Sunday Feature: Golf Course Gardens

One of the most interesting places I’ve found to admire gardens is out on the golf course. Most try very hard to create a very natural, beautiful setting to enhance the experience, which I definitely appreciate. The gardens and landscaping also work to integrate the courses into their surroundings, which make them a perfect haven for wildlife (see previous post: Wildlife on the Golf Course ). It seems as though the course gardeners often put as much energy into the gardens as they do into the actual course. I’ve found that the gardens can be very calming, the blooms and scents can cheer up a dismal game, or in some cases, they can make you laugh when you come across a random pumpkin patch. Enjoy some of the photos from the courses I’ve been on this year.

South Carolina

Illinois

And then there’s the pumpkins. We watched these grow all summer, not quite sure what we were looking at. Perfect conditions, the pumpkins were huge!

(I do have to give a shout out to all my golfing partners who tolerate my running off to take a quick picture. Can’t always do it, but try to when it doesn’t interfere with the “pace of play”. When I think it might, those pretty scenes just have to be tucked away in my memory 🙂 )

Fresh Bread on a Saturday Morning

Over the summer at the Farmer’s Market there was a booth, Katic Breads, that sold the best bread you could imagine. Everything was delivered warm, fresh and perfect. It also didn’t hurt that the women running the stand were so cheerful week in and week out. As the market wound down for the winter, customers were asking what to do for the winter months?? We had become used to our focaccia, ciabatta, french breads, harvest breads and, of course, the delicious fresh croissants. To satisfy their loyal customers, they set up a way to have a standing order delivered to a fabulous local coffee shop, Cafe la Fortuna every other Saturday. Dusan Katic, the baker, assured us that all their items could be frozen with no problems. Well, they were right. Even the croissants that came out of the freezer and reheated just a little, were perfect.

I just picked up my second order this morning. Once home, I wrapped everything for freezing, and then enjoyed a fresh croissant with Mammoth Cave Black Cherry Preserves, a specialty of the Mammoth Cave National Park Lodge, and a steaming hot cup of Cafe la Fortuna coffee. That’s a great way to start a Saturday morning.

Here’s Dusan Katic’s instructions for storing their fresh breads:

FREEZING

If you bought a loaf and are planning on freezing it for later use, place it in a closed plastic bag, in the freezer, as soon as you can. The fresher you freeze it, the fresher it thaws. When you are ready to serve your bread, let it sit out to thaw while the oven is warming up to 350F. To get a crispy crust, wet the surface of the bread with a spray or with your hand. Then, place the thawed/sprayed loaf in the oven for 5-10 minutes (depending on the size of the loaf). If you don’t care to crisp the crust, then wrap the loaf in aluminum foil and place it in the oven (especially for rolls).

STORAGE

Never store bread in the fridge. This actually accelerates staling. Remember that the loaves you receive are pulled out of the oven at 7AM. If you cannot finish the loaf near this peak time, then freezing portions is a much better plan compared to storing in the fridge. Avoid leaving the bread in sunlight. Store bread in a paper bag or wrapped in a kitchen towel in between use.

If you have a chance to find them at a farmer’s market or specialty store in the Chicago and Northern IL area, pick some up. You won’t be sorry.

Visiting a Glass Pumpkin Patch

This week we visited the third annual Glass Pumpkin Patch at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, IL.

There are lots of artists, each with their own signature style. Shannon Jane Morgan, who we had the chance to speak with at the First Pumpkin Patch, comes all the way from California to headline the event and has mentored many of the artists who also display their creativity with glass. There are over 3000 pumpkins for sale, live glass-blowing demonstrations and workshops. Enjoy some of these beautiful works of art.

I found my favorite!

And I added it to my collection…

Photos by Steve

Pelicans in Illinois?

We were down at Detweiller Park in Peoria, IL this weekend to watch a huge high school cross country meet. As we were standing around after watching our team race, we noticed a huge flock of birds up in the clear blue sky.

First thoughts that were tossed out by people were Sandhill Cranes, Canadian Geese, ducks? Just didn’t look right for any of those. They were flying too low and quietly for Sandhill Cranes and size and flight pattern didn’t fit with geese or ducks. Luckily, I had my binoculars with me and I was able to take a good look. I could have sworn they were pelicans, but we’re in IL and we don’t have White Pelicans here. Looked some more to get a good look at identifying marks. Quickly got out my iPhone iBird Plus App (Mitch Waite Group) and they were definitely White Pelicans. Still puzzled though, since according to the range maps on this app and the Audubon Bird App they were not supposed to be found in this part of IL, even when migrating. But, there was no mistaking the identification.

After some investigating, it turns out that over the last 10 years or so, a few of these pelicans began migrating up and down the Illinois River. Until then, the furthest east they were known to migrate was via a Mississippi River route. Over the years, it’s become a regular event and their numbers have grown. Why their migration route, back and forth from fresh water lakes in Canada and the North Central US to the southern US, Mexico and Central America, has shifted east to the Illinois River is unknown. One theory is that a storm threw them off track. Since migration is a learned event, they learned the wrong route one year and then kept following it. Whatever the cause, it sure was exciting to see these huge, magnificent birds flying overhead on their way south for the winter. I’ll be writing this sighting on my lifetime list.

Photos by Steve

Now for a little fun. If you’re still reading, we’ve discovered the best “off the beaten trail” places to grab a bite to eat on our way back home. Heading about 15 minutes north on Rt 29 from the park, Castaways Bar and Grill in Chillicothe, IL is my recomendation for grabbing a delicious bite to eat. Looks can be deceiving, but it is a family friendly place with an extensive menu and friendly staff. We’ve enjoyed their burgers, green bean french fries and an assortment of sandwiches. We’ve not tried one of their famous “O” burgers, maybe next time. And maybe we’ll see you there after the next XC meet in Peoria.

Sunday Feature: Wildlife on the Golf Course

One of the best places I’ve found to observe nature has been on the golf course. I’m not really a very good golfer (been known to just pick up my ball on occasion), but I love being out on the courses with friends and family. Right from the beginning, I’ve always had a little bag with me with binoculars, a camera and in the old days, my old trusty bird book. I am always careful though, not to slow anyone else down. That’s a good way to irritate the other golfers on the course.

Nowadays, I’m more apt to have just my iPhone, which has a great deal of memory taken up with the Audubon series of nature guides. It can also substitute for a camera, if I need to cut back on something. I’ve seen the mundane, as well as the very exciting, once in a lifetime types of sightings. It was on golf courses on Kiawah Island and in MI where I’ve seen the only Pileated Woodpeckers I’ve ever seen. I’ve also seen many interesting herons, storks, hawks, ospreys, Bald Eagles, ducks, as well as songbirds like Baltimore Orioles, hummingbirds, goldfinches, wrens, swallows, killdeer, and bluebirds. I’ve even seen one of my partners attacked mercilessly by an overprotective, nesting red-winged blackbird, and twice seen killdeer putting on their broken wing act to distract us away from its nest.

Then there’s the mammals, insects and reptiles. Many different types of squirrels, which I swear sometimes steal the balls for fun, deer, turtles, snakes, dragonflies, butterflies, and of course, alligators. You learn quickly to just leave those balls behind that roll near the ponds or into the swampy grass. That low, grumbling noise of a mother alligator calling her babies is not something to mess with.

Enjoy some of my more recent photos.

Snowy Egrets