A Chukar on my house!

So Idaho is known for its abundant wildlife, and apparently some wildlife have found refuge on my house...chukars! (I had to Google it too; I had no idea what it was!)

Here's the official Wikipedia description: "The Chukar, Alectoris chukar is a Eurasian upland gamebird in the pheasant family Phasianidae of the order Galliformes, gallinaceous birds." Apparently they like to hang out in rocky, steep and open hillsides. (Not sure how my roof fits that description, but okay.) Chukars travel in groups of 5-40 that are called coveys. As far as I could tell, this was the only one on my roof, but I did see some others down the street.

Neat, huh? I'm happy to provide my roof as a Chukar rescue!

Garlic Knots!

Okay, so if you've been to New York, chances are that you've had garlic knots and know how fabulous they are! If not, you'll want to try these anyway. I'm completely addicted. And I think you'll be addicted too!

To make your own garlic knots, you'll need to hit the grocery store. (I got the best stuff at Winco.) Here are the ingredients:

- fresh pizza dough (the Leonardi's dough ball from Winco seemed to work best, but you can use the 'canned' refridgerated dough, i.e. Pillsbury)

- olive oil

-crushed or minced garlic, the kind that is sold in the jar

-salt

-margarine or butter

-Kraft Parmesean/Romano blend cheese

-parsley flakes

-marinara or pizza sauce (I like Francisco Rinaldi original spaghetti sauce best!)

To start, preheat your oven to 375 degrees and use a cooking spray to lightly grease your cookie sheet. Roll out your dough on a floured countertop (be sure to flour the rolling pin too!) into a rectangular shape, about 1/2" thick. Cut rectangular strips from the dough, about 5 inches wide and 1.5 inches long, and twist each strip into a 'knot'. (See the photo to get an idea of what it should look like!) Place each knot on the cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart. Use a basting brush to coat each knot with a little bit of olive oil and sprinkle a tiny bit of salt on top. Put the cookie sheet in the oven, and set timer for 12 minutes. In a small saucepan, melt about 3 tablespoons of margarine or butter, 2-3 tablespoons of minced or crushed garlic, 2 teaspoons of the Kraft Parmesean/Romano cheese, a dash of parsley flakes and another dash of salt. Keep warm on low heat until knots are done baking, and then use the basting brush to coat each knot with the garlic mixture. (You can also toss each knot in the saucepan, but I thought that was too messy!) Heat some of the marinara sauce in the microwave, and use it to dip your knots in!

Trust me, you'll be addicted in no time at all!