Hummingbirds, Hoyas... Hippos?

 Well I've been here almost a week and am kind of settling into a routine. I finally unpacked my clothes and got them stowed in my dresser--it's perpetually annoying to look through two boxes and a suitcase when trying to decide what to wear. We spent a lot of time running errands this week: shopping trips, lunch with friends, and a trip to Home Depot to do some new plantings in the back yard. No matter what else is going on, and no matter the weather, I just can't stay away from Balboa Park and the Zoo.

I visited the Zoo yesterday morning, getting there just after 9:00 in an attempt to avoid the worst of the holiday rush. Because it had poured down rain overnight and the sky was still full of clouds, there were far fewer visitors at opening than I expected there to be. An uncrowded Zoo experience is always a good one. My top exhibits, and sometimes the only ones I visit, are the Galapagos tortoises and the Orangutans. Then, depending on how much time I have and how much walking I want to do, I'll stroll down to the pandas and check out some of the aviaries.

Yesterday I stopped in an often-overlooked spot, the Hummingbird Aviary. Hummingbirds may just be my favorite animal (though they certainly fight with horses for first), and I love watching them flit around. There are at least two living in our back yard, but being to experience them just a little closer at the Zoo is certainly worth stopping at the aviary.  The aviary is conveniently provided with benches, where I sat for awhile to watch the birds zoom around. After sitting there for a while I caught sight of a female hummingbird building a nest--how cool is that?! Her chosen nest site is less than two feet from the railing that keeps the public out of the bird area, not the most intelligent choice to try to raise a family of tiny birds. While I will be very surprised if she completes the nest and is able to raise a clutch of little hummers, I did enjoy watching her work yesterday. The nest she is building looks like a ball of lint that you would pull from your dryer and is lined with downy feathers. There are nesting materials available in the aviary, to which she'd flit, work out some hair, and bring it over to her nest. Her beak works as a great weaving tool, similar to the way that people use needles to felt wool. When not working in new hair, lint, wool, etc., she'd wiggle her butt around in a way very unbecoming of a lady, but I'm sure it's important for getting the right shape and compression for the nest. The fiber materials used for her nest are in contrast to one I found last summer in Balboa Park that was slightly smaller and made of mud. All birds have their differences!

Along with the birds in the Hummingbird Aviary, there are a few plants that will catch your eye. The one I found most beautiful is this hoya that was hanging discreetly by the exit. Isn't it just a great color?

And, last but not least, hippos rhinos. These Indian rhinos are brothers and are part of the Backstage Pass experience where Zoo visitors can pay a little extra and get to give them a bath. Yesterday they were chasing each other all around the exhibit and having a few head to head skirmishes. I, and the other visitors watching, were surprised to watch them run full speed into the pool that is in their exhibit. Now, I've seen rhinos wallowing in shallow pools before, but at its deepest point these guys just get their nostrils out of the water, reminding me more of hippos than rhinos.  

Yo, where you at?

Though I don't have any amazing fantastic update for you today, no recipes, no photos, I do have updates!
On Monday I drove to San Diego--13 hours in the car, only stopping for gas. I may only be here for a week, or I may be here the whole summer. Currently, I'm hoping for a job in Arcata, so that would require a drive back up the coast.
As soon I as I drove in to San Diego I felt like I was home. Having been here for the past 3 summers, I do know my way around pretty well and had no trouble making it to my Aunt's house without referencing a map or gps. Go my team! The weather here is beautiful. I love the fragrance of the flowers that floats on the breeze, and the sound of songbirds that seems nonstop from the time the sun comes up until it disappears at night. I counted at least 9 different kinds of bird in the back yard this morning, two kinds of butterfly, and a lizard. We also had a resident chipmunk, but I saw him limp over the canyon rim yesterday evening, and I don't think he'll be returning.
There is no internet access at the house, so I've walked to a cafe on the corner of Park and Madison to have some tea and take care of my internet surfing for the night. On the way here I watched as a feral parrot flew a few circuits around the neighborhood, squawking the whole time. It's kind of funny, because I usually consider myself fond of peace and quiet, yet being in this bustling city soothes me and makes me happy.

Try This!

I'll be moving to a new place for the summer, though as of right now I'm not sure what city that will be in. No matter where I end up, I know I'll be leaving this apartment soon. Moving is always a hassle, and if there's one thing I always try to have minimized before I move, it's the food. Eating what I have left in the freezer, not buying groceries the last week before a move, and trying to use up those obscure dry ingredients so I don't have to pack them up. This technique doesn't always work. I have some penne pasta that has lived with me in three different apartments--which means it's pretty old at this point and may not be too yummy.

These Oatmeal Bars were an easy way to use up some of what is left in my kitchen, while satisfying a craving for something sweet.

The recipe is really very simple:
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup agave
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/4 cup chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup old-fashioned oats

I began by mixing everything but the oats and chocolate chips in my go-to bowl.

I tried to blend the agave and peanut butter first, then work the rest of the dry stuff in. With a little bit of elbow grease everything was incorporated, and let me tell you, it smelled delicious!

These didn't absolutely need to be baked, and I'm sure I could have sat down with the bowl and ate pretty much the whole thing right then and there, but I chose to stick them in the oven for about 10 minutes at 325 to make them a little more solid. I pressed the oatmeal mixture into a small Pyrex dish, trying to squish it in there well enough that the bars would stay together when finished.

I can't say it much clearer: The end product was delicious. For a long time I've had quite an aversion to cinnamon, but I'm becoming more and more accepting of it. I'll even go so far as to say that without the cinnamon, these oatmeal bars wouldn't have turned out half as tasty as they are. I waited until they'd cooled before slicing myself a bar and having a taste, and I wasn't disappointed! If you need something simple yet sweet, try putting together some oatmeal bars!



Oatmeal Bars
Ingredients:
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup agave
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/4 cup chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup old-fashioned oats

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Mix all ingredients except chocolate chips and oats in a medium bowl. Fold in oats and stir well to combine. Sprinkle in chocolate chips and do your best to distribute them throughout the oat mixture.
Press the oat mixture into a greased 8x10 pan, and bake in preheated oven for about 10 minutes. Longer if you prefer your bars crispier.
Allow to cool completely, then slice into bars. Best served with a big glass of milk!



Quinoa Cakes

This week, to my great excitement, I received Heidi Swanson's Super Natural Every Day from Rhonda, a lovely librarian and dear friend. The cookbook's first notable trait is that it is full of vegetarian recipes. It's always frustrating to pick up a cookbook and skip half of the content because I don't eat meat! With only a few exceptions, I can see myself trying every recipe in this book. Once I get settled for the summer, I may do just that.

Today, to break in the new book, I whipped up a batch of Little Quinoa Patties. I didn't quite have everything that the recipe called for, and adjusted it to be gluten free, so my adaptation is a little different than the original.

These are the ingredients I assembled:
4 large eggs, beaten
2.5 cups cooked quinoa
1/2 tsp salt
1 yellow onion, chopped
3/4 cups "breadcrumbs" made from gluten-free cereal
1/2 cup finely chopped broccoli florets
3 cloves finely chopped garlic
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
1 Tbl caramelized onion (leftover from earlier in the week)

You begin by combining the eggs and quinoa, then stir in the rest of the ingredients, adding the breadcrumbs last. Let the mixture sit for a few minutes before shaping into patties.

 The shaped patties are cooked on the stove in a little bit of olive oil. With the lid on the saute pan, cook for 5-7 minutes per side. I was nervous about under cooking the eggs, so my cakes got a little brown in their pursuit of the correct cooking time.

When finished, they were lovely. Not exactly a flavorful kick in the mouth, even with all that onion and garlic, but tasty none the less. I tried mine with barbecue sauce, sweet and sour sauce, and sour cream. In small amounts, each completed the flavors just fine. I think that if I'd had a stronger cheese on hand, instead of the mozzarella that was used, they'd have been more flavorful.

Overall the recipe was a success and will be added to my arsenal. I don't really like to eat quinoa on its own, so it's nice to have a recipe that it fits so perfectly into.