes these two critters. Nope, not a bit. Don't you feel sorry for these two?

Korean Beef with Broccoli recipe

Here is the recipe that I fixed the other night (Sandee requested):

Broccoli w/Sweet Garlic Sauce
2 C. beef stock
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 C. soy sauce
1 t. ginger, minced
½ t. red pepper flakes
1/4 C. sugar
2 bunches of broccoli, chopped
2 T. olive oil
1 ½ T. cornstarch

1. Boil the beef stock. Add the garlic, soy sauce, ginger, red pepper flakes and sugar.
2. In a separate pan, saute the broccoli in the olive oil. Add it to the broth.
3. Using a little of the hot stock mixture, create a slurry with the cornstarch and add it into the entire stock mixture.
4. Allow to simmer for 6-8 minutes until the mixture thickens and serve over rice.

Korean Beef
1# skirt steak
½ C. soy sauce
1/4 C. rice vinegar
1/3 C. scallions, chopped
2 T. sugar
2 T. garlic, minced
1 T. sesame oil
1 ½ t. chili sauce

1. Combine all ingredients. Marinate steak for at least 30 minutes and up to an hour.
2. Grill or broil the steak 2-3 minutes on each side. Allow to rest 5 minutes before slicing.

Now that was the recipe that I found. So what did I learn and/or do differently?

Number 1 is that you mix up the marinade and pour it over the steak and get it to marinating for the whole hour. And since there was no skirt steak in Mayberry, I used bottom round, which worked just fine. And I sliced the steak thinly across the grain.

There was no mention of what to do or not do with the (wonderful) marinade, and of course I know that anything with meat juices has to be cooked, so I simply dumped the marinade into the beef stock mixture for the broccoli, which it needed...and I used three bunches of broccoli...and cooked it a bit longer before I added the broccoli to it. The taste was simply divine...if you like ginger and if you like garlic. Yummm. Dang, I didn't think about taking a photo of it, but I will make this again.

Enjoy your Sunday!

Elbow bumps...

I just heard the latest news--no more handshaking, no more fist bumps. We should all now be doing ELBOW BUMPS!!! Who knew?

Come on people...wash your hands...a lot! Cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze. Stay home if you are sick. This is just common sense stuff your mama taught you to do...and it still holds true today. Enough hysteria already!!! Elbow bump all you want to, but scrub/sanitize those hands!

Dick is going out for our group lake clean up...I'm heading to Haley's house to 'scrap' today. Hmm, wonder who'll have the most fun? We are celebrating National Scrapbook Day today, and her website has some great ideas posted! Gotta go gather up *stuff* to take with me.

Enjoy your Saturday.......what are you doing? Life is short...make fun of it!

May Day views...

This was the view last Friday off our deck...notice all the brown?
And this is the view yesterday...wow, what a difference a week makes! We see green now!

And our flowers are emerging...a few dogwood blooms are now visible outside our bathroom window...flame azalea is peeking out across the cove. And the Lady Slippers are slowly waking up. All of the above will be helped greatly by the gentle rain that is now falling. We need it. Aahhh, spring is finally here on this first day of May.

And speaking of May Day, did any of you gals wear pastel dresses and dance around the May pole at school, weaving colorful streamers over and under to dress the pole? I think we must have done that at Junior High School (shows my age, as it is now called Middle School...and no one knew about any of those other 'dance poles' at that age, so don't even think about those!).

Enjoy your May Day...and your trip down memory lane!