The Feeder Feed

Some recent bird shots at the Sabine Feeder.

You can see that the abundant Goldfinches are going for the gold again.

The Sparrows are back.  Perhaps Spizella passerina.

I am not sure who this little guy is.  They have been around during the winter and never go on the feeder.  They prefer to eat on the ground.

Various Finches are numerous right now. 

This could be Purple Finch… very like the House Finch.

Here is a House Finch a very nice black sunflower seed!


Getting a look at the feeder before making a move.

The House Finches will also eat from the thistle sock, though they seem to prefer the sunflower seeds.

This Chickadee, always favorites, has a prize.

They seize a seed and then fly away with it to a branch, where the husk it.

We also have a Kingfisher here, who is diving into the Sabine Pond after minnows.

Also, there are two pairs of Wood Ducks nesting and a pair of Malards.  I will shoot them soon…. with the camera.

PENJING REPORT

Penjing has had a trim.

Penjing did not join me with my guest for supper last night.  We enjoyed a nice little rib roast I got on sale at the store the other day for an incredible $3.95/lbs.

I rubbed it with a couple spice mixes from Penzy’s (long may they make profits) and let it sit for a few hours.

I prepared a glass dish of thinly slices potatoes layered with onion and sprigs of rosemary and thyme, salt and pepper, with a little stock.  This was the base for the roast, much like the Easter Sunday leg of lamb but on a much more modest scale.

Into the oven pre-heated to 550F for a few minutes then down to 350F for the remainder.

When it came out I let is rest on the board for about 15 minutes so the juices would settle in the meat and the potatoes browned.

Here is what it looked like at the first slice.

We had asparagus, also on sale.  All in all, delicious with strong horseradish and the potatoes.  We enjoyed a hefty Bonarda for the wine.

Here is the result… through my guest needed still to make room for a big spoonful of those potatoes!

Easy, cheap, good, and lots of left-overs for the week!

It pays to watch those sales!

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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32 Comments

  1. Tod says:

    Me wishes I could come to Father’s for dinner :-)

    Tod

  2. Guadalupe says:

    The orange-headed fellow looks like a Chipping Sparrow.

  3. Eric says:

    The unidentified bird is a Junco. At least thats what we call them in Indiana.
    They should disappear with the snow.

  4. irishgirl says:

    I was going to say the same thing, Guadalupe…a chipping sparrow.

    Ooooo Fr. Z-that rib roast looks yummy! I echo Tod’s sentiment….me wishes I could come to Father’s for dinner!

  5. ckdexterhaven says:

    I wish I shopped at the same store as you $3.95 a pound! Great shopping! I was just thinking I would love to find a rib roast to roast and THEN make French onion soup. You’re definitely going to get your money’s worth out of that with all the bones to use for soup.

  6. Tristan Mordrelle says:

    Congratulations. Very well done. At an astoung price. My problem, I only understand metric temperatures !

  7. Rob says:

    That looks wonderful. For Easter I made a rib roast which I slow cooked at 200 degrees for 6 hours as James Beard in American Cookery suggests. Easily the best prime rib I have ever had. Next to a good cheeseburger, there is nothing better than the beef ribs.

  8. Vicky says:

    I visited my local Penzeys store for my birthday a couple of weeks ago. They have so many wonderful things! I highly recommend their Chicago Steak Seasoning and the Black and Red Spice. Both are great for grilling.

  9. RichR says:

    This is how I like roast. My wife likes beef well-done, so this would never fly at my home. I always shed a little tear when I pull her well-done ribeye off the grill. But the sorrow is short lived as I dig into my own slab of beef that is still moo-ing.

  10. Gloria says:

    Your cooking school is just one more reason you mustn’t give up your Blog!

  11. Chris says:

    I can work with a medium to medium well steak, but that is way too red for my taste.

  12. Vicky: Chicago Steak Seasoning and the Black and Red Spice GMTA! Those two are in my kitchen and I use them all the time! I used the Chicago and the English Beef Rub on this roast. I had some Black and Red… who doesn’t LOVE that name? … on my breakfast today.


  13. chris p says:

    Ooooh! That plate of roast and asparagus looks perfect for my low-carb lifestyle (which has helped me lose 57 lbs since January and get my diabetes under control)! Yummm!!!! :)

  14. That looks delicious, and 3.95 a pound! Beef is inexplicably expensive here in Pennsylvania, and I have yet to figure out why. But I think this weekend, perhaps, a rib roast might be an excellent idea. Thank you, father, for the inspiration! [I suspect they had too much for Easter and wanted to move the roasts fast! The usual price would have been probably around $12.]

    Christ is risen!

  15. John Enright says:

    You gotta stop this type of post, Father! Please! These posts make me salivate to the point that I can’t appear in public! LOL!

  16. leah says:

    I’m salivating…I want to replicate that exact dish. Next time I’m in Rome, I’m hoping for an invite!

  17. Dino says:

    Am drooling.
    My Boy Scout troop is planning something similar in a Dutch Oven this weekend in camp. There probably won’t be any leftovers.

  18. Nancy says:

    I agree with Eric. The mystery bird looks like a slate-coloured junco to me.

  19. Jakub says:

    Now that I’m hungry what is temp/time per pound ?

    Sorry, don’t need any help with the Chimay…

  20. Dino: If there were left-overs with that lot, there wouldn’t have to be something really wrong with the roast! And a dutch oven would be good for this. You can even make the base with the potatoes.

  21. Thelma says:

    The unidentified bird is indeed a junco; only a few stragglers are appearing at the feeders here in Connecticut.

    Your bird pictures are stunning, Father. Keep on shooting!

  22. Reverend Father, you are a great photographer! Love the birdie pictures.

    To Jakub: I use a general rule of thumb of about 20 minutes per lb at 350 for most any meat. Generally! And as Father illustrates, I like my meat on the rare side too.

    My French grandmother would cook all roasts at 500 degrees for a shorter time. They always came out unbelievably tender, crispy on the outside. She didn’t use a lean cut – anathema to tenderness. The drippings would be salty, as she would use lots of coarse salt. I can still smell that gas oven at full blast, and taste the salty ‘jus’ of the roast. Her simple French cooking was extraordinary – I can’t remember a bad meal. I wish I had been old enough to observe, ask and learn back then.

  23. Callin says:

    Oh, very nice, Father.

    “I will shoot them soon…with a camera.”

    I scroll down and see food on a plate. Initial thought… :)

  24. Central Valley says:

    Well, I know you did not wash that down with a glass of ice water Father. Please expand on the beverages of the day. [I think I did. We had a bottle of Bonarda. It was Broquel, and very good.]

  25. Sharon says:

    Oh father, you really should have cooked the meat before you offered it to guests or ate it yourself! *shudder*

  26. Ann says:

    My husband checks out the sales constantly and keeps our freezer stocked with sale items like meat and frozen vegetables. We eat better on less money than most people and it is all due to the wonderful man I get to call my hubby.

    I want to try to cook a dish the way you showed here. I’ve never done one that way and it looks wonderful!

  27. Joseph says:

    Dear Father,
    this little modestly clad bird is a Junco, who will feed off the ground only. It will nest in thick old grass and its eggs are mottled light brown in color. I believe it is very common throughout N.A.
    I live here (sheep farmer) in NE Alberta.
    Thank you for your blog.

  28. A Random Friar says:

    I like the Oregon colored Juncos we get here — nicer coloring IMHO. They do a nice job of picking up all the mess that falls to the ground.

  29. torontonian says:

    I’m fairly sure that some of those House Finches are actually Purple Finches. They’re tricky to tell apart sometimes (http://www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw/AboutBirdsandFeeding/finchIDtable.html)

  30. torontonian: You may be right.

  31. AuroraChristina says:

    Penzy’s… yet another good and perfect gift from above! Father, if you haven’t tried it, a dry rub combo of Turkish blend and Zatar is amazing on roast beast…!

  32. Jakub says:

    Thank you Tina in Ashburn !

    James in the hot high desert of So Cal…

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