Things I’ve Found in My Backyard and around the Web

I found a surprise in our strawberry patch the other day.  A perfectly round nest with 3 eggs.  There are now 5 eggs in the nest.  Busy bird.

She chose a splendid little spot for her nest.  It’s well hidden and there’s a chicken wire fence around the strawberry patch to protect it.  For a while after finding the nest, we didn’t see the mama.  She skitters out of the nest and under the strawberry plants when we come near.  She’s a sparrow.

I did a little sleuthing online to find out about sparrow nests.  Apparently, they are seen as a terrible nuisance and many people destroy the nest and eggs.  It reminds me of the verse that says, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?  Yet not one will fall to the ground apart from the will of the Father.” (Matthew 10:29)  “You are worth more than many sparrows.” (Matthew 10:30b)

Even when we are an unwanted nuisance, God still loves and cherishes us.  Be encouraged!

Fun stuff around the web

I’m on Pinterest. Have you heard of it?  It’s a cool site where you can virtually pin images you find around the web to your own virtual bulletin boards.  You can use it to organize your finds for big projects (like a wedding or kitchen remodel) or just for fun (like my In a Jar board or my Rainbows board).

Special thanks to Eat at Home sponsors

I want to welcome a couple of new site sponsors.

Coupon Cookin’ offers coupons and store deals, as well as great recipes.

My Favorite Recipes Book is a great way to organize your paper-and-ink recipes.  My mom has one of these organizers and loves it.

Plan to Eat is the way to organize your digital recipes.  You can also click and drag them onto a calendar to create a menu and it will produce a grocery list automatically.  Cool!

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Ingredient Spotlight: Strawberries

Who doesn’t love strawberries?

I know there are a few of you out there, like one of my brothers-in-law (brother-in-laws?).  If strawberries aren’t your thing, just turn your head.  Today we’re going all big, red berry!

I was hoping to have our own garden fresh berries for the photo, but ours are still just blooms and green, hopeful berry nubs.  We have 3 square foot boxes filled with berries.  One will produce this year.  The other two were just planted with 50 plants in each box.  Next year should be delicious!

When I went hunting for strawberry recipes on my blog, I was surprised to find just a few that used fresh berries.  I guess we usually just eat them plain.  But here are a couple of my recipes and a post on our square foot garden box of berries:

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Berry Shortcake and Monday’s Celebration

berry shortcake

My husband lucked out this year for his birthday.  His actual day was Thursday, but because our son had soccer practice we decided to celebrate Friday night instead.

Except, the kids thought we should give him his gift on Wednesday night, since it was a fancy new coffee maker.  That way he could enjoy great coffee on his birthday morning.  He has a thing for coffee and even roasts green beans.

On his actual birthday, I didn’t want him to feel we’d done nothing for him, so I made Berry Shortcake.  It’s the same recipe as Strawberry Shortcake, with the addition of blueberries.  Oh so yummy!

And on Friday he got a birthday dinner – his request of meat on the grill, corn on the cob and a variation on his favorite cake, German Chocolate Upside Down Cake.  The recipe for the cake will be coming soon.

Monday’s Celebration

Monday marks the 52nd Menu + Grocery List.  That’s a whole year of free menu planning and grocery list making that has been done for you!

To celebrate there will be a special edition of the menu.

There’s also going to be a giveaway!  You don’t want to miss it!

But first, we get a weekend.  We get to pick our oldest daughter up from the airport on Sunday evening.  She’s been in Bogota, Columbia on a mission trip for 11 days.  I can’t wait to see her again and hear her stories.

What are you doing this weekend?

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Judy’s Strawberry Pie

strawberry-pie-done

My mother-in-law makes the best strawberry pie (and peach using the same recipe).  The crust reminds me of sugar cookies and the glaze enhances the flavor of the strawberries and makes the pie look as good as it tastes. 

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Salad Greens with Berries and Raspberry Vinaigrette Dressing

salad-greens-and-berries-done

I created this salad for a potluck dinner last week.  The combination of the berries, greens, cheese, and onion with the raspberry vinaigrette dressing was very good.  Strawberries dress up everything, don’t you think?

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Strawberry Shortcake

strawberry-shortcake-done

I wish I could say that I was able to make this with strawberries from our garden.  Or anyone else’s garden, for that matter.  Instead I just used grocery store strawberries.  The results still caused me to eat two helpings.  Summer food at it’s best.

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Frozen Fruit Cups

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These fruit cups are part of our Christmas breakfast. They’re great because you can make them ahead of time and the recipe makes a lot.

Gather up your ingredients:

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Yield: 12-15 servings

Ingredients

  • 1 can (12 oz) frozen pineapple juice concentrate, thawed
  • orange juice (2 juice cans full)
  • water (1 juice can full)
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 3 medium firm bananas, sliced
  • 16 oz frozen, sliced, sweetened strawberries
  • 1 can (15 oz) mandarin oranges
  • 1 can (20 oz) crushed pineapple
  • clear plastic cups

Instructions

  1. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.
  2. Ladle into the cups and freeze. I place all the cups on a cookie sheet to keep them upright in the freezer.
  3. To serve, set them out of the freezer for 40-50 minutes or defrost them a bit in the microwave. Feel free to substitute ingredients as you like.
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http://eatathomecooks.com/2008/12/frozen-fruit-cups.html

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