Crockpot Cornish Hens

When I know it's going to be a crazy, busy day with office work and homeschooling and a myriad other details, I turn to my crockpot. There's something calming about spending a few minutes in the morning preparing ingredients for the crockpot, knowing that at 6 pm supper will be ready without much more effort on my part.

One of the quick-prep meats I cook in the slow cooker are Cornish hens. I wash the hens inside and out, chop an onion into quarters and stuff them into the cavities, and place them (cavity side up) in the crockpot. I salt and pepper them and add water to the cooker to reach about halfway up the sides of the hens.

Then turn it on low and let it cook for eight hours.

When I remove them at the end of the cooking time, I usually pre-plate them before I place them on the final serving platter. This allows all the water to drain out. It's a little difficult to drain them while holding them over the crockpot. They are fall-apart tender.

Hope this helps you on one of your busy days.

Love,
TCB

Why Can't We Hire a Housekeeper?

I don't like to rant or complain on my blog because.....well, we can get that ANYWHERE, can't we? I even go so far as to try and dissuade my son from saying negative comments by mimicking the music from the old Debbie Downer skit on Saturday Night Live when he tries to go there - WUH - WAH! Remember that? If you can't, don't tell me because it means you're a young'un. And once you're 40-something, well who wants to be reminded there are people MUCH YOUNGER THAN YOU out there?

But back to my original no-complaint blogging rule. Just so you know - I'm breaking it today. I'm stressed, and I want to share it. You should turn away now if you're in a jolly mood.

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Why doesn't anyone in business call you back when they say they will call back??

Why does my neighbor race his motorcycle up and down beside my house until I want to take his ride and smash it into a zillion pieces?? Make that a zillion trillion pieces.

Why does my head hurt??

Why are there weeds taking over my garden beds no matter how many I pull??

Why do we constantly run out of groceries??

Why does gas cost so much??

Why can I not sleep late on Saturday morning - the one morning I'm actually allowed to sleep late??

How come we can't hire a housekeeper??

When did the laundry start quietly multiplying in my laundry room??

Why can't my son finish all his school work without complaining??
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OK, I'm done. Thanks for helping me relieve stress before the weekend. I truly hope yours is happy and stress-free.

TCB

What's Blooming in my Southern Garden in February and March

We have had a super mild winter, so the blossoms have begun peeking their heads through a little earlier than usual this year. Although I've yet to spend a day weeding the garden, there are signs of warm weather sprinkled throughout my landscape.

If you need some ideas to add color to your garden this (usually) bleak time of the year (weather-wise, that is), consider these:

Eastern Redbud (a small tree)

Daffodils (you must plant bulbs in November)

Here's a shy one. It's called Daffodilus Bashfulus.

Viburnum. Mine is a small tree after thriving for about 10 years in the front yard. There are smaller varieties.

Dwarf Nandina are beautiful in the cold winter air because they turn crimson.

Camellia Japonica, of course. A true Southern traditional shrub whose cut flowers look beautiful floating in bowls of water.

And Breath of Spring. This is a photo from last year. My plants are sparsely blooming this year because they received a haircut at a most unfortunate time in the past.

Now you have six new ideas to add to your garden. None of these require a green thumb. After the first season of establishment, you really don't have to do much at all except occasionally trim Viburnum and Breath of Spring and feed them all periodically.

Happy gardening,
TCB

A Limerick of Food (and Love)

There once was a country girl
She never did eat any squirrel
But pancakes and bacon
And venison and gravy
Made the button on her pants take a whirl.

Gotta go drink my protein shake for lunch :(
Love,
TCB

Wintertime Roasted Vegetables

I found myself lacking a vegetable to serve with our supper meal the other evening. And, of course, we must have a vegetable ! (a mom requirement)

I had forgotten all about roasting vegetables. Roasting is the perfect counterpoint to summer's grilled vegetables. And it's so easy. Just plan ahead, as roasting takes about an hour.

Here's what I did:

I cut up whatever vegetables I had on hand - quartered small red potatoes, sliced whole mushrooms, cut up colorful bell peppers and an onion. I put the vegetables in a roasting pan and sprinkled them with extra virgin olive oil. After tossing to distribute the oil evenly over the vegetables, I seasoned them with sea salt, ground black pepper, and a spice such as rosemary or thyme (or a little of both).

Next, I roasted them in a 425 degree oven for 30 minutes; stirred, and roasted about another 30 minutes or until vegetables became fork tender.

The beauty of these vegetables is that you can use whatever you have on hand. The end result is flavorful and tastes like you have spent a lot of time in the kitchen. Only you have to know it took about five minutes to prep everything. :)

Happy eating,
TCB

Freezing Country Camping

Mr. Country Belle just won the Father of the Year Award.

He camped outside by the river behind our house with my son's Cub Scout pack.

"Whatever was so hard about that?" you ask. Camping is FUN.

And generally I would agree with you.

But last Saturday night's temperature dropped to 22 degrees, with the Accuweather's reporting a "real feel" of 9 degrees.

Nine degrees. We don't know what to do with that in the South.

And winds were 20 mph.

I was safe inside the house.

With Pitty-Pat the kitty cat.
And she was being bad.

"I prefer to call it curious," she would say if only she could speak.

To the husband of the year!

Love from your...
TCB

Safety in Numbers

It was a dark and stormy night.....

But all the animals - Brother, Pecker, Frog, Monkey, and Baby - were safely waiting it out under the chair on the ground floor.

Kids.....so cute I had to share.

With Valentine Love,
TCB