I typically love Saturdays, especially now that we have more down time to have our own adventures. Yesterday we had the kids' bowling wind up - ten pin bowling, plaques and pizza. It was fun for all who came. I'm going to miss everyone from the alley - they became such a regular part of our Saturdays! It was also date night last night. Kyle and I watched an episode of Glee, rented 'Unstoppable' (loved it, and found myself screaming at the television on multiple occasions) and ate the yummiest homemade potato chips (from
The Vegetarian Meat and Potatoes Cookbook) and onion dip. Not boring old onion dip from a container.. or made with the chemical laden boxed onion soup mix. This was real caramelized onions... and it tasted better than any onion dip I've ever had before. It's not exactly a light dip with the cream cheese, mayo and sour cream, but how many dips can claim they are truly light? I found the recipe on
Eat Me, Delicious, and almost kept it same. I decided I didn't need to oil, though... it has enough fat in it! It worked wonderfully. Yummy!
Unfortunately, yesterday had a terrible feeling lingering above it all day long. In the morning, as I was eating my breakfast, I heard a sound that made me leap from my chair and exclaim, "The babies!". I ran out the back door to see the two baby squirrels I was just visiting with were still there... but there were three crows circling overhead crying out a horrible sound. The babies seemed pretty safe for the time being. I ran to tell Kyle about the crows, and he came up while I ran upstairs to get dressed. My plan was to run out and scare the crows off. I had just gotten into my bedroom when I heard him curse and say "The crows got two of them!" I admit that I did not handle this in the most mature manner. I flipped out. I cried. I screamed. I got mad at Kyle (and feel awful about it!). I cried some more. I couldn't breathe. The two babies the crows got were in my neighbour's driveway. They weren't the ones who were in our backyard feasting on seeds, they were the other two in the litter. I assume they were trying to get up to, or down from, their nest since it's in the tree in front of my neighbour's yard. One of the babies was still twitching, and Avery wanted to run out and save it. How heartbreaking! Kyle gathered the bodies in a box, and took them out to the woods at the end of our street. I cried some more. I stood in the backyard in the pouring rain, prepared to chase any crows away. I, with the help of my mother and husband, came up with a plan for saving the remaining two squirrels. In the Fall I got a big cage from the local Humane Society. Kyle pulled it out of our shed and we tried to coax them into the cage with food, but that didn't work. Then I pulled out the kids' nets and tried to catch them that way. I was successful at trapping them, but they both managed to get away. I could barely sleep last night knowing they were on their own. I am determined today to get them to a safe place. I will then call a wildlife rehabilitator and see if they can help me deal with this in the right way. I feel so much for these babies - they're defenseless, having not been taught the squirrel rules yet. I really don't want to fail them; they deserve a fighting chance. Wish me luck today!
Edited to add! Guess what we just did? We caught Stonewall!!! Well, my hero husband caught him! I could not be happier that we finally have him in a safe place. He has some of the rat food, and we plan on buying more food later. We also have water and a bed in there (complete with towels) as well as a bunch of sticks he can chew up. I've been reading that a lot of items from nature should be left in the cage, so we have plans to gather some. Happy, happy, happy! One down, one more to go!
For dinner last night I made a slow cooker Dal from
Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker. I served it with basmati rice, naan bread and some samosas I made from
Vegan with a Vengeance. I wasn't the biggest fan of the Dal - it was pretty bland for me, but everyone else seemed to really enjoy it. Kyle and Avery both added Rooster Sauce to add some heat. I love, love, loved the samosas. They were just little things, but so very satisfying.
Dal
2 tbsp olive oil
1 yellow onion, cut into pieces
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 tsp peeled and minced fresh ginger
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1 1/2 cups dried lentils, washed and picked over
1-15oz can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
3 cups water
salt and freshly ground pepper
Pour the oil into the slow cooker, and turn the heat the high.
Puree the onion, garlic and ginger in a food processor until smooth. Place them in the slow cooker and put the lid on.
Stir in the spices (but not salt and pepper) and cook, stirring for 30 seconds.
Turn the setting to low and add the lentils, kidney beans and water. Cook for 6-8 hours. Add salt and pepper before serving.
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Samosas
dough:
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
about 3 cups all purpose flour (I only used 2 1/2 cups!)
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
filling:
3 medium sized russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
2 tbsp vegetable oil plus more for brushing
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp mustard seeds
1 yellow onion, very finely chopped
1 cup carrots, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp fresh ginger root, minced
1 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp turmeric
pinch of cayenne pepper
1 tsp salt
juice of 1 lemon
3/4 cup frozen peas, water run over them to remove any freezer ice
Boil the potatoes in water for about 20-25 minutes, until tender. Drain and set aside.
Preheat oven to 375.
To make the dough:
Pour the wet ingredients into a mixing bowl. Add two cups of the flour, turmeric, baking powder and salt. Begin kneading the mixture, adding more flour gradually until a smooth not sticky dough is formed, about 10 minutes.
Set dough aside and cover with a wet cloth. Begin preparing the filling.
To prepare the filling:
In a large skillet (I used our wok) over medium heat, add the oil, cumin seeds and mustard seeds. The seeds with begin to pop. Allow them to pop for 1 minute, but be careful not to get hit by these popping seeds. Add the carrots and onions and saute for 7-10 minutes until the onions begin to brown. Add the garlic, ginger, coriander, turmeric, cayenne, salt, and lemon juice and saute a minute more. Add the potatoes and mash it all together. Heat it through, and then add the peas and mix well. Set aside.
Divide the dough in half and roll it out thinly. Using a cookie cutter, or a glass upside down, cut 3 to 4 inch circles out of the dough. Place about a 1 or 1 1/2 tsp of the potato mixture into each dough circle and fold it over so it becomes a half circle. The recipe says to wet the dough with water around the edges to make it stick, but mine didn't need it. Continue with the rest of the dough.
Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Place the samosas onto the tray, and lightly brush oil on both sides of them.
Cook about 12 minutes on one side, flip them, and cook another 8 minutes. Allow them to cool about 5 minutes before serving.
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Oven Baked Potato Chips
3 Yukon Gold potatoes
salt
Preheat the oven to 375. Spray 2 baking sheets with cooking spray.
Wash the potatoes and then slice them paper thin (very important!). Put them into a bowl of cold water for about 5 minutes to remove some of the starch. Lay them out on a towel, and dry the slices completely.
Place them onto the prepared baking trays, taking care not to overlap any of them.
Cook them for 10 minutes on one side, flip them all, and cook another 1o minutes on the other side. They should be starting to brown and be crisp. Serve them right away as they are best eaten this way.
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Pan Fried Onion Dip
2 yellow onions, cut in half, and then sliced into 1/8 inch half rounds
4 tbsp butter
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
4 oz cream cheese, left on the counter for 15 minutes to half an hour
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise
Heat the butter over medium heat, and cook the onions, cayenne, salt and freshly ground black pepper for 10 minutes. Lower the temperature and continue to cook for another 20 minutes until the onions are browned and caramelized. Allow the onion to cool.
Mix the cream cheese, sour cream and mayonnaise with an electric mixer. Blend well until there are no lumps. Add the onion and mix well.
Today we brought Stonewall to a wildlife rehabilitation centre called Sandy Pines just outside of Deseronto. I spoke to the coordinator this afternoon, and she suggested that the best place for him would be with her at the centre. It's too cold for him outside right now, so I brought him into the kitchen for the day and he so sweetly snuggled up in the towels enjoying the warmth. The centre we took him to was amazing. When I pulled in I immediately got a great feeling from it. There were animals everywhere looking happy and healthy. The two girls who were working there seemed caring and capable. One of them walked out with a baby raccoon in her arms and was feeding it a bottle. I'd never seen a baby raccoon before! They were not at all afraid of Stonewall, and scooped him out to hold him. Eventually she placed him in a tuque and kept it near her body for extra heat. I felt safe leaving him there, and it made me less sad to leave. Tiernan was the most heartbroken, telling me he wished I would have taken Stony there during the day while he was at school because he hates goodbyes in person. He cried his heart out, but seemed to calm down when we explained to him that it was okay to be sad, but that we would have to say goodbye eventually anyway. This is his best chance at a normal, happy, healthy squirrel life.
