I Spy a Bird

I love birds. Real ones and decorative ones. I think my love for them began with my mom. She knows a lot about birds. She can hear the song they sing or look at the color of their bellies and identify them by their actual scientific bird name. It is pretty impressive. I identify them by saying, "oh, look at that cute little birdy bird."

I have birds all over my house.  Don't worry, they are not creepy gross taxidermy owls or anything. They're friendly birds. I'll even prove it by going on a bird hunt (a metaphorical one, of course).

This one is a two-fer:

Bird #1: I just got this iron bird attached to a iron thingy at Tuesday Morning. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the thingy yet..I'm thinking about buying some moss to put in it. Or maybe something white. I know that a candle would be the obvious thing, but I don't have one quite wide and tall enough. Any ideas? 

Bird #2: I spy something that you set a coca-cola on. You got it, a coaster! My parents and I went to this darling shop in Castroville, TX when I was home last August and while my mom and I had moved on to the antique shop next door, my dad secretly bought them for me. He's such a thoughtful person.

 

 These dainty little birdies were a hostess gift from my sister-in-law. They are from Anthropologie, so they are extra special (and extra cute)!

I like birds so much, that they greet my guests! Go ahead, wipe your feet, they won't mind.

 I thought this iron lattice with a bird on top was too cute to pass up. I got it at Prairie Gardens a while back. It keeps my geraniums in check.

This bird weighs a ton. He makes a good decoration for the top of my entryway buffet. He also makes a good door stop. Or burglar weapon. 

 

 These cutie-pa-tooties first caught my eye at my best friend Laura's house. She had them, so I just had to have them too! So we made a trip to Pier 1 and I bought this little pair. Aren't they just so plumply perfect?

You know you like birds when you spend 10 minutes taking pictures of them and then 10 minutes telling people in the world wide web about them. Do you have a "bird like" collection in your house?

Shortening

I was a pretty lousy child. I never helped my mom out in the kitchen, not even when I was a teenager and completely capable (forgive me, Mom). The worst part, is my mom worked full time from when I was in early elementary school all the way through my freshman year of high school. And during those years, without fail, she always had dinner on the table. I mean, we're talking good home cooking, not like Stouffer's Lasagna. And I never contributed an ounce. All I remember is complaining about having to clear my dishes off the table and put them in the dishwasher - woopty do. Again, Mom, so sorry. The few times she convinced me to help her bake, my motivation for assisting was not so that I could learn something about cooking, but so that I could devour the cookie dough covered egg beater after the ingredients had been thoroughly mixed. I know, I'm telling you, I was a real piece of work.

I remember helping her with Christmas Tree Coffee and chocolate chip cookies. She would always unscrew  the cap on the extract and let me inhale a quick whiff of the best smell on earth - vanilla. To this day, I prefer a vanilla candle over all other scents. Maybe it's because of that memory I have with my mom? Even more fun than the vanilla sniffing, was the song we sang every time the recipe called for shortening. She would grab it out of the cubbard and we would sing in together, "Mammy's little baby loves shortnen' shortnen', Mammy's little baby loves shortnen' bread." That's the only line we knew, so we would repeat it a few times. I am smiling right now as I type the lyrics, because it is just such a wonderful memory. I found this great acoustic cover of "Shortnen' Bread" for your listening pleasure:



Are these guys legit, or what?

Why is it that mom's always make the best chocolate chip cookie? I have the exact same recipe as hers and mine are not near as good. They're not bad, they just aren't Mom's. I think there's something to be said about that phrase "made with love." Since I cannot recreate my mom's cookies, I had to find my own recipe. Who knows, maybe someday I will have a daughter that will talk about these cookies like they are the best cookie ever...

Chocolate Chip Cookies:
1 cup butter-flavored shortening  
3/4 cup brown sugar 
3/4 cup white sugar 
2 eggs  
1 teaspoon vanilla 
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 
1 teaspoon baking soda  
1/2 teaspoon salt 
2 cups oats  
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, cream shortening, brown sugar and granulated sugar. Add eggs and vanilla and mix thoroughly. Combine the baking soda, salt and flour and stir into creamed mixture. Add oatmeal and chocolate chips and stir until well blended. Drop by tablespoons full onto greased cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes.