February Weather Lore and Breakfast For Dinner!

Today is POURING rain, so I'm going to concentrate on yesterday's balmy weather! Do you believe in weather lore? I do, I've seen the reality of it often. 8 degrees on the last day of February is unheard of here. It should be -30C, really, but froggie doesn't lie! We've had a very mild February, like most folks. We've had fog, rain, thunder, lightening and ice storms.

If it thunders in February it will frost in April. Fog in February, frost in May.

There wasn't a cloud in the sky! I spent most of the day out with the huskies. They enjoyed the yard while I bundled up on the porch with a book.

When the cat in February lies in the sun, she will creep behind the stove in March.

This side of the house is where we get all of the sun. But under the snow, it's filled with roots that are so deep, so on either side of the lilac tree is where my container veggies will be. I have to put up another lattice board fence around it to keep it safe.

Warm February, bad hay crop ; 

Cold February, good hay crop.

Every bit of weather lore I read regarding a warm February doesn't bode well for the spring! I'm curious to see what kind of weather we get in the next three months! The birds and squirrels were out chirping all day yesterday.

This is our big girl Charlie. We don't know her age, we were told by the shelter that she was likely a year old when we got her in 2015. But they really had no clue, it's because one of the workers also had a husky like Charlie and based her size on her own dog. We were told she was fixed, but found out 6 months later, she wasn't! She went into heat and we're thinking of maybe breeding her in a few years time when we have our property. Not for sale, all for us! :) But again, it will depend on her because we really don't know how old she is!

The first photo is the day we got her. She weighed only 48 pounds and was so nervous, she didn't want to come too near us. She was found living in a field, no identification at all. She had terrible digestion, worms and also little appetite. She showed depression. She'd been at the shelter nearly 3 months when we came along and we fell in love with her. It took her a while to come around. Since then she's gained 16 pounds and won't leave my boyfriend's side. Our vet says she could be anywhere from 3 to 6 years old according to her teeth. I remember the first night we had her, we were a bit intimidated because she growled a lot and looked rather mean. I never had a big dog before and my boyfriend only had cats. We both were really a little nervous! He said "she's going to eat us in our sleep"...she has turned out to be the gentlest dog I've ever known.

Marlene is another one whose age we don't know. The vet can't judge her by her teeth because they are in such bad shape, but we think she could be between 5 and 7. She'd live outside if we let her. She's also very gentle. She is likely a German Shepherd/Husky mix.

Please allow me to introduce to you Mr. Snowy. He's been our porch mascot since Winter Solstice!

I brought him to life last November! Now I have to think of a spring project for the porch! Mr Snowy will have to retire to the storage room very soon!

Last night's dinner was Breakfast Tacos and "Fart and Dart" beans. 

For Christmas, my boyfriend gave me this cookbook. We are big fans of the Williams Sonoma recipes. In fact most of my cookbooks are from that company. THIS one is the BEST. I've probably used this one more in the last few months than all of the other cookbooks I have combined! The food is awesome. That's where I found the Breakfast Tacos. The original recipe calls for eggs but I had leftover chicken mixed with onions and taco mix, so I used that instead.

Breakfast Tacos (for two):

Ingredients

2 small potatoes

Oil or butter for frying

1 small onion, chopped

4 eggs

2 large tortillas (we use flour-based)

1/2 cup to 1 cup shredded Monteray Jack cheese

Pico de Gallo (this is a homemade salsa with cilantro, but I just used my regular salsa)

Directions

1. Boil potatoes whole for about 25-30 minutes until fork tender. Run under cold water until cooled.

2. Heat up oil or butter on medium in large pan.

3. Add onions.

4. Cube potatoes and add to pan. You want a nice brown colour to them.

5. Scramble up your eggs and add to the pan, mix it all up.

6. Divide mixture onto each tortilla, sprinkle with cheese and salsa.

(I put it all under the broiler with extra cheese so it would be very melty!)

Fart and Dart Beans
(this recipe makes enough to fill 4-6 of those little ramekins)

Ingredients

2 cans kidney beans (or whichever beans you love the most)

10-12 slices of bacon

1 onion, chopped

1 clove of garlic, chopped

1 tsp yellow mustard

1/8 cup balsamic vinegar

1 cup brown sugar

Directions

1. Boil beans for 30 minutes. Drain.

2. Cook onion for a few minutes, add bacon until nearly cooked, then add garlic for just a minute.

3. Put all of the ingredients into the slow cooker on low for two to three hours. Mix every so often.

I found this recipe online back in 2013 when I was looking for a "cowboy themed" menu. I love to have fun in the kitchen so I do a lot of theme nights. My boyfriend introduced me to the movies of Sergio Leone - an Italian director who made a lot of great "spaghetti westerns" with Clint Eastwood. We'd planned to watch one of his movies one night, and I remember that day finding a "Western Frontier Menu" online (don't have the link). I made steak and eggs, cornbread and these Fart and Dart beans. I served dinner with a shot glass of bourbon and rang a cow bell when it was ready, lol...(computer sound, I don't own a cow bell!)

Usually after dinner we settle down and watch a movie together, but lately my boyfriend has been working really hard on his music. He does guitar-based ambient music and when he feels creative, he is very focused so I don't mind spending some evenings by myself. Well...not quite by myself! I brought up all my cookbooks to bed and the four rescues followed me onto the bed. Our other two cats never leave the downstairs couches but these four are always together!