We cooked some lovely chicken, first time I’ve used the smoked paprika rub I made a few weeks ago. I finished it in the oven alongside scalloped potatoes that burned a bit on top when I turned up the oven to speed cooking. But they were very good. Dinner was finished off with an iceberg wedge salad with Jim’s favorite bottled salad dressing for that dish – thousand island. I prefer to make my own vinaigrette and have better greens but this is something he’s wanted and he normally doesn’t eat vegetables so that’s what he gets.
It’s been getting a bit warm here, no-where near Texas warm, and I’ve tried to deal with it by lowering the blinds downstairs to minimize sun. But this afternoon I had to bake potatoes then chicken so it heated up to 76 degrees, which is nothing in Houston. It’s already cooling off and Jim has the slider open upstairs so we should be OK without turning on A/C. As long as there’s not a skunk!
Han Solo (normal Sandhill crane visitor, that’s my nickname as this crane always comes alone and most are in pairs) has not been here since Monday. A pair of cranes came yesterday, and a huge crane came in alone this morning and left. It must signal the end of the migration to NW Canada through this pathway. I always wanted to get the sounds of a crane on tape, but there’s no way to anticipate them. The only recordings I can find are of a multitude of cranes so you don’t get the prehistoric sounds they make.
Anyway, the smell of smoked paprika has been wafting through our pantry and I thought the spice rub I made might be too strong. It wasn’t. Jim loved it. That’s big for me because Jim can’t eat fish for allergies, and doesn’t like chicken. That leaves me few alternatives. Oh, vegetarian is not an option. So for him to like chicken is a major coup.
Here’s to creative cooks everywhere! Cheers, Dee
Aside from bird cranes, there are balloons up in the mornings, and a real crane building a bowling alley right next door. Am I sick of paying full price to live here with construction vehicles on the roads at all hours six days a week and already one flat tire? You bet. They stop these diggers and leave them across our street, while the other end of the street is similarly blocked. It is a hardship to live here given what they’re doing on and to the roads.
All I can say is that if you want to ski near Park City next year, ask about construction first. This is supposed to be open very soon, but this week’s newspaper offered condos on top so construction will be going on for some time.
We will be here to September, that’s all we know for now. Me, antsy? No way. Wait a few weeks. Cheers, Dee
Cooking with Dee 
I have a small boy staying with me now that would LOVE the mechanical cranes. Maybe better than HO trains and 4-wheeler rides. We are all of 100 degrees here in northeast Texas and plenty of humidity to go with it. This is the time of year that most remaining gardens give it up.
We just made stovetop chocolate cookies. I want to know. Are these loved all over the USA or are they a speciality of Texas and Oklahoma?
Combine 2 cups sugar and about 1/3 cup cocoa thoroughly. Add 1 stick butter or margarine and 1/2 cup milk. Cook over medium heat and let boil for 1 minute. (After many troubles with just the right amount of cooking, I now go for the soft ball stage and they are perfect every time.)
Remove from heat and add 1/2 cup peanut butter, 3 cups oatmeal and 1 tsp vanilla. Combine well and drop by tablespoonsful on plastic wrap or parchment. Let cool and eat.