17 September 2005
Rob very helpfully installed this bird hook for me today. It's the picture that's at a funny angle, not the hook. I bought it for just about free when I was in the States, which was very exciting, as I'd been eyeing something similar in a magazine. Only a month and a half later, and it's on the wall!
We have to sink metal, er, sinks into the wall to hang things, and since that can result in a lot of dust, I took the birds on a bit of a holiday. They were plunked just inside our open balcony door, half in the sun and half out (they chose the sunny side of the cage for a nice spot of preening). Frankie made an appearance outside the nest:
While Ira peeked inside to see what all the fuss is about:
I left them there for a while once the hook was installed, because my mom called, and if they're in the same room as me, the birds make sure they're heard in America. After a while, I had to ask my mom to wait a second, because the birds were making urgent sounding cheeps. and when I stuck my head around the corner, I could see Frankie flashing his wings and hopping around nervously.
I got up and walked to the cage and found that the fuss was over a sparrow which was sitting on the balcony, a foot away from Frankie and Ira's cage. The little sparrow (well, 'little' -- still thrice the size of the finches) sat there for another five or ten seconds while I watched. She was just staring dumbly up at the finches, probably wondering why they were allowed indoors. I took another step forward and she flew away.
It was really the funniest thing, and I wonder if the curious sparrow would have actually come inside if the birds' cage had been further away from the door. Was she attracted by their little songs? Was she passing by and noticed the tasty seeds? Judging by the finches' reaction, she definitely wasn't the visitor they were expecting. That'll teach them to call back to the birds in the park.
And, lastly, a thing that is not a bird, but tastes like one. Er. . . Fake fried chicken sandwiches. Mmmm. I picked up the summer issue of Donna Hay Magazine on half a whim the other day. There are more meat-eater recipes than I'd really like, but then I thought that there's no reason I can't adapt many of them to be used with fake meat products.
I chose the recipe for fried chicken and substituted Quorn chicken-style pieces. I wasn't sure what the end result would be, but oooooh, it's so good. We had them in sandwiches (half the pieces fell out, of course), and I think I might make a salad tomorrow with the leftovers. They'd be excellent in a wrap. Yum. Since I altered the recipe a bit, I'll put down what I used, just so I can remember later.
1 package Quorn chicken-style pieces
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp rosemary
3 tsp paprika
2 tsp crushed chilli
1 tbsp sea salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup rice flour
First, I mixed all the flours and spices and heated oil (enough to generously cover the bottom of a large pan). Then, I microwaved the 'chicken' for three minutes, since it was frozen. Dumped it all into the buttermilk and then into the strainer so it wasn't dripping. Mixed it around in the dry mixture, and put that back into the (rinsed and dried) strainer again, to tap away all the loose flour. Into the hot oil, and it had to sizzle away for only five minutes. Easy peasy.