Birds in Minnesota 101

Here are some of the birds I have spotted in the last 2 weeks:

Brown-Headed Cowbird - interesting factoid: they place their eggs in other nests and expect the other bird to raise it's babies. It is a type of blackbird. The following site has a sound-byte of it's call. It is very unique: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Brown-headed_Cowbird/id

Red-Winged Blackbird- (Note how his feet are spread and grasping their own branch for balance) Hawk - I have not yet identified this one. I have spent a bit of time trying but with no success. Many hawks have brown or red eyes where this one has yellow. I found one quite similar but then found out it was only in Mexico. My problem may be that it changes color in the winter and the bird books don't show the winter coat. Canadian Geese - (Note the egg in the nest) Factoid : these geese usually spend 12 hours a day eating. Common Loon - (Due to the long dives under the water I was not able to get a great shot. The following picture off the Minnesota DNR site helps to identify what we saw.) Factoid: Unlike most birds, their bones aren't hollow. They can fly 75 mph. They are known to live to 30 years old. American White Pelican - (Sorry it's so blurry, he was sitting in the middle of the lake) Factoid: The knob on it's bill is only there during mating season. It falls off after it lays eggs. Unknown Bird - Can anyone help me? The closest I came was the Least flycatcher. The following picture shows its tiny narrow bill. Most yellowish birds do no have this narrow of a bill.

I also got to see a Hooded Merganser (which it seems, is rare), but it was too skittish to get a picture. Here is info on them : http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Hooded_Merganser/id

And Now For Something Completely Different

Of late, I've been tormenting Alissa with the only keyboard instrument I could lay hands on, an accordion. I thought I'd share what one might encounter if you happened upon 82nd Ave in the evening. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you (dramatic pause), "The 82nd Ave Waltz."

Happy Easter!

Hello! We just wanted to share our Easter with you so here are a few updated photos of our family.

(I thought the angle of this picture was artsy.) Andrew preached the sunrise service. It was probably the best sermonette I had heard on an Easter Sunday! I will try to get him to put the manuscript up soon. I took part in 2 pieces of music with the bell choir and we both sang several pieces with the choir.

Indian Almond Soup

Andrew and I were blessed to be able to travel to India a few years ago. We really enjoyed many new varieties of food. I have wanted to make some since our return but never got around to it. For our wedding some Indian friends from church gave us a Complete Guide to Indian Cooking. About a month ago I decided to try this dish. (I changed it to work for the crock pot.) It turned out to be very tasty and very different from your average soup so I thought I would share it. You can add 3/4 cup cubed chicken but I decided not to. Ingredients:

1 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp chicken granules (or 1 bouillon cube)

2 Cups Water

1 Carrot, sliced

4 Cilantro Sprigs

1 Cup milk

1/2 Cup Frozen Peas

1/4 to ½ tsp ground Ginger

6 Tbsp. Unsalted Butter

1 Cup Almonds

1 Med. Onion, chopped

1 tbsp Chopped Cilantro (or 1/2 Tbsp. dried cilantro)

1 fresh Green Chili, chopped

½ tsp crushed Black Peppercorns

Directions: Place one cup of whole almonds in your food processor or blender (I used my blender) and turn on grate setting until all almonds are in a fine powder. This takes little time at all. Place all ingredients except the Cilantro sprigs in your crock pot. Stir well. Turn on high for 4 hours. Use Cuisinart hand blender and blend until smooth. Stir occasionally. Serve with sprigs of Cilantro if so desired.

Refried Beans and Things

I definitely love owning a crock pot. (Thanks mom for giving me your old trusty. I still use it!) Today I decided to make my own refried beans since Andrew likes them so well and it is cheaper. You all probably already do your own version but Andrew said it tasted just like the beans in the can so I thought I would share my version:

Ingredients: (feel free to double this)
1 lb. dry pinto beans
8 cups water
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced (I used 1-1/2 tsp. garlic powder instead)
1/2 tsp cumin
2 tsp salt (Feel free to use less)
1/2 tsp black pepper


Preparation: Combine all ingredients in a crock pot or slow cooker. Cover and cook on medium-high for 8 hours.
Drain out most of the water. Blend the beans with a Cuisinart hand mixer or mash with a potato masher, adding back in some of the liquid if needed.

My other adventures this week included cooking zucchini, yellow squash, and green bell peppers. And to end this post with a sweet note, I made a small apple crisp for Easter out of my homemade apple pie filling.

Adventures in House Cleaning

Previously I cleaned the house thoroughly about once a week. There was no particular day or anything. I just did it when I could. I decided to make a schedule to break the duties down so that I only had to do certain tasks each day. Today was "thorough vacuuming day". This included vacuuming the cracks along the ceiling. This is particularly important as we seem to have daily influxes of ladybugs and flies that congregate upstairs. Upon getting to one of the upstairs rooms I found this little present:
Now you have to understand that being from Arizona I have seen my fair share of scorpions and know that the smaller they are, the more poisonous. Not expecting to find such a creature in our home in MN surrounded by 32 degree temps, I was taken aback. You might have thought my first reaction was to squash the thing but I decided I wanted to blog about it so I ran to get my camera. Upon returning it had vanished. (the weird thing is there was nowhere for it to go anywhere near and I ran for the camera!) The thing that struck me was the size of this thing. It was only 1/8 to 1/16 of an inch. (no longer than the width of my wedding band!) I also noticed quickly that it did not seem to have a tail anymore. This, I supposed, was a good thing. I quickly got on the Internet and searched for bugs that looked like a scorpion and trusty google came through again (which is where I got the above photo). It is a Pseudoscorpion. There are 3 types:The one I saw looked like the one on the far right, color:dark brown. What really got me was how the thing kept opening and closing its pincers. Upon reading on I found that these things "hitchhike" on the legs of flies. THAT must have been how it got in because as I said before, we have an abundance of flies... They do contain poison in their pincers but it is only effective against very small bugs. Apparently they do have silk glands with which they make cocoons to spend winters. Also it seems that Pseudoscorpions are considered beneficial to us since they are aggressive predators on clothes moth larvae, carpet beetle larvae, booklice, ants, mites, small flies and even small earthworms. Here are some pictures to help you understand the size: Well there is your homeschooling lesson for the day:)

Quick and Easy Cooking

I like sharing cooking ideas on our blog. I have been married for only 10 months whereas many of you have been married many years, so my ideas may be old hat to you but here they are anyway:

Idea #1: Broiled Island Burgers

Now I know what you are thinking, "Crandall's don't eat much meat do they?" As I have learned, turkey is one of the "okay" meats to use from time to time :)

All you do is buy frozen turkey burgers (they come in a 12 pack for around $5) and a pack of buns. To broil them simply stick desired number of frozen burgers on broiler for 4 minutes (no preheating necessary). Flip and add a pineapple ring on the top of each. Broil 5-6 more minutes until done. Add any desired toppings and serve. I suggest adding sweet and sour or teriyaki sauce to it. Tasty.

Idea #2: Crock Pot Spaghetti Squash
Choose a spaghetti squash from your local farmers market or store. ($1.28 a pound at Walmart)Make sure it will fit in your crock pot with the lid on. Wash it and poke it with several holes. Place in crock pot and add 2 cups water. Place on low for 8 hours or high for 5 hours. Cut in half. Take out seeds with a grapefruit spoon. Use a fork to scrape out the spaghetti like pulp. Dress as you would pasta. You can make a homemade sauce or brush with butter and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Either way is tasty.

*These are not my photos. I just like to illustrate my recipes.