Making-of: Spaetzle

You asked for more - here it is! A look at how the spaetzle is made.

First the noodle dough is pushed through the "Spaetzle Maschine" and then it cooks a few minutes in boiling water. Once the noodles rise to the top, it's ready to serve! Southern Germans typically have spaetzle with lentil stew or goulash, although in my opinion it goes with almost anything that you would normally have pasta with.

PS: If you click on the wikipedia link above, you'll see a better picture of what they call the spaetzle press. We also have one of the grater-type makers, but my husband prefers the press method as it makes nice thin noodles like the ones we had.

East Meets West

Last weekend my husband and I cooked up a delicious dinner. I made the lentil daal with a tomato garnish and my husband made the fresh spaetzle. Delicious!

Woodpecker and Sparrow

Is he giving the sparrow a dirty look? Hope you are having a nice and warm weekend!

Hello there?

This lady definitely likes to pose for the camera!

Fun at the Feeder

The house finches and the sparrows seem to be having great fun together. I'm glad my new squirrel-proof feeder has room for all of them!

My camera has arrived at the Nikon repair facility. Let's hope they are quick! My husband is taking me to Hawaii at the end of the month and it would be a shame if I didn't have my good camera.

Here's wishing everyone a good Friday and a wonderful weekend! There won't be any golfing for me this weekend - I'll be inside where it's warm!

Tufted Titmouse

A close-up on one of my favorite fellows!

Looking Up!

There must have been another bird coming in for a snack or something else really interesting in the sky.

PS: Joyeuse fete des rois !

Caught in the Act!

Bird pictures are more interesting than my dining room table at least! This beautiful lady was caught in the act of eating a sunflower seed. There's nothing wrong with that.

Home Sweet Home

I am really running low on pictures now! This is a look at our dining table when it was brand new a year ago. We bought it with our Christmas money from 2008. I also got one of those orchids to re-bloom that year - they're still both flower-less this year. If anyone has a tip to get them to bloom again, please let me know.

New Year's Golf

My husband and I played our traditional round of golf on New Year's Day. We didn't finish all 18 holes as it was colder than it looks. But we did have fun and it's always good to get outside.

It's back to the daily grind tomorrow. I'm not looking forward to going back to work per se, but I will be happy to have some structure to my days.

January Theme Day: Changes

Our state welcome sign went through a change recently. We are no longer "Mississippi, it's like coming home" but "Mississippi, birthplace of America's music." I still like the idea of coming home (especially since Mississippi is home for me), but the new sign is nice.


Happy New Year everyone! Hope 2010 brings you lots of love, joy and most importantly, good health!!

Click here to see other interpretations of today's theme from around the world.

Cardinal

Since my Nikon is out for repair, I may have to get on Wingscapes overload! Hope you enjoy this bright cardinal. He's always a welcome visitor at my feeder.

Mint Restaurant

I treated my husband to dinner at Mint last night. We tested their bar before and the restaurant was also good. And you'll be happy to know, the chandelier looks as good as ever.

PS: My camera is going to be out of commission for awhile. The cover to the battery compartment was broken over the holidays. I'm sending it in to the Nikon repair center and hope to have it back within two weeks (that's what they say their lead time is, please keep fingers crossed). I will try to use my old camera in the meantime, but I might have to dig into the archives for a few days.

Tiny Fluffy Dude

Isn't he cute?

New Home

I made it back safely from Oklahoma City despite the weather and road conditions. It was nice to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon at home before heading back to work today.

I guess times are not as bad as they seem, many of the empty lots in my neighborhood are now being built up and most of the homes are sold before construction even begins. This one is coming along quite quickly and they just laid the foundations for another home as well.

Confidential to my dearest husband - happy birthday!!!

Decorative Reflection

Holiday decorations reflected in the water.

Hope you had a great Christmas. For more reflections from around the world, click here.

Record Snowfall

The Oklahoma City winter snowstorm of December 2009 will be one to remember! 14.1 inches of snow!! I think we should do the holidays in Jackson next year.

La Creche

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope you are enjoying time with friends, family and loved ones.

Overkill?

That's a lot of lights!

Let's just say they're getting "into the season." Let's hope they are energy-efficient bulbs! Here's wishing everyone a wonderful Christmas Eve. My husband and I are in Oklahoma City and it looks like we will have a real white Christmas. Maybe we should have stayed in Jackson where it's still 65F/18C!!

Tchaikovsky Anyone?

They must have some really BIG nuts in that house!

Merry Christmas

The message is clear on this house. Although, had they known they might have thought of wishing my Mum a happy birthday instead!

Decorations

I hope you're ready for some Christmas decorations. I'm going to show a whole series of different light displays I've seen around town. Some people really go all out!

I've got the week off from work, so I won't be on the computer as much, but I will still take a look at all my favorite blogs when I can. Hope you are having happy holidays so far!

Mietz-Mietz on the Fence

This big red guy stops by quite often. I just hope he's not waiting to pounce on any birds!

Fondren Building By Night

The Fondren building houses artist ateliers, workshops, boutiques and offices. I was there last Thursday to audition for a play which will be put on by the Fondren Theater Workshop. Keep your fingers crossed for me, it's sounds like a really funny show.

Happy weekend everyone, hope you're enjoying some time at home and not fighting crowds at the mall.

Skywatch Friday

Here's a last look at the remnants of Jackson's annual snow storm. There's a bit of blue sky peeking through which melted it all away very quickly.


Happy Friday everyone! For more skies from around the world, click on the skywatch link.

Holiday Decorations

These inflatable decorations seem to be the latest thing. I just wonder how much energy they use to keep them filled up with air. This was a cute one at least!

Trees!

We went to a holiday party at a friend's house. They had everything decorated for the season and a different tree in every room. I can't imagine how many ornaments and such they must have!


Here's a sample of two of the prettiest ones, but I swear there were five or six in total! We had a great time in any case and hope to be invited back next year.

Woodpecker

This is a red-bellied woodpecker. Don't ask me why they call them that, as their bellies are pure white. These guys are not as common to my area as yesterday's pecker, so it's a real treat that he stopped by and posed for my camera. This photo is quite recent so perhaps he was just passing through on his way somewhere else, or maybe he's made our beautiful pines his new home!

I promise though that this is the end of the woodpecker pics for awhile. Hope you're not getting tired of them.

Adult Woodpecker

Here's what our young friend from yesterday will grow up to look like, an adult red-headed woodpecker. Perhaps this is even his mum or daddy!

Juvenile Woodpecker

I was cleaning off some digital memory cards this weekend when I found a whole pile of pictures from my Wingscapes camera that I had never looked through. About 80 percent were of house finches, but there were also a couple of nice cardinals and woodpeckers, including this young fellow. He's a juvenile red-headed woodpecker, they are all black/gray when they're young so they are less vulnerable from predators, etc. But when he grows up, he'll have a beautiful head of red feathers.

Hope you're having a nice weekend! It's going to be tough going back to work tomorrow. I'm certainly looking forward to the upcoming break!