The Tomato Tale and Other Backyard Stories

The garden is finally starting to produce!  This year we planted 3 tomato plants, two red beefsteaks and one yellow variety.  The plants are huge!  I started pulling the tomatoes a day early to ensure we get to eat them.  I was able to make this from our garden (except for the mozzarella, still looking for a way to get that fresh from our backyard).

 

Mmmm, fresh caprese Salad

 

These are our insanely tall and tippy tomato plants.  I can't keep them upright, not with a 48" tomato cage, or with a stake driven into the ground with a 48" tomato cage zip tied to it.  They are out of control, but they are producing tomatoes, so I'm not going to mess with them.  The middle one tipped over and the top branches broke, so now we have a bunch of green tomatoes - I see fried green tomatoes in our future.

 

 

Don't you love our rainbow of tomatoes (and one jalapeno) on the windowsill?  Yummy yummers.  There was a time - a long time - in my life when my response to tomatoes would not have been yummy yummers.  I used to dislike them greatly.  I was that girl who always special ordered everything with no tomatoes.  But around 2008, I discovered the beauty of the garden fresh tomato.  I was forever changed.  Now I very rarely ask for no tomatoes in food, unless they are cherry tomatoes - those still have too many guts for me, or as Miss Elaina (Daniel Tiger reference) would say they are too squirty for me.  In fact, my lunch today was a yellow and a red tomato, sliced with salt and pepper - so delicious.

 

Our compost always tends to give us extra plants that we can replant in appropriate locations (like the raised garden or in a spot not directly under the tomatoes).  Usually we have a lot of tomato plants and squash plants.  We have an extra grape tomato and roma (I think) tomato plants.  The squash plants are always a mystery until they start producing squash.  We've had (unplanned heirloom?) spaghetti squash, zucchini, yellow squash, and whatever this is.  The flower falls off of these, but nothing starts to grow/something is eating them, so we haven't been able to identify it yet.  Please excuse the weeds, I haven't gotten out there in a while to take care of those, plus this plant has spines, so I'm not going to mess with stuff underneath it.

 

The yard is also blooming.  We've done a lot of work to this yard in the 4 years we've been here, but this year may take the cake.  We've pulled out 3 large (overgrown) bushes from various locations along the fence and pulled some other invaders that required heavy machinery to remove.  Also we filled in some low spots along the fences (with a high spot under one of the bushes) and planted grass seed.  It's starting to finally look like someone cares around here.  These are the flowers in bloom right now.

 



 

 

 

All Kinds of Crafty

I've been busy with all kinds of craft projects lately.  In addition to making 2 diaper bags this week, I've also done these craft projects:

 

EG will be turning 3 soon, so we've been painting and decorating a 3 for her photo shoot and then her wall (We made a 2 last year and the picture with her holding it hangs in her room with the 2 hanging above it). 

 

 

After a trip to the craft store dollar bins for some finishing touches, we have a finished product.  I will probably use some hot glue to add a ribbon to hang it on the wall closer to her birthday.  But for her 3 year photos, I don't want the ribbon on it.  It will also make a great decoration at her 3rd birthday party, since the theme is Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood and this looks an awful lot like Katerina Kittykat's color scheme (especially when she is wearing her pink tutu).

 

I found a great deal on rolls of chalkboard sticky vinyl on Tanga.com.  I've been finding all kinds of uses for it.  The original idea was for our toddler's wall for coloring.  But so far, I've found 3 other places to use it:

1.  I stuck an 8x10 rectangle of it to the door to the garage and placed a frame over it.  This will be for messages and reminders before heading out the door.  I found the frame in the frame drawer (yes we have a frame drawer) and took the glass and back off of it.  This particular frame was made by my grandfather and I've been wanting a way to use it, but the back didn't stay on it very well, so it was a little dangerous to hang on the wall with glass in it.  It also has a little ledge inside for the chalk to sit on.






2.  I found another old frame in our frame drawer and stuck the vinyl to the outside of the glass.  Now it sits in our guest room to say welcome.

 

3.  I took a small square of it and stuck it to the top of the washing machine.  This will make it easier to remember what is in the washer that should not go into the dryer, for me and for EOP, who doesn't always remember that everything doesn't go in the dryer.

 

I'm sure I can come up with many more ways to use this stuff.  The possibilities are endless!

Easy One Evening Sewing Project

I've been waiting to post this until a friend had her baby, so that I didn't ruin the surprise of this little gem.

Welcome to the world, baby C.  You are a super cute baby and you and your mama will rock her new diaper bag!

 

I've been making this diaper bag for baby shower gifts since I found the pattern in Simple Sewing for Baby by Lotta Jansdotter while I was pregnant.  I made one for us and we used it so much, we wore it out.  It's fun to pick out fabrics that fit the personality of the mom.  Hobby Lobby has so many cute fabrics, I always have a hard time narrowing down to 2!  Then I get to pick out a cute button to match the whole ensemble.  This one is one my very very favorites so far.  I found these awesome sparkly pink buttons and I can't wait to use them again!

 

I have the material to make another bag, simply because I could not walk out of the store without buying this material.  It was calling to me - MAKE A BAG OUT OF ME, PLEASE! 

 

I know!  Cute, right?

 



Since this bag pattern and directions are already in the book, I will only show you the pictures of how I made it and the modifications/short cuts to the original pattern that I have made.

 

1.  The bag can be made from 1 yard of fabric.  I think that with one kind of fabric, the measurements can be done in a way to follow the selvedge correctly.  However, I always like to use 2 complimentary fabrics, one for the body, one for the pocket.  I'm not sure that I am always following the selvedge rules correctly because I usually buy 1/4 yard of the pocket fabric and 3/4 yard of the body fabric.  I haven't had any problems with them yet, so I don't think it's a super big deal for this project.

 

I usually try to cut like pieces at the same time but folding the fabric in 1/2 and measuring once, cutting through 2 layers.

 

 

2.  I have added an inside pocket to the original pattern that only has an outside pocket.  This is part of the reason I don't always follow the selvedge rules.  I made the inside and outside pockets the same size this time so that I could fold the fabric in half and cut both at once.  The inside pocket is sewn on a little higher on the back of the inside and divided into 3 pockets instead of 2.  That means the inside pocket needs a finished edge on the top and bottom before sewing to the body piece (the outside pocket matches with the raw edges on 3 sides).

 

  The trickiest parts is to make sure that you pin the 2 body layers together so that the pockets are both facing the same direction.  As a rule of thumb, the bottom of the inside pocket should be on the same end as the raw edge bottom of the outside pocket.  Seems simple enough, but it always trips me up.

 

3.  I always make the strap 2 inches longer too, just because I find it more comfortable.

 

 

4.  I decided to use another pink sparkly button for this one and some mustard yellow grow grain ribbon that I had laying around.  I usually cut my ribbon 1 inch longer than the recommended length. 

 

 

About 2 hours later, here's the finished product!  I hope the next person, who loves owls, and that invites me to a baby shower loves it too! 

 

 

 

 

A Dish to Pass Did Not Mean Dessert - Oops

So it turns out I was supposed to bring something other than a dessert to our dinner party.  I found out after I posted my blog, but after Kelley read the post, I was given a pass since the dessert sounded so yummy.  However, I volunteered to bring another dish to make up for it.

I've been craving Black Bean and Mango Salad, EOP calls it Black Bean and Mango Salsa, which is a yummy summer treat for us.  I don't know why I only make it in summer, maybe because it's a cold salad and they always sound better in the summer.  Any-who, every summer I refresh my memory on how to make it by looking up similar recipes on the web, mostly for proportions, and then adapting them to my taste.  So this post is as much for me as it is for you because I won't have to scour the web to find a recipe.

Here is my ingredient list for a double batch:

 



2 cans black beans
2 mangos
1/2 large red onion (or to taste)
2 red bell peppers
the juice from 2 limes
1 bunch cilantro
2 T olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

I have this handy, dandy, little tool that I found on Clearance at Meijer for pitting mangos.  I've heard others say they didn't like it, but I use it every time I cut a mango.

 

After it is pitted, I crosscut the flesh in the peel and then flip the peel out and cut the flesh out of the peel (I didn't have enough hands to take that picture).  Then I cut what I can from the pit section and enjoy the rest as a treat.

Then I chop up the onion, red pepper and cilantro, add the beans, mango, lime juice, olive oil, salt and pepper.  Mix together and chill for 4 hours or overnight.

 

It tastes great as a side dish, but EOP calls it Salsa because it tastes delicious with tortilla chips too!

Lemon Frosting and Lasting Friendships

I am going to a party tomorrow for my dear friend Janell.  She is a friend I made when I lived in Mt. Pleasant and volunteered with Intervarsity Christian Fellowship at CMU.  But I really got to know her well after she joined a small group Bible Study I was in from Mt. Pleasant Community Church.  This small group was one of my favorite things about living in Mt. Pleasant.  We were/are like family.  We celebrated much together and endured many hardships as a group.  We are still celebrating and enduring together even though we don't all live in the MP area anymore - they are some of my besties.

So Janell now lives in Phoenix and I don't get to see her nearly as much.  But whenever I get down there or she comes home to visit her family and friends, we try to hang out.  This time, it is in the form of a fun dinner party at Kelley's.




Last time I went to Trader Joe's (only one of my favorite places ever), they had a sample of their lemon frosting, which is just Lemon Curd and Mascarpone Cheese mixed together.  I really liked it and bought right into their little scheme.  So now I have the ingredients for frosting and nothing to frost. 







Enter this little gem of a recipe for Lemon Crinkle Cookies.  I found a pin on Pinterest for Lemon Crinkle Cookie Sandwiches with Lemon Frosting (ding, ding, ding - we have a winner!)

I made 16 cookie sandwiches, substituting the lemon frosting in the recipe for the Trader Joe's easy lemon frosting, and now I have a dish to pass (minus the 3 tester cookies for our family).  Hope they need a dessert!

P.S. They are delicious!

Weekend Adventures

We tried something new this weekend.  We stayed home - ALL WEEKEND LONG!

  

 

So we spent Saturday blueberry picking at our favorite blueberry farm - Cook's Berry Farm in Charlotte (3534 W. Kalamo Hwy).  I discovered this farm, 5 years ago, totally by accident when I was trying to find another place that I had been told about.  Last year, I wanted to find this one again, but I couldn't remember the name of it, or where it was.  So we looked up another blueberry farm, just in case we couldn't find it.  After about an hour of searching, we gave up and started looking for the one we had directions to.  We got to the address - and it was the same one I had been looking for!  I took a picture of the sign last year so I would remember what the name was for future blueberry picking excursions.  Like this past weekend.  Got there this time with only one wrong turn!

 

EG loves picking (eating) blueberries.  We had a rule this year that she had to put 2 in her bucket before she could eat one.  MOST of the time, that happened.

 

The Country Mill leases Cook's from the owner and runs the blueberry picking operation.  They also sell donuts there.  Mmmm donuts.  We wanted some, and the ones that were there were not the kind we wanted, so we drove to the Country Mill afterward.  Our wedding reception was at the Country Mill, so we try to make a trek there once a year for apples and donuts and cider slushies.  Mmmm cider slushies.  We never got this picture on our wedding day, so we had EG take the pic this year - 3.5 years later.  Not a bad shot for a toddler. 

On Sunday, we decided to see if we could let the gals out of the coop to graze in the yard, under supervision.  I also wanted to check them over to make sure there were no obvious issues with them (chicken lice or the like).

 

So we started with Ronnie, since she's down a wing and can't fly away on us.  We opened the coop door and coaxed her out on the top of the run.  She was too scared to jump down so we had to set her down on the ground.  She immediately dropped down to the ground and tried to get as close to the ground as possible.  She looks good though, no bugs and her wing is healing well (the feathers are growing back too).

 

Then we tried to get Ginnie, coaxing her out with grapes.  She came out for about 2 seconds and then ran back in (Ronnie was already back in there by that point).

 

EOP grabbed her out again so we could check her over.  She calms right down when you cradle her on her back.  We didn't see any issues with her, so I think we are good to go for now.

 

As a reward for being tortured, we gave them a little bit of plain yogurt.  They LOVE yogurt and it's good for their digestive system.  It's fun to watch them eat it and then wipe their beaks on the grass to clean them off.

What's in a Name?

When we got our chicks, naturally, we wanted to name them.  We had 5, so we wanted to come up with a clever group of 5 to name them after.  We thought about using Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood characters, a household favorite, but it didn't seem quite right.  We also thought about Michelangelo, Donatello, Raphael, Leonardo and ... Splinter, but those were all boy names and that seemed like a bad omen for our need for hens.

We decided on naming them after the Pentateuch; Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.

Because it was hard to tell them all apart at first, we just assigned names by coloring (lightest to darkest) and size (largest to smallest).  So that meant our Silver Sebrights were Genesis and Exodus, Leviticus was our furry footed mystery breed and our Welsummers were Numbers and Deuteronomy.

Well we soon discovered the flaw in our plan to have a witty grouping of names for our 5 chickens:

• Exodus and Leviticus, both unfortunately named hens, met an unfortunate demise in the raccoon attack.
• Numbers was our rooster, whose number was called... to live in the country with 4 fine hens.

So now we are left with Genesis (Gennie), our larger, dominant Silver Sebright hen, who crows and rules the roost; and Deuteronomy (Ronnie), our runt-of-the-brood, 1 winged Welsummer hen, who just roosts.

At least we didn't have to tell EG that Prince Wednesday and Miss Elaina were eaten by a raccoon, and Daniel had to go live at Grandpere's house.

Ugga Mugga!