Wildlife in the City

To start off this post, I hope all you Mommas out there had a Happy Mother's Day this past weekend...and if you're not a momma, then I hope you remembered your momma, or someone who is like a momma to you!  :-)

We've been watching a few mommas here (and sometimes just their kids), too!  Our whole family has recently enjoyed watching our city wildlife prance through the yard, and inspect our neighborhood and it's surroundings.  

Here, Mom and Dad Goose brought their goslings over to the neighbor's.  

 The neighborhood watch was on high alert from the roof next door, making sure no enemies were approaching...and we were safely watching from an upstairs window.  Momma geese are not to be reckoned with!

 Later that same evening, I found a tree frog clinging to our glass door.  Was kind of intriguing to watch him crawl all over the door from this perspective with his sticky feet.

Then I found a sea turtle on my kitchen floor....
OH, WAIT!  That must be Nelly's!  :-)

 Yesterday, the kids were out behind our house in the woods playing.  Lauren came bursting into the house yelling that I needed to come right away to see the babies.  


Uh, okay!


There were three baby raccoons climbing around.  They are quite adorable, I must say.  At this age, the momma must have just recently left them and they were not smart enough to be afraid of us, yet.  We didn't touch them, but watched them for a few minutes....and oohed and ahhed and made cooing noises...  :-)  They were chortling happily back at us.  

 Of course this was the most exciting thing to happen in the neighborhood so far, so all the kids had to come see.

 The kids constructed a fort so they could keep an eye out for more wildlife.  Isn't it funny how kids are always making forts.  I remember making forts inside the house under the kitchen table when I was a kid.  

Then, this morning, Nelly was looking out the back window.  Suddenly, she yelled, "Mom, come here, someone's walking through our yard."  Since that's not common, I came to check it out.  Expecting to see a human, I was a little surprised to find a pair of mallard ducks were the "someone" she was referring to.  The Mr. had already made his way into the tall weeds before I could get his picture.  Mrs. decided she had to check out my newly planted asparagus patch first.  Hmm....do ducks eat asparagus?  

 Speaking of asparagus, I found some fresh at our local corner market store.  They were delicious with my turkey tacos for lunch. These tacos, by the way, are a great way to use leftover turkey.  Shred it up, add a little olive oil to a pan with some fresh garlic and then saute the turkey with a sprinkle of cumin, onion powder and chili powder until warm.  Place turkey in a tortilla with a little cheese and then use the same skillet you just warmed the turkey in to warm your tortilla's until golden.  Yum!  Asparagus was saute'd (sp?) in a little butter and salt, just until bright green,warm, but still a little crunchy.

Here's another veggie dish you might like found on For the Love of Cooking.  I love this dish!  I took this photo before it was cooked, and before the parmesan cheese and Thyme was added.  The photo of it cooked is one I borrowed from the recipe site (sorry, it copied a little blurry).  If you happen to get leftovers of this, they jazz up an omelet perfectly!   The recipe for this is below the picture.

Vegetable Tian

2 tbsp olive oil (divided)

1 large sweet yellow onion cut in half and sliced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1-2 russet potatoes, unpeeled

1 zucchini

1 yellow squash

3 large Roma tomatoes

Sea salt, freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

Dried thyme, to taste

1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese     

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Coat a baking dish with olive oil cooking spray. Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add the onions and saute until translucent, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another 60 seconds. Spread the onion mixture on the bottom of the greased baking dish.

Slice the potatoes, zucchini, squash and tomatoes in 1/4 inch thick slices. Layer them alternately in the dish on top of the onions, fitting them tightly into a spiral, making only one layer. Season with sea salt, black pepper and dried thyme, to taste. Drizzle the last tablespoon of olive oil over the top.

Cover the dish with tin foil and bake for 35 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender. Uncover and sprinkle the Parmesan cheese on top and bake for another 25-30 minutes or until browned. Enjoy!