Anna's

Karen has looked in her book and she thinks it is a female Anna's Hummingbird, but she can't say for sure. We should give Bill Oddie a call.

Rufous

Humming Along

The hummingbird feeder is quite busy at the moment and this guy has claimed it for his own, he is a Rufous Hummingbird and he has set up shop. It is amazing to see him protect the feeder from others. At the moment we have both Rufous and Anna's hummingbirds arriving in a crazy flight pattern, fascinating to watch!

Almost Spring, Almost

This photo was taken in the middle of January and the weather has been teasing us since about then. It may look and feel like spring out here, but on occasion, we drop back into a chill. Hopefully, now we're into April, the showers will slow down and we can enjoy the outside world more.

Beans Means....

Last week we broke our duck from a lifetime without a slow cooker, we made a very good beef stew, but, that's not the reason we bought the monster, today, it fulfilled it's destiny.

Recipe : 

Two pounds of dried navy beans, soak overnight. Drain, Rinse. Simmer slowly for 10 minutes in the morning. Drain. Add to slow cooker while still hot, turn on to high. Add 3 cups boiling water. Add 1/2 cup of molasses. Add 2 tablespoons of brown sugar. Add one large can of tomato puree. Add two teaspoons of salt. Add one tablespoon of any hot sauce. Cook on high for two hours, stir. Cook on low for four more hours, check once or twice as sauce thickens, add small amounts of boiling water to prevent it getting too thick.

Cost :

Beans $3.00, Tomato puree, $1.05, Molasses $1.50. Sugar $0.30 Hot sauce $0.20 Total = $6.05 and we know everything that went in. 10 mason jars + two more containers of beans.

Mason Jars are popping as I type. 

Oh, and they smell and taste amazing!

The Monster

We have been tracking the price of beans over the last few years and it appears that the "machine" does not really want to sell us tinned beans any more, which is actually a very good thing. The fact that tinned, processed beans have whatever fructose/glucose that they term sugar nowadays along with the mysterious "tomato" sauce and "natural" flavours, makes us want to announce that 2014 will be the "Year of the Bean" in this household, that is, home, baked beans.

And it all starts here, with this monster :

The Rival Crock-Pot, close to 5 quarts, Ceramic Cooker, soon to be filled with beans, beans, beans.

The cooking of home baked beans will also introduce us to the concept of the mason jar.

Watch this space.