"All right Mr. De Mille, I'm ready for my close-up!"

Salad from the garden

We grow the most beautiful and nutritious greens in the garden. Most get fed to Chopper but about once a week we put together a big salad with low fat dressing to share over dinner.

Radishes

Here are the radishes that I picked from the garden today. Love that purple one! Most of what we harvest is given to family, friends and coworkers. Today's bunch is going to Patrice. Chopper will be eating radish tops for dinner along with some red bell peppers. It's much cheaper to grow our own greens for him and I know they are organic.

Backyard Visitors

Now that the weather is warmer, the animals like to spend time on the porch watching the birds at the feeder and bird bath. Sometimes they get a visit from a friend. Chiquita stopped by to say hello today. She's a bit camera shy. Chiquita's mom is our neighbor Stephanie.

Updated Dump Cake

Dump cake made with yellow cake mix and cherry pie filling has been around forever and it's certainly a favorite in our home. (Although it's so high in fat and sugar that we don't get to enjoy it very often!)

I'm cleaning out the freezer this week and I found 2 bags of frozen wild blueberries that I needed to use up. I wanted something quick and easy and Dump Cake was the first thing that came to mind. French Vanilla cake mix was the closest thing to yellow cake mix that we had in the pantry. It turned out to be wonderful.

Updated Dump Cake

1 large can crushed pineapple, undrained
1 can cherry pie filling
3 cups frozen wild blueberries
1 box French Vanilla cake mix
2 sticks of butter (1/2 cup) chilled and cut into small pieces
1/4 cup chopped nuts (optional)


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (325 for glass baking dish).

Dump undrained crushed pineapple baking dish 9X13" pan or glass baking dish and spread it out evenly.

Top with cherry pie filling, spread with a spoon. Dump frozen blueberries on top and spead them out evenly.

Sprinkle cake mix over these payers and dot evenly with butter pieces. Top with nuts.

Bake for 50-60 minutes. Let it cool a bit before serving.

A Chopper Runs Through It

Chopper runs through the house with his favorite toy, the wrapper from a tube of Ritz Crackers. Last night we had a 2 hour game of "keep away" between Chopper and the kittens. Somehow the wrapper managed to survive intact. I have $$$ worth of animal toys and THIS is how they entertain themselves!