Sunday, April 10, 2011

Magnolia Blooming: Raised Beds

Magnolia Blooming: Raised Beds: "Last year I was super excited (as usual) to get our annual garden started, so I planted all sorts of exciting veggies and herbs....but then ..."

Raised Beds

Last year I was super excited (as usual) to get our annual garden started, so I planted all sorts of exciting veggies and herbs....but then we faced two and a half months of nonstop house renovations in order to move into our new house....and all my seedlings died! =(

So this year, Mike and I have high hopes for a nice garden. We bought all our favorite seeds (tomatoes, hot & bell peppers, carrots, lettuce, spinach, peas, beans, zucchini, & summer squash) as well as some new additions (radishes, corn, turnips, broccoli, cucumbers, and onions) and a bunch of herbs.

Our yard is nice and big, but it it very rocky and difficult to dig up, so we decided to make raised garden beds. We checked out many YouTube videos, and Home Depot, etc., before eventually realizing that the fence posts that had blown down last winter would fit the bill just right!

So, yesterday, Mike and I, along with my mom (who is fantastic and decided to come visit for the weekend) measured, cut, screwed together, and installed two 4x8 raised beds!

I have to say, there's something so satisfying about using an electric saw! I got Mike a circular saw for Christmas, but I have a lot of fun using it =)


We even got to fill our newly created garden beds with beautiful, rich black soil thanks to Wolf Hill in Gloucester, who delivered a 1.5 cubic yards of soil that very afternoon!

It was so great to be outside doing something constructive and rewarding, with two people who are important to me!

All-in-all it was a fantastic Saturday, starting off with a lovely ladies' breakfast at our house, then the raised beds, and then our first Captain Dusty's ice cream of the season! =)
(I had Mississippi Mud...but would also recommend the Vanilla Heath Bar, which Mike had...)


I am so blessed!

Monday, April 4, 2011

Cake Pops!


So I successfully attempted making cake pops! They are quite an undertaking, because one cake makes SO many cake pops, but they looks super cute, and it was fun to make something new!

Things that I learned:
  1. It probably would have been better to use a food processor to more evenly crumble the cake, and to blend in the frosting.
  2. I would not recommend adding food coloring to the melted candy disks...it makes the consistency harder to work with.
  3. It takes more than one bag of candy melts per box of cake mix.
  4. Make sure the cake balls are cold enough before dipping them in the melted chocolate/candy, ore else they will fall off the sticks. =)
Thanks to Bakerella.com for the idea and inspiration for Cake Pops, and for Starbucks for reminding me about them...=)

Also, if you're interested, the Bakerella lady was a guest on Marth
a Stewart to demonstrate a version of cake pops: cupcake pops!



Sunday, April 3, 2011

when life hands you lemons...


A couple weeks ago I really wanted it to feel like spring--so when I saw a pretty pink bowl at Marshall's, I got it and filled it with lemons! So pretty!

but now I have these six lemons...and only vague ideas of what to make with them...

I decided to keep track of what I do with them.

Lemon #1 helped create a delicious dinner tonight, which I can only call "Lemony Snicket" because, well, that's what came to my mind!

Lemony Snicket (the measurements are very approximate...I didn't follow a recipe...)
  • 1 boneless, skinless chicken breast half, pounded somewhat thin
  • 2 Tbsp oil or butter (1 for chicken, 1 for mushrooms)
  • 1 Tbsp butter (for the asparagus)
  • salt & pepper, freshly ground
  • 1 c. sliced baby bella mushrooms
  • 2 tsp. or so minced garlic (I probably used more...)
  • 1 lemon
  • 1/4 c. chicken broth ( I would have used white wine instead, but we only had red...)
  • 1/2 bunch fresh asparagus (rinsed, and with the bottom 1 in. trimmed off)
  • 1/2 box pasta (we had leftover pasta w/ pesto from the night before...)
  1. So, basically, in one skillet I heated some butter and put in the chicken, which I sprinkled salt & pepper on both sides of, and then into that same skillet I dumped the mushrooms and arranged them around the chicken. I drizzled some olive oil over the mushrooms and swished them around. Next, I added some minced garlic and mixed that in with the mushrooms, and let them get nice and tender over medium-high heat. The chicken needed to cook about 5-6 min. per side.
  2. Meanwhile, in a second skillet I simmered the asparagus in some water.
  3. When the mushrooms were looking softer, and the chicken was cooked through, I grated the rind of one lemon into the skillet, stirred it all around, then added the juice of one half of that lemon, and maybe 1/4 c. of chicken broth. I let that simmer for about 3-5 minutes, until it had thickened a little. Then I took out the chicken and put it on a plate, and added in the leftover pasta to the skillet, and stirred it around in the lemony mushroom broth.
  4. Finally, I drained the cooked asparagus and added 1 T. of butter and a squeeze from the 2nd half of the lemon to its pan.
  5. Each serving consisted of lemony pesto pasta with mushrooms, chicken, and asparagus with lemon butter....Voila! Lemony Snicket!

For Lemon#2, I think I will try either Lemon Yogurt Cake (as suggested by Aubyn C.) or Creamy Lemon Crumb Squares (as suggested by Andrea K.). =)

First, though, I'm going to finish my first attempt at Cake Pops! =)

I decided to join the blog world!

"Bloom where you are planted." ~St. Francis de Sales

I was reading through some friends' blogs recently, thinking about how nice it was to be able to catch up on my friends lives at any hour of the day, and I thought, "You know what? Maybe I'll start a blog too!"

I named the blog (with Mike's advice) for the lovely place that we live, and also with the above quote in mind. That quote has always been meaningful to me, reminding me to make the most of every opportunity, and to seek out ways to improve the lives and meet the needs of the people around me.

With that said, this blog will be the home of my random thoughts on life, my culinary endeavors, current projects...and the ways in with God is teaching and growing me, helping me to bloom where he has planted me!