My eyes felt like it was morning before I even opened them. I wanted to open them, but I also wanted to keep them closed so I couldn’t face the fact that it was almost time to get up. My eyes slowly started to open. With each blink, my eyes started to come into focus. The brightness coming through the blinds on our double-hung windows in our bedroom told me that morning had to be drawing near. I picked up my phone. 4:32 a.m. Sure felt like later in the morning, but the full moon was playing tricks on me. Oh man, I could sleep another few hours! Church wasn’t for another four hours. I tossed around for another 30 minutes with things I needed to do running through my head. I picked up my phone again. 5:02.

“Just get up,” I told myself. The things I knew I could get done gave me motivation to get up and get moving. I got up, brushed my hair and brushed my teeth, but I kept my muumuu on. It’s not like anyone was going to pop in for a visit, and honestly, cooking pants-less is pretty relaxing. Not gonna lie. Hahaha!

I knew in my head all the recipes I wanted to accomplish in these next few hours. I had got everything around in my kitchen and began cooking at 5:45. Out our kitchen window were squirrels feasting on their morning corn I had just put out for them. A bunny joined them, and along came Larry and all his buddies.

If you don’t follow me on social media or live close to me hearing me yelling to Larry; he is my crow. A smart little bugger who brings me little gifts, or should I say trinkets, to thank me for feeding him goodies. This fall I’ll have to do a special column just on him. He is comical! I talk to him all the time. “LARRRYYYY!” Hey buddy!” I yell to him. I swear he knows his name. *enter a big smile here* But it was nice to know I wasn’t the only one having an early morning.

As I began chopping celery, onions, and shredding cheese for recipes, in came my sweet little doe. She slowly walked over to the corn, being very aware of her surroundings. I stood there watching her as Frank Sinatra played softly in the background.

Once I finished all my chopping and shredding, it was onto throwing recipes together.

I started mixing up my cheesy hash brown casserole for our church picnic that day and made enough to give my mom and mother-in-law each a small pan for their freezer, as I had stuffed chicken breast to go with them. (This is a whole other discussion to this as well. So much to catch you up on if our mommas are okay with me sharing with you.) As I placed all the hashbrown casseroles in three different pans, I walked over to my sink and noticed my doe staring off into the distance. You could tell something was coming as I stood there watching.

Down one of our paths in our woods, I could see something coming. Out walked two does with the cutest buck. Seriously, his face was so sweet. He reminded me of a young Rudolph. Call me crazy, but it’s the truth. I took a video of him walking in that I also shared on social media. (People are literally invested in my outdoor animals. Especially Larry!)

My doe took off from the feed pile while the buck slowly walked over. The other three does ended up joining him, and I stood there washing my bowl just thinking to myself how lucky I am to have this view. Our home sits in what I call the holler. We are surrounded by mountains and fields, but our house sits up on a hill that is surrounded by the wooded area we own. Out front we have a beautiful small mountain view that comes with the prettiest sunsets. But out back, well, that’s just nothing but open woods that we cleared. Mountain top views are gorgeous. Open field views are picturesque. But I’ll take my woodsy view all day long. Where my animals are literally a stone’s throw away from our kitchen window. Sitting at the dining room table at dinner and watching all the wildlife enjoy their dinner too. It’s private and intimate, and I love it. Oh my goodness, last night we had the sweetest view too! You just never know what you will see around here. I’ll share that later too!

But getting up at the time I did, I can say I actually really enjoyed my quiet time. I got chicken salad made for my family’s lunches that week, made hashbrown casserole and crockpot pumpkin dump cake for our church picnic, and had cheese shredded and ready for taking dinner to my mom’s that following night, and side dishes started for my back-to-school dinner on Tuesday. In two hours, I had seven different things made. The things we can get done in the morning before everyone else even wakes up are pretty crazy. This is the second week in a row I have gotten up that early to cook in the kitchen, and I am here for it.

Garlic Green Beans
(Oldie but goodie for green bean season!)

Ingredients:
• 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 lb. washed and trim fresh green beans
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 cup water
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Heat olive oil in a large skillet on medium-high heat. Add green beans and cook over heat until the color of the bean starts to change a bright green. About 2-3 minutes or so. Next, add in garlic and cook for an additional minute.

Pour in water, cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 2-3 minutes or until the beans are tender and water is absorbed. Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper.