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Catherine's Kitchen

Catherine Manning

Well, my little birds flew the coop.

It was quick really; or I thought it was, I must have lost time! One morning I was sitting there and one of the parents flew into the nest and for the first time, I heard the baby bird screeching and making lots of noise. I thought it sounded like two babies because of the noise level, but up to now I'm not sure, as they flew away early one morning.

I thought that was really clever of the parents to teach it/them to fly in the early morning when all was quiet in the house, as the windows are always open and it starts to get light by 5 am. So that would have made it easier. I've left the nest as they might use it again and I can now water the plant, which I barely managed to save from dying!

I finally got an approximate count on the turtles (tortoises) and there does seem to be about 60 of all sizes ages etc. from about 30 -35 years old to three months! I can't count the birds, as they multiply daily, and the monkeys have now come from where ever they go when the weather gets chilly and have multiplied again, so the dogs are going bananas.

The monkeys are terrible teasers and love to annoy the dogs, but I hope the dogs don't catch any of them, as it would be a massacre and one that I could do nothing about. I have a rain gauge on the fence and the daily fun for the young monkeys is to take it off and toss it on the ground, so it's now on its last legs. I'm surprised it's still holding water. Guess we all have to have our fun!

The finches are visiting the nest again looking interested, so I'm glad I didn't take it down. Found two more baby turtles this morning so I'll have to keep a check for more; obviously Patra hasn't had all the eggs for breakfast!

I feel sorry for Florida having all that flooding and here are we suffering for lack of water, just a bare 1-1/2" in months. No doubt the same thing will happen here, but I hope not as we lose a lot of soil.

This is late again, so must get it off now. I'm in the middle of cooking things for a friend to put in her freezer as she get in late from work and one of them is...
 

FRICASSEED CHICKEN This is a general recipe open to adjustment, except for the 2-1 rule. Serves 6. 1 Chicken 1 cup white wine 2 Tbs. Tomato paste Mushrooms 2 medium onions, chopped Olives 2 sweet peppers chopped Salt & pepper 1 Tbs. vinegar Oil for frying 2 cloves garlic Joint chicken, dip in flour and brown quickly. Set aside. Fry onions, garlic and sweet pepper until golden brown. Pour in 1 pint water and stir in salt, pepper, tomato paste, wine and vinegar. Pour over chicken and cook in a slow oven for two hours. Just before serving, add mushrooms and a few cut-up olives. My daughter had a dinner party last Saturday night and as usual I had to do the cooking. She doesn't like cooking, so she reckons that why should she bother when I'm here! She wanted fish, so I did... DOLPHIN IN WINE & MUSHROOM SAUCE   3-4 lbs fish steaks, cleaned and boned 1 Tbs. chopped chive 1 Tbs. chopped parsley 2-3 cloves garlic chopped Oil for frying Limejuice to taste 1 oz. rum Season the fish with all the ingredients except oil and marinate in fridge for 1 hour. Fry fish in oil till crisp and golden. Place in baking dish and prepare sauce.           Sauce 2 Tbs. butter 4 Tbs. flour 1 large onion minced 1-cup milk 1-cup wine Mushrooms 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, grated Parmesan Melt butter and add flour stirring well and cook for a minute. Add wine to mixture and then milk stirring well to stop lumping. Add onion, mushrooms and cheese and cook over low heat till mixture thickens. Add salt and pepper to taste and correct consistency if necessary with either a little more milk or wine (It shouldn't be too think or too thin). Pour over fish, sprinkle with Parmesan and bake at 400F for about 30 minutes or till done, being careful not to overdo. For dessert, I always have to do... CHOCOLATE MOUSSE 4-cups milk 4 eggs separated Vanilla Sugar to taste Cocoa powder, 2-3 large tablespoonfuls mixed with some of the milk. 2 pks. Gelatin Whipping cream Scald milk in saucepan with a piece of lime skin and the cocoa powder. Beat egg yolks and pour a little milk into them, stirring well and then pour the mixture back into the milk, stir well and cook over a low heat for about a minute, stirring constantly to prevent curdling. Remove from heat and add sugar to taste. Dissolve gelatin in a little water and stir into the cocoa mixture. Add vanilla, strain into serving bowl and cool. Beat egg whites (not too stiff) and fold into mixture with a metal spoon till mixture is smooth. Chill for several hours till set. Whip cream, cover the mousse and decorate. Chill again and serve.

Bon Appetit!
Cath