It has been a long time since the last blog. The new year has come and gone and it seems like people around town are less friendly...no more holiday spirit or cheer. There are no more lights and sparkle and no festivities on the horizon. It is my least favorite time of year. We have to get back into a routine, the grind some might say and my kids are showing signs of stress and craziness because of it. They are misbehaving to put it mildly. I have to say that I do feel lucky living in California, because the weather can be so fine here. Today it was 65 degrees and spring like. I felt like the weather pixies were throwing me a life preserver. I got to pick perfect leaves of baby bok choi from my garden bed to throw into a stir fry. I also had lunch on my deck and got to observe the resident wildlife. We have many bird species that frequent our backyard. We feed the hummingbirds (Ana's) year round and they are quite pugnacious, buzzing around our heads and chattering to each other. They even tell us when they are out of food and I can imagine them saying...the NERVE of these people to let our feeders go dry! We also feed various song birds. Some are year round residents and some come for the winter. It is always fun to watch them at the feeders. I love our doves who mate for life and come to our yard to eat the seed that has fallen to the ground. They have such kind, sweet faces and I imagine them taking care of each other like married couples do. My favorite birds to watch, however, in the yard are the Western Scrub Jays (Aphelocoma californica). They are amazingly smart birds with large brains and it shows. I don't feed them everyday, but they know what I am doing. I wonder if they are spying on me because on the days that I do bring them almonds and other treats they swoop down within minutes to grab the nuts and carry them away to stash them for later use. They are known for caching food and apparently can remember where they put hundreds of seeds. I find that incredible as I misplaced my sunglasses in my house today and that is only one lost item. I could never remember where I put multiple things. According to studies, the jays can anticipate needing food in the future. I give them a lot of credit. The jays who visit my yard are not afraid of me and I can sit and eat lunch and watch the show. One jay sits up in a tree next door and another sits in our persimmon or asian pear tree waiting. One will fly down squawking, grab a nut and bury it in my yard or my neighbors. The next bird will do the same thing. I have heard that they will move their buried caches if they think another bird has been watching them too closely. I love to think that there are almonds buried all over my yard ready to be eaten when bellies are empty. I have never seen them find and eat a buried nut though and I think they rarely need to as I feed them often.
As the month wears on I am sure that the temperature will drop again and we will probably get our share of foggy days that make me feel overwhelmed. I do have the jays though and I look forward to sharing nuts with them and watching them do their jay thing.
I have a couple of food ideas...there are still delicious almonds at Sam Cabral's stand at the Davis Farmer's Market. The best variety are the olive oil and salted ones. I like to make a mix of these almonds, organic dried cherries (from Mt. Moriah Farms), and not so local dark chocolate. The mixture in your mouth is sensational!
Next is a recipe for Meyer Lemon Muffins. Meyers are around now and are wonderfully fragant and delicious. This is a yummy morning treat.
Ingredients:
2 c unbleached flour (can use ww pastry flour)
1 c plus 2 T sugar, divided (can use less)
1 t baking soda
1 t salt
3 Meyer lemons, divided
2 eggs
1 c milk (or soy milk)
1/2 c butter, melted
1/2 t Ceylon cinnamon (or other cinnamon)
Directions:
Heat oven to 400..combine flour, 1 c sugar, baking soda and salt in bowl. Set aside
Cut 2 lemons into 1 inch pieces. Put them in blender and pulse until lemon is finely chopped. In a small bowl, lightly beat the eggs. Add milk, butter and chopped lemon. Stir
Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the lemon mix. Stir just until all ingredients are moistened.
Spoon batter into well buttered cups of muffin pans, filling each half full
Combine the remaining 2 T sugar and the cinnamon. Sprinkle about 1/4 t over each muffin. Cut the remaining lemon into 9 paper thin slices, cut each slice in half. Top each muffin with half a slice of lemon.
Bake about 20 minutes, until golden brown. Run a small spatula or knife around each of the muffins to loosen, remove from pan and cool on a wire rack. Serve warm YUMMY...
