Once again, this Earth that we all live on has decided to show us just who’s boss. That pesky volcano whose name few people can pronounce correctly (Eyjafjallajökull) is wreaking havoc with the world. Flights cancelled. People stranded on vacation in countries not their own. Meetings, funerals, weddings; all missed. No way to get across the big pond unless you happen to book a cruise. Life disrupted. And there isn’t one darn thing we can do about it except wait it out. Air travel is something we all take for granted. Just hop on a plane and go. To no longer be able to do this is unthinkable, even for a few days.

The forces of nature are awesome, aren’t they? Humankind is puny in comparison. Nature will do what it will do and we have no way to stop it. Or change it. Or harness it.

We are supposed to be leaving a week from Sunday on a business trip + vacation to Ireland and France. Will the volcano allow it? Only time will tell.

The other day around 7:00 p.m. I was passing through the sun room and looked out the windows like I probably do about 50 times a day. I knew Alex and Bella were outside enjoying the cool spring evening, so when I saw two black objects down in the woodsy skunk cabbage part of our yard I wasn’t too surprised. I did wonder however what they were doing because they really don’t go down there that much. The very next minute my brain finally went CLICK. I looked on the deck and sure enough, there were Alex and Bella just laying there. The black objects were not my dogs! They were bears; the first ones of the season.

When my brain finally registered the fact that they were bears I couldn’t help but wonder why the dogs weren’t barking? Surely they saw them/heard them and Bella notices everything that even comes close to her yard. Yet there they laid, looking, but not making a sound. I could see now that the bears were not in fact in the yard but right on the other side of our chain link fence that borders the woods. A mother and two cubs. Big cubs for this early in the year. I quietly called the dogs inside and ran to put the zoom lens on the camera.

Here is what they looked like from the back deck where the dogs were laying.

I walked down into the yard to get closer, but not too much closer. After all, I don’t know this bear. Shooting through a chain link fence is not the best and it was getting dark but you get the idea. Here is the mother bear.

There were having a delightful meal of fresh skunk cabbage, ripping off huge leaves and munching them down like crazy.

She sees me!

I walked back up the house to continue watching them. Within a few minutes of getting back in the house I noticed that one of the cubs had come over the fence and was now technically in my yard. (There is a spot in the fencing that sags from so many bears going over it!) Back down in the yard I went with the camera. He heard the clicks of the camera before he realized I was there. He was very curious about what I was doing.

His sibling is still on the other side of the fence and curious too.

how’d he get over there????? maybe I should try ...

All too soon they had their fill of cabbage and moved on. It was nice to see them! I hope they come back soon.

Please sing like you’re Richard Burton singing to Gwen in the forest to the tune of Camelot.

Hamalot! (da da da da da da) Hamalot!
For Easter we did bake a very large ham
We did not want to see it go to waste
It was so very good
We just knew that we should
eat all of it we could
that’s why last week we ate and ate and ate
Hamalot!

Okay. Not great lyrics but it’s the best I could come up with and I’ve procrastinated with this blog post long enough. Be done!

Really, it’s true. Last week was Hamalot week at our house. We ate ham—alot. The ham was actually “free” having acquired it by spending enough money at the ShopRite within a certain amount of time to earn the points to get either a ham, turkey or large frozen Stouffer’s lasagna. (Don’t ask about the lasagna, I can’t explain other than to say we live in a very Italian area.) It was one of the best hams we’ve ever eaten, so we wanted to pay homage to the pig who gave it’s life and not waste any of it. I went on a mission to seek out recipes to incorporate the ham. I had the idea to photograph each thrifty meal as we went.

After our Easter meal of baked ham, baked white sweet potato (or Jersey potato as Colorado likes to call them and not sure why) and creamed brussel sprouts with bacon, the second night’s meal was this:

Pan-fried ham slices with panko roasted asparagus.

If you like asparagus, you’re going to love this way of cooking it. Thick spears are coated with a mixture of mayonnaise, (I use Hellman’s Light)  a touch of lemon juice and dijon mustard then rolled in panko crumbs. Roast until toasty. Yum.

Third Hamalot night was a salad with thin slices of ham and Jarlsberg cheese, mushrooms and celery served on a bed of mixed salad greens and a white wine-dijon style dressing.

Fourth night was an old family recipe that I have never made before: Cheese Pie. My mom used to make this around Easter time for my dad who loved it. The recipe came from my Nana (grandmother on my father’s side) who was Italian. The origins of the recipe I think are in fact English or Scottish since her husband was of English descent. I’m not really certain. Maybe it was really Italian, but I don’t think so. If anyone knows anything about the origins, please let me know! It didn’t seem to have the same consistency of mom’s but it was pretty good. The ham was finely ground and added to cottage cheese. Who knows what “cottage” cheese may have meant at the time the recipe was written? I tried to use the thickest curd I could find but it still lacked something.

The next night was a pizza. Store-purchased wheat pizza dough, homemade easy tomato sauce, chopped ham (of course) and leftover pineapple pieces from another meal (shrimp tacos, I think). I can’t tell you how good this was!

The last and final night I made split pea soup using the bone and chopping up the rest of the meat. I always look forward to split pea soup after having ham!

And so ends our Hamalot week. I think you’ll agree that we did the old pig justice! Now neither of us want ham for another year!
~oink oink~

More spring photos!

All photos taken on the grounds of Skylands Botanical Garden on Thursday.

(Same tree as previous photo from the opposite side which is done blooming! Magnificent old tree, don’t you agree?)

Photos taken at Skylands Botanical Garden.