Day one on the Road

We’ve made it to the Dayz Inn in (no hee) Haw  River NC. We tried to take the one hour tour of the town but found we had 55 minutes left. SOOOO we headed to the International Buffet (they had Swedish meatballs, NC style) and overate as always.

Cute sign found in our room:::::

Dear Guest

Due to the popularity of our guest room amenities, our Housekeeping Department now offers these items for sale:

Alarm Clocks………$25.00	Bath Towels…………..$20.00
Coffee Maker……..$50.00	Hand Towel……………$15.00
Hair Dryer…………..$45.00	Sheets/per set………$60.00
Iron/Board(ea)……$30.00	Blankets………………..$50.00
Pillows………………..$25.00	Comforters…………….$80.00

Should you decide to take any of these articles instead of obtaining them from the Executive Housekeeper, we will assume that you approve a corresponding charge and will apply it to your to your credit card.

Thank You.

That's better than the one that said

“NO REFUNDS AFTER 15 MINUTES OR IF BED IS USED”

Grenville

Where’s Kate?

The royal wedding was all over the news recently and in that story William won over Kate.
Here, William was waiting patiently for his owner, Kate, to return from a yard sale outing.

What’s taking her so long ?

Doesn’t she KNOW I’m waiting ?

Here she comes . . .
She might have some treats !

 

Can you tell Kate, I’ve been a good model – Thanks!

Home Sweet Nest

We’re foster parents (sort of) to robin quadruplets.  Here’s what was in the little cedar tree on the front lawn earlier this week. The female robin begins incubating, or warming, the eggs after the last egg is laid, and then continues incubating for an average of 12 days. She often sits on the eggs for 40-minute periods, then stands on the rim of the nest, turns the eggs, and flies off for a break.

Within the past couple of days . . . the eggs hatched.

Baby robins are undeveloped, with very few feathers and bulging eyes. You can see how large bird eyes are beneath their transparent skin and translucent skull. When their feathers grow in, only a small portion of those huge eyes are visible.

Down feathers grow in fairly quickly to make the nestlings a little fluffy, so they can stay warm when their mother isn't incubating.

Mama and papa robin have been kept busy making frequent food runs. The young weigh about 5.5 g when they hatch. Fed by both parents, they each receive an average of 35 to 40 meals a day.

When they first hatch, they don’t “know” their parents, but know the parents have arrived with food by the”bounce” they feel on the nest, or on a sunny day by the shadow their parents cast over them. This is their signal to pop up with their mouths open. Gradually, the baby robins start learning the sounds their parents make. By the time their eyes open, they already know their parents' by their “voices.”Baby robins are voracious eaters and can consume up to 14 feet of earthworms every day.It takes only about 2 weeks or 14 days for these small and unformed birds to grow a full body covering of feathers. By then, their eyes are open and they are able to hop and flutter their wings. By the time the young robins are about a week old, the nest is getting crowded. They can keep themselves warm by snuggling together. At this point, the mother robin starts sleeping on a tree branch, but clearly in sight of the nest. Often, she feeds the young cautiously. Robins are so fearful of alerting predators that they don't go near the nest if they notice any observers, human or otherwise.

Baby robins jump from their nest at about 13 days. It takes them another 10-15 days to become strong fliers and independent birds.

Hopefully, these young’uns will still be OK by the time we return from our NC road trip next weekend. We hope to watch them grow.

The miracle of new life is simply amazing and very beautiful.

Crispy Fried & Baked Chicken

Easier fried chick is what a Cook’s Illustrated article promised and, since we are living in the South, you all must know that good home-fried chicken is a must – just not ALL the time.

This recipe calls for soaking the brining the chicken pieces in a buttermilk brine, cooking on the stovetop and then finishing in an oven set on high heat. Buttermilk is not an everyday food item in our home, although we have heard that some folks enjoy it regularly. It’s sometimes available fresh in the dairy section of our local supermarket, but tends to be costly and would spoil before we used it all.  Here’s a great substitute, we found in the baking products aisle – powdered buttermilk. Mix with water as needed; refrigerate after opening and it lasts longer than fresh.

Crispy Fried (& Baked) Chicken

If you prefer, a 4 lb chicken, cut into 8 pieces can be used instead of chicken parts; also skinless chicken pieces, but the meat will come out drier. Skin-on chicken pieces work best for this recipe. After all – what’s fried chicken without the crispy topping?

• 3 ½ lbs bone-in, skin-on chicken parts, trimmed of excess fat
• 1 ¼ C buttermilk
• Table salt
• Dash hot sauce
• 3 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp paprika (smoked is best)
• ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 C unbleached, all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 ¾ C vegetable oil

1. Whisk 1 C buttermilk, 1 tbsp salt, hot sauce, 1 tsp black pepper, ¼ tsp garlic powder, ¼ tsp paprika, pinch of cayenne together in large bowl. Add chicken and turn to coat. Refrigerate, covered at least 1 hour or up to overnight.
2. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400°.
3. Whisk flour, baking power, 1 tsp salt, and remaining 2 tsp black pepper, ¾ tsp garlic powder, ¾ tsp paprika, and remaining cayenne together in large bowl. Add remaining ¼ C buttermilk to flour mixture and mix with fingers until combined and small clumps form.
4. Working with one piece of chicken at a time, dredge pieces in flour mixture, pressing onto pieces to form thick, even coating. Place dredged chicken on large plate, skin side up.
5. Heat oil in 11-inch straight sided sauté pan over medium-high heat. Carefully place chicken pieces in pan, skin side down and cook 3-5 minutes until golden brown. Carefully flip and cook until golden brown on second side.
6. Transfer chicken to wire rack set on rimmed baking sheet. Bake chicken 15-20 min.until instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part reads 160° for breasts, 175° for legs and thighs.
7. Remove pieces from oven as they reach correct temperature. Let rest 5 minutes before serving.

Heading out again…

This time to Bryson City NC to ride the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad.  While we are there we will also stop by the Smoky Mountain Train museum which claims to be “One of Americas Top Ten Lionel Museums.”

So get ready for lots of pictures from both of us.

Everything is Rose-y

Roses are among several types of flowers we have never grown in the F&P gardens. Luckily, we have neighbors who grow many colorful varieties.  We appreciate and admire their efforts and the everlasting beauty of a rose – in red and other colors.

This colorful collection is from the front yard of a home along Main Street that we pass on our weekend walks.

The roses are growing over a split-rail fence very close to the sidewalk. Their fragrance was a blend of lovely scents that filled the air as we passed.

This was the prettiest one blooming last week.Curiosity about songs with rose in the title, led to an online search with these results. Most likely, there are many more.

A Rose and a Kiss	Bed of Roses
Black Rose	Blue Roses
China Roses	Cracklin’ Rose
Fable of the Rose	Honeysuckle Rose
I Never Promised You a Rose Garden	Kiss from a Rose
La Vie En Rose	Like a Rose
Moonlight and Roses	Must Have Been the Roses
My Rambler Rose	My Twilight Rose
My Wild Irish Rose	Rose
Rose of My Heart	Rose Parade
Roses are Red (My Love)	Roses for My Friends
Roses of yesterday	Rosie
Rosy Cheeks	Run for the Roses
Sally Go Round the Roses	San Antonio Rose
Second Hand Rose	Sign of the Rose
Sweet Gypsy Rose	The Ladder of Roses
The Rose	Where the Wild Roses Grow
Wild Irish Rose	Yellow Rose of Texas

Do you know more? As always, no prizes or giveaways, just fun stuff.

Frog & PenguINN Crew (repost)

Apologies to all those who posted a comment to this post, which was previously sent to Blogger on Thursday, May 12 – somehow the entire post  disappeared from the blog TODAY, Friday the 13th. The frog crew (and the head penguin) requested the Re-posting. Never argue with the “help.”
There’s been less time for blog posting this week as we have been doing  yard word at The Frog and PenguINN  before our NC road  next week.  Of course, we will be posting along the way. There’s a lot of spring planting – veggies and flowers – being done now.
This garden crew was hard at work earlier today.

This group keeps the gardens looking good and stopped for a group shot this afternoon.
Other frogs hang out in the flower beds.
Still more frogs are in the Welcome group .
IF you were curious as to what penguins do to help – it’s very little. Someone has to be in charge of the frog groups, and here’s the head  penguin taking a break (as always) on the front lawn this afternoon.

Friday Funnies

Why where these gulls waiting in line . . .in this parking lot?

Take out – of course!Some had an order TO GO

Herbed Chicken with Wild Rice

Last weekend, friends M&B gave us a slow cooker recipe card magazine when joined us for dinner at The Frog & PenguINN.  Looking through it, I found several recipes we’ll be sampling in the next few weeks, especially when after  a long day outside neither of us wants to cook – as much as we enjoy it.

This recipe was tried lover the weekend.  Since I didn’t have all the exact ingredients available, and didn’t want to go shopping,  substitutions were made as noted with asterisks (*)

Herbed Chicken with Wild Rice

• 6 bone-in chicken breast halves, skin removed *
• 3 C cubed red potatoes
• 1 lb. fresh baby carrots *
• 1 package (14 oz.) frozen pearl onions, thawed *
• 2 celery ribs, thinly sliced
• 1 can condensed cream of chicken soup *
• ½ C water
• ½ C lemon juice
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• ½ tsp pepper
• ¼  tsp salt

Note: substitutions in order – bone-in chicken thighs,  whole carrots peeled and cut in lengths, cut-up sweet onion, cream of mushroom soup.

1. Combine carrots, potatoes, onions and celery in a 5 or 6 qt. slow cooker. Top with chicken.
2. Combine the soup (undiluted), water, lemon juice, thyme parsley, pepper and salt. Pour over chicken and cover.
3. Cook on low for 8-9 hours or until a meat thermometer reads 170°. 
4. Serve with wild rice.

Then you can enjoy dessert – or maybe the other way around?

Running on (Nearly) Empty

Good song title for Jackson Browne (Running on Empty) but not a good thing for cars. When it seems that prices are rising every few days, most folks are trying to squeeze every possible mile out of a tankful of gas.

A recent AAA (Automobile Association of America) email warned about the dangers of  running near empty – to  people AND their vehicles. While some (or none) of these could happen, it seemed timely information worth sharing:

• Being stranded if a possibility if you run out of gas with no filling station around. Worse yet, your car could stall  in the middle of a busy roadway.
• Safety might be an issue since functions like power steering and brakes could fail if the engine stops.
• Running a car low on fuel can cause sediment in the bottom of the tank to clog the fuel pump pickup, fuel filter or even the fuel injectors.
• Keeping the motor running while filling up could also stir up sediment and sludge.
• Failing to keep a minimum fuel level could cause the electric fuel pump in the tank to overheat. Replacement costs might top $500 for parts and labor.

This past weekend, newscasters have predicted a possible drop in gas prices over the next few weeks. In our area, the prices shown above have held steady at 3 stations for the past few days, including the weekend. We’re taking a road trip to NC next week and will be posting as we go and will be sure to note gas prices on the way, then fill up anyway.

What’s going on in your part of the world – have prices been holding steady or skyrocketing?