Shrubs and Trees to Plant for the Birds

A nifty tree/bird chart on the Old Farmer's Almanac website:

http://www.almanac.com/garden/trees/shrubbirds.php?utm_source=Almanac+Companion+Newsletter&utm_campaign=806e89648b-Companion_April_16_2009_&utm_medium=email

Mourning

News of friend's passing
Cold coffee chokes bitter tears
Ironic blue sky

In memoriam, Eileen Marsch
March 30, 2009

Ohanami 2009

Spring is here again -- much to my relief. There is still the possibility of a late frost (last year we had frost in mid-April), but all the other signs are here. Birds and bees, flowers and trees, all a-buzz, a-twitter and a-blossom. All that vernal wantonness is positively R-rated.

So, also, are sakura bursting forth with their frothy white and pinkness. Today (April 5) is Ohanami at the Dodd-Fresnel's. We're incorporating chado into today's activities. (Read more about that on horaizons.blogspot.com.) I'm making my California-style sakura mochi again -- ah, I can smell the rice, it's almost ready. I was almost in a panic a little while ago while trying to find the recipe I used last year, so in order to not go through that again, here it is:

Rice

5 measures of short grain white rice (I use Calrose)
12 drops red food coloring
pinch salt

Add appropriate amount of water (to 5 cup line) and cook as usual.

About the food coloring: 12 drops makes really pink rice. Use as much food coloring as you think looks appetizing. Maybe 12 drops is too much.


Sugar Syrup

Equal parts sugar and water (I used 1 to 1-1/2 cups each)
Pinch salt
3 drops red food color

Cook over low heat until sugar is dissolved, stirring constantly. Do not boil. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Make the rice balls, wrap and eat

When rice has cooled enough to handle, add sugar syrup and stir until rice has cooled to room temperature and syrup forms a light glaze -- much like making sushi. Form onigiri with about a 1/2 tsp of an (sweet red bean paste) in the center. The rice balls should fit comfortably in the palm of your hand.

[NB: Later in the day, while munching this batch of sakura mochi, I realized they were a bit on the small side and didn't have nearly enough an in the center. They really ought to be a bit larger with a generous glop of an.]

Fold a brine-preserved cherry leaf halfway around the rice ball. If, like me, you find your local supermakets pathetically lacking in preserved cherry leaves and you didn't have the foresight to make your own last season, brine-preserved grape leaves make an adequate substitution. I've heard that celery or lettuce leaves are also used, but the briny saltiness is a necessary counterpoint to the pinky-pink sugaryness of the rice and an balls. The leaves also keep your fingers clean while you enjoy your sakura mochi.

Maybe it's just me, but dyeing the rice pink makes it look like it should taste sweeter than it really does, like cotton candy at the fair.

:: :: ::

The day was beautiful, sunny, warm.

We enjoyed a brief tea ceremony. "It's nice to have tea with birds," Harvey said. Bees flew among the flowers. The cats stopped by to sniff tea utensils. Hummingbirds and pine siskins buzzed. The tea was so much more green in sunlight than in the chashitsu.

After tea, we enjoyed a brilliant sushi lunch and many cups of sake. Many, many cups of sake.

If you can't see the slide show below, go here to see photos in my Picassa album: http://picasaweb.google.com/handh2/Ohanami40509?feat=directlink

New car

Strangers smile and wave
at my funny-looking car.
It makes me smile too.

Feb. 12, 2006

Back from Arizona!

We made it back from last week's birdwatching trip! I spent three days camping in the Cave Creek area of the Chiracahua Mountains in SE Arizona with Kristin, Laura and Pia, three birding friends. It was THE most fantastic birdwatching -- I added 28 birds to my life list. Many of the birds we saw were male warblers moving in to stake out territory and await the females which are a few weeks behind them. We were told that in a few weeks more species arrive or migrate through, and the best birding is April and May.

In the center foreground of the above photo is Snowshed Peak, according to Google maps. Behind it is Chiracahua Peak, 9,759 feet. To the left is Sentinal Peak and to the right is Flys Peak.

I'll get some more photos together soon, along with more details of the trip. It's good to be back, but I really want to do more birding.