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Borrego Springs, CA

Saturday, December 20, 2014

Yes, We have no Bananas!

Did you ever have a song come to mind early in the morning, and then end up singing it all day?  It seems to get stuck in your brain.  That happened to me today, and here are the lyrics.  Sing along with me now…

♪ ♫ "Yes, we have no bananas
We have-a no bananas today
We've string beans, and onions
Cabashes, and scallions,
And all sorts of fruit and say
We have an old fashioned tomato
A Long Island potato But yes, we have no bananas
We have no bananas today!”  ♫ ♪

I’m hoping to pass it on to you so I can get past it.  Anybody else remember that song?  Perhaps you’re wondering why this song popped into my brain.  Well, I was thinking of going to the Tamale Festival in Somerton, AZ, today.  Then I got to thinking about it.  I did’t even know if I would like tamales, and it would be a 100+ mile round trip drive.  My frugality won out, and I didn’t go.  That’s when I started singing this song to Emma substituting Tamales for Bananas.  She just gave me the stink eye…

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Instead, I stayed home and made a two egg omelet with fresh broccoli, mushrooms, and garlic with some melted Muenster cheese inside.  I have to admit it was delicious.  Never had broccoli in an omelet before.

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As long as I’m talking about food, I’ll include the recipe for the cheesy pretzels that I’m making.  Several commenters requested it.  You can see the ingredients above.  Three pounds of pretzels… I use three different shapes just because.  One bottle of Orville Redenbacher’s buttery flavor popping oil, and one 2.7 oz. container of Kernel Season’s popcorn seasoning.  I prefer the Garlic Parmesan flavor, but there are lots of flavors to choose from. 

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I think the biggest challenge is finding a bowl big enough to hold three pounds of pretzels.  Take the pretzels out of the bags by hand and put them in the bowl.  Don’t just dump the bags, because you don’t want all that extra salt that’s in the bottom of the bag.  Then I shake on all the seasoning.  Next, pour the oil over.  Get a big spatula and mix it all together.  It’s hard to keep all the pretzels in the bowl while you do this.  For the next three days, mix it up again three to four times a day.  In between stirrings, I keep the bowl in the microwave so nothing gets accidentally dropped into it.  Of course, it’s mandatory to taste one or two of the pretzels that fall out of the bowl during mixing times.  Winking smile  A good chef always tastes their work in progress.  It takes about three days for all the oil and seasonings to be absorbed.  Keep in an air tight container upon completion and enjoy!  If you like salty crunchy snacks, this one is a winner.

This post is getting a bit wordy, but (there’s always a but) I wanted to tell you about something I finally figured out.  For the last two weeks, I have heard a very loud chipping sound outside.  It had to be from some kind of wildlife, but I just couldn’t figure it out.  It was kind of like the alarm call of a yellow-bellied marmot.

I knew there weren’t any of those around here, but gosh it sure was loud.  There was a buzzing sound before the loud chip, and that buzz seemed to always be on my right while the chip came from the left of me.  Very confusing.  I tried to think of an animal that could ‘throw’ it’s voice, but I was stumped. 

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The sound also seemed to occur whenever the little female Anna’s hummingbird was at the feeder.  At first I thought maybe she was making the noise, but it was just too loud for a hummingbird.  I even resorted to crawling around under the feeder when I heard the sound looking for some kind of animal or something in the openings of the cement blocks.  That’s where the sound seemed to be coming from.  Ha Ha!  Turns out I was right and wrong.

Today I happened to be gazing up into the sky while sitting outside when I again heard the sound.  There was a male Anna’s zooming straight upwards.  Then he swooped down like a falcon, and at the bottom of his dive the loud noise almost knocked me out of the rocker!  It was a mating display.  The male goes up to 130 feet in the air, and then swoops down.  As it curves back up into the sky, its two outer tail feathers produce a ‘sonic boom’.  The tail feathers produce a sound much louder than a hummer’s voice ever could.  Cool beans!  And a mystery solved!

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                                                                               THE END!!

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

31 comments:

  1. oh my word. . .that hummingbird discovery is fabulous. . .just fabulous! The omelet looked pretty great too. . .

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  2. How cool! The hummingbirds AND the pretzel recipe! :) :) :) Just stopping by to say MERRY CHRISTMAS to you and Emma! Don't let her stink eye get you down....she loves you even if you DO sing. I'm pretty sure anyway.

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  3. My hummingbirds are going to miss us when we pull up stakes here at TT Palm Springs. But I know there are a lot of them at CatSpa too. Merry Christmas to you and Emma. See you next year ;)

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  4. That's a very cool fact about the male Anna's, and amazing that you were there to figure it out. :)

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  5. Now I want some garlic parmesan flavored banana pretzels. You're evil... :cP

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  6. I have never heard these noses by the Anna's in all the years of watching them at my house or up at Madera Canyon and other places here in AZ. Now I am really going to pay closer attention.

    Your omelet sure looks good, love omelets

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  7. My dad used to sing that song, or at least the first line anyway. Your pretzel snacks sound (and look) yummy!

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  8. Yumm, tamales - i've had tham at least 3x this week - many different varities - even with sweet potatoe filling. And a restaurant in Oak Lawn IL would make an omelette with chicken and brocolli-my favorite.

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  9. Ugh. Hate typing on my phone !

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  10. Interesting fact about the hummingbirds.

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  11. Now that is totally awesome. I will definitely be on the watch out for that. I have read about the Anna's Hummingbird mating ritual.
    Thanks for the recipe Judy. I love to make things I don't have to actually cook! And Joe loves pretzels!

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  12. It's easier to "stir" the pretzel mix in a large ziplock bag, and you automatically have the storage taken care of as well as having no cleanup.

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  13. Thanks for the recipe! Looks like too large of a batch for two old people. I may try a condensed version. Way cool about the Humming bird noise!

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  14. I don't like green eggs!!! ;-)

    Jim and Linda

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  15. Oh my Gosh....I use to sing that song with my Aunt when I was a mere pup! She lived with us and practically raised me. I only remembered the first two lines.....now I know it all. Memories!!!!

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  16. The omelet looks good, but I'd have gone for the tamales!

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  17. I get those songs in my head all the time and hate it. I am NOT going to think about bananas!!! I do think you made a good choice on that delicious looking omelet. LOVE the story of the hummingbird. What a life you live to see all these wonderful marvels of nature. Some envy going on here.

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  18. I find some of the advertising jingles will stay in my head. Thanks for the recipe, I'm going to try it.

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  19. What a male won't do to attract and impress a female!

    I remember the song but wouldn't have remembered many of the words. It's too bad you are going to miss the tamales - a real treat!

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  20. The chorus verse from a song "100 Miles" says it all about you not getting a tamale.

    A hundred miles from here is where I need to be
    And a hundred miles from now I'm gonna hit my knees
    Say I miss you, ooh I love you and I'm sorry

    Broccoli in an omelet is good. I also cut the thick stem into thin rounds and add them to my morning scrambles. They cook up much like the potatoes in the scramble and are very tasty.

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  21. Love your header photo.

    I love broccoli in anything and everything! How cool that would be to see a mating dance.

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  22. That's the coolest thing I've ever heard! A sonic mating boom! Who'd thought? I see both omelet and pretzels in my future.

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  23. Loved the recipe...thanks! and that omelet looked wonderful..I could eat eggs every day of my life...especially scrambled! ..It's gotta be testosterone related that even the male birds gotta go sonic and try to impress the females...

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  24. Hi Judie: Thanks for pretzel recipe, sounds delish and I wish I had it a few days ago. Your world sounds most interesting! Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a great 2015. Cheers, Jo and Stella in DL, MN!

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  26. The cheesy pretzels look great. I think they would be good for a volunteer potluck.
    Hope you have a very Merry Christmas.
    Teri

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  27. My microwave oven doesn't seal very well...I've had ants in there! I would love to see the hummers display! that must have been super

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  28. Thanks for the banana song - NOT! I'll spend the rest of my day trying to forget it now!

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  29. Emma says to tell you that she Knew it was the hummer! What took you so long!

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  30. Ha! Have you no shame, substituting bananas for tamales (oh yeah, we knew that song!)? I guess I'll have to save you a tamale for the next time we meet. Yes, we have no oysters, but we gots tamales!

    Pretty darned good-looking omelet.

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  31. Wow, that is a cool story about the mating display, thanks for sharing. I bought some pretzels from Gooseberries in Burlington WI the other day, they make a seasoned one that has dill and probably garlic powder and other spices. I go get it about twice a year, it makes a nice change.

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