Spotlight Thursday – Meet Puff

Spotlight Thursday

Welcome my friends to SPOTLIGHT THURSDAY.  This is the time that I will introduce you to one of my fellow anipals so you can get to know them better.  Some of them, you may already know.  We hope that you enjoy this new series!

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Name:  Puff, but don’t let that fluffy name fool ya—I’m top of the pecking order ’round these parts.

Age:  Been outta the shell three years, nine months, two weeks, give or take a few sunrises.

Location:   ​My digs? A fully-loaded backyard some place in the NYC ‘burbs. Got all the ducky accoutrements– pen/coop/water/bugs. And *do not* ask if we have a pond.  We don’t have a pond.  Our motto: “we don’t need no stinkin’ pond”!  We have fresh water brought in daily.  A pond.  Sheez!

Web/Blog Page:  Our blog is What the Ducks and there’s also a podcast, DUCK DUCK NO GOOSE, for those of us with no time to actually read.

What were your first thoughts when you met your new parents?  Are you my mother?

What was the defining moment when you knew you were in your forever home?  When I spilled water on the lawn, made mud and found my first worms.  Nothing says home like a juicy annelid– nom nom nom.

What has been your biggest “Oh no, now I’ve done it” moment so far in your home?  I, myself, am above reproach but I can tell you about the time my fellow flockers, Bonnie and Fannie, escaped from the kiddie pool and ran around the garage for a couple of hours.  PS, they were *not* wearing diapers.

 Who do you have wrapped around your paws more – mom or dad – and why?  ​Okay, by “paws” I take it you mean “wings”?  Well, that would definitely be Mom.  She and I are both top hen in our respective realms so we totally relate to one another, kinda like a mutual admiration society with omelets.

What’s the biggest misconception that humans think about you?  Not Mom, she gets me.  Other humans think I don’t know how to drive.  Ha!   

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Hope you enjoyed meeting my friend Puff – check back next week for another Spotlight edition!

 

Blogger Action Day – Year of the Bean

Today my friends at WhattheDucks is celebrating Blogger Action Day in Celebration of Year of the Bean!  This is what their blog said on 1/27/2016:

“To join in, all you have to do is post something about beans, legumes or pulses on your own blog that day .  Share a recipe, upload a photo, write an ode to a chickpea!  Beans are good & blogging is good fun.  Hope to hear from as many bloggers as possible.  Even if some folks don’t know beans about beans, maybe you do!  Happy Year of the Bean, peeps!”

With that being said and being from the South – you just know that my mom is going to celebrate The Black-Eyed Pea.  Black-eyed peas are a staple here in the south.  On the first day of the new year, you have to serve them and collard greens for dinner.  It’s a tradition.  It’s thought by doing so, it brings prosperity to the new year.  And between you and me, mom makes sure they are on the table… you know just in case.

Now dad is not a huge fan of the black-eyed pea.  Therefore mom has to ‘doctor’ them up and give them such a flavor that dad eats an entire dish and then says that was wonderful without knowing what he ate… snorts – sounds like my mom huh?  Well, I’m going to head out because mom says that I don’t need to know how these are cooked.  She has a glint in her eye and I’m thinking it involves pig.  So here you go my friends – mom’s recipe.

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Now, I wasn’t able to make these before today – I know – I know.  There’s been so much going on here at the Hotel Thompson that it’s been unreal.  But I wanted to share with you my recipe for these wonderful understated beans.  Now this picture to the right is off of the internet under a google search of images.  Doesn’t it look amazing?!   They really are – if you’ve never tried them, you *must* at least once.  Now, I’ve asked Bacon to leave the blog because it does involve P.O.R.K. products which we don’t use here unless Bacon is out for the day.  Here’s the recipe to my Spicy Black-Eyed Peas:

UPDATE:  Lori brought it to my attention a very important step that my fast fingers left out – LOL.  The day before you make this recipe, you want to soak your package of black-eyed peas.  Shaking my head – how could I leave this step out?  What I do is the night before, before I go to bed I take a pot and fill it with water and add some salt.  I pour the package of black-eyed beans in the water – enough to cover – and then put the lid on the pan.  I leave this pan on the counter over night while we sleep.  The next day, I will drain them dry for cooking them at brunch/lunch.  The beans absorb the water softening them for cooking this recipe.t

Take 4 slices of any type of bacon that you like.  We prefer the thick cut or pancetta – which ever you have on hand.  I find it easier to go ahead and cut the bacon into small pieces and fry up in your iron skillet – we all have one here in the south 🙂  Once the bacon is done, scoop it out of your skillet and put on a napkin to drain the excess fat.  Put this aside for later.

Take one 16 ounce package of dried black-eyed peas that you have washed and add them to iron skillet that still has your bacon drippings.  Add fresh or a 12 ounce can of diced chilies and stir the two together. Add fresh or a 12 ounce can of diced tomatoes.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Add 3 cups of water and combine everything together.  Cover the skillet and cook for approximately 1 hour.   Now some people also add a diced onion to the party – we don’t here because Jim doesn’t care for them.  It’s a personal preference what you put in your beans.  While they are cooking, I will usually make some cracklin’ cornbread.

When the beans are done, scoop them out into a bowl and top them with some of your crumbled bacon.  Enjoy.

 

SOS: Save the Soils

 You know this is something I really never gave a second thought to really until I got an email from my good friend Lori with What the Ducks. She sent me an email asking me to be part of the fight for SOS:  Save the Soils.  I went to her page and actually watched the video by PBS.  You can see the video here.  Let me tell you something friends, if you get a chance in your day please check this video out.  It’s 30 minutes of education showing how important it is to take care of this land so it will be here and work for us in a way it needs to.

I’m not an “outside” piggy so I didn’t know a lot about outside living.  But you know what is interesting?  Mommy told me some stories about grandpa (mom’s daddy).  He was from the south and mom said that the entire time when she was growing up, they had a garden.  And do you know what?  He was using compost way back then giving to the earth year after year.  He told mom that compost was the better way for a garden because it gives to the food that you plant.  He probably didn’t know it then but he was making this world a better place for all of us.  You put in what you get out.

And you know what else mommy said?  If grandpa was still alive today, he wouldn’t want me just in any ordinary mud hole full of chemicals and yuck.  I shiver just thinking about that.  If grandpa was alive and I was an outside piggy, he would give me the cleanest, purest mud that even mommy could use.  Now wouldn’t that be something special?

So my friends, today please take time and join with me on this very important SOS:  Save the Soils.  Not just for today – but every day.  Let’s make this a better place to live and breathe.