Splendid Little Stars: December 2013

Thursday, December 26, 2013

a few favorites

(very random)

In the Spring of 2011, we re-nested 3 baby barred owls. This is "Barry," the first baby owl, so named by the neighborhood children.
I blogged about the owls:
Re-nesting
Baby Owl #2

I love exploring nature with my camera. The tiny details of flowers fascinate me. Sometimes I'm lucky and capture a creature as well. This photo is my blog avatar which I've used since I started blogging in January of 2009.

I love to hike, especially in the mountains. This photo was taken at the end point of a hike in Lake Louise, Canada--The Plain of Six Glaciers. It is one of my all-time favorite hikes. The scenery along the entire route is stunning. To the tea house is about 3.5 miles with an elevation gain of 1200 feet.

photos of the hike on AlbertaWow

I love the beach and the ocean. I grew up 3 hours from the Eastern shore of the US, so trips to the beach were frequent. This is a photo of Cupecoy, a beach on a favorite Caribbean island--St. Maarten.

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Eager Oliver is...

Ebulliant!

He is Enormously Enamored with his new catnip toys!

no Ennui here!

Why this toy is so scrumptious, it MUST be Edible!

Friday, December 13, 2013

child + dog

This picture was unintentionally over exposed when taken. I do like that version, but decided to play with the photo in PicMonkey. Now it's edited a bit. To me, this scene seems to have a timeless, ethereal quality.

It was taken on a trip to the Caribbean island of St. Maarten in Winter 2012.

Friday, December 6, 2013

Apple Cranberry Cobbler

My daughter and I made this dish for Thanksgiving dessert and it was oh so yummy!

INGREDIENTS: (Measurements are approximate. This fills an 11" diameter round 1¾ inch deep dish baker well.)
4 granny smith apples or other tart apples (I like McIntosh when I can get them.), thinly sliced

½ C heaping, fresh whole cranberries
1 orange-- zest and 1/3 C juice
1 lemon-- zest and ¼ C juice

spices--2 t cinnamon, ¼ t freshly grated nutmeg, ¼ t cardamom

¼ C white sugar
¼ C brown sugar

½ C pecans, slightly broken
butter
pie crust dough for one pie

sugar crystals (a few tablespoons)

DIRECTIONS: Into a bowl add the following:
lemon juice
orange juice
spices

sugars

orange and lemon zest

Cut cranberries in half and add to bowl. Stir.

Add sliced apples and mix till apples are well coated.

Lightly butter a baking dish and spread the apple mixture into it. Sprinkle with the nuts.

Dot with just a little bit of butter if you wish. I used about 1 t.

Roll out the pie dough and cut with cookies cutters. Dip the top of each into the sugar crystals and place on top of the apples.

Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes or however long it takes to very lightly brown the edges of the pie dough cookies.

NOTES:
1. We made this dish for Thanksgiving by "intuition." I re-made it today to get some measurements. However, this is more of an idea than an actual recipe. You can add ingredients in whatever proportion you like.

2. I like to make a dessert of this nature less sweet especially if I'm going to eat it with ice cream. The amount of sugar in this recipe is about right for me. The dish is still a bit tart which I like. You may wish to add more sugar. This was delicious the next day for breakfast. Yep. We made a lot and there was some left over.

3. We used a clay baking dish on Thanksgiving and I used one today. I like how the clay keeps the cobbler moist.

4. I was inspired to make this by Rocky Mountain Woman's amazing Apple Cranberry Tart. It's different from mine, but it was the inspiration. She has wonderful photos and great directions, too! So do go check it out! One day, I'll make her tart, too!

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