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Does anyone use the expression
"that's for the birds" anymore? I wonder if the average teenager
today has ever heard the expression or knows what it means? Well, if
I told you that our garden club program last week was for the birds
it would be true- literally. We had a wonderful group of women from
the Walmo Garden Club out to make bird feeding wreaths.
Each lady secured dried materials
and natural botanicals to a grapevine wreath to make a lovely fall
arrangement and attract feathered friends for a treat. The wreaths
make lovely gifts, so collect your materials now and you will be
able to make bird feeding wreaths for all the bird watchers on your
holiday gift list.
We began by wiring a small terra
cotta flower pot onto the grapevine wreath for birdseed so that the
wreath can be "recharged" as the birds find the treats. You can also
use a straw wreath base. Make a bow from ribbon or raffia and place
it at the base of the flower pot. You can cover the entire wreath
with dried materials such as cornhusk, wheat or preserved leaves or
leave some grapevine showing and just place sprays of leaves around
the bow. On our wreaths we added sweet Annie for some "fluff" and
then wheat, millet, dried grasses and grains, nigella pods, a
pinecone that can be coated with peanut butter, sweet gum balls,
yarrow and strawflowers for color.
To find materials that birds
like, observe your garden to see what the birds are going for. If
you have planted sunflowers, clip the seed heads and wire a whole
sunflower head in the center of your wreath, or cut it into quarters
and tuck the pieces into the wreath and hot glue into place. Look
for thistle heads that still have seeds intact growing along the
roadside. Black- eyed Susan heads look stunning on autumn wreaths as
do iris pods. Don't overlook insignificant cosmos heads because
finches hang on them to pick the seeds out. Add some rosehips or
berried branches from the hedgerow.
All of the wreaths looked
stunning when the ladies were finished with them. They liked them so
much, most refused to put them out for the birds. But the project
made us hungry, and the luncheon was in the theme of things. I made
a peanut-sesame linguine served with fruit, a birds nest Chinese
noodle cookie and blueberry crumble bars for dessert. I promised the
recipes so here they are ladies.
I hope some of you readers will
email and let me know what the birds are enjoying in your autumn
garden!
Herbally yours,
Marian
Sesame Peanut Linguine
This recipe can be included in a packed lunch as it is good hot or
cold. If you wish to add meat, stir fry some boneless chicken
breast in.
8 ounces of linguini or pasta of
your choice. Cooked and drained.
1 bunch green onion, slice and keep the green part for garnish.
1/3 cup peanut butter 1 Tablespoon peanut oil
1 Tablespoons sesame oil ¼ cup hot water
1 Teaspoon minced fresh ginger 1 Tablespoon cider vinegar
1 Teaspoon white sugar ¼ Teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 Tablespoons toasted sesame seed 1 Tablespoon lime juice
Fresh snow peas for garnish.
Combine oils and onions in a small skillet. Sauté over low heat
until tender. Add ginger cook and stir for one more minute. Mix in
peanut butter, soy sauce, water, vinegar, sugar, red pepper, and
lime juice. Pour sauce over noodles in large bowl. Toss to coat.
Sprinkle sesame seeds over and toss once more. Serve hot or room
temperature. To serve place noodles in bowl and garnish with a few
slices of the green part of the onion and a two raw oriental pea
pods.
I made this dish the day ahead and refrigerated it. I took it out an
hour before serving and served it at room temperature. Since pasta
tends to absorb the sauce upon standing and I wanted extra sauce to
drizzle over, I made extra sauce by omitting the sautéing step and
mixing the oils with the peanut butter, soy sauce, water, vinegar,
sugar and pepper flakes. I kept the extra sauce in a separate
container and drizzled a spoonful over the completed pasta dish just
before garnishing and serving. You can also serve the extra sauce as
a vegetable dip.
Cinnamon Blueberry Crumble
Bars
Here is the recipe as promised ladies, it is EASY!
1 plain yellow cake mix
1 cup melted butter
1 cup old fashioned oatmeal
½ cup brown sugar, lightly packed.
2 eggs
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups fresh blueberries or frozen-thawed & drained.
½ cup granulated sugar
Blend first six ingredients with electric mixer for one minute on
low speed. Take out 1 ½ cups for topping. Place the rest of the
thick batter in bottom of ungreased 9X12 pan. Press evenly with
rubber spatula to cover the bottom of the pan. Toss blueberries with
sugar in a small bowl. Sprinkle berries evenly over crust and smooth
with the back of a spoon. Drop reserved topping by teaspoonfuls
close together all over top of blueberries. Bake in center of
preheated 350 degree oven for 40 minutes until light brown and
bubbling. Cool on wire rack at least 30 minutes before cutting. Cut
into 24 bars. Store in airtight container for 3 days at room
temperature, refrigerator for a week or freeze for up to 6 months
and thaw in refrigerator overnight.
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