My garden....

As you might know, I hate to garden!

You can refer to these posts for a review of my lack of gardening skills:

HERE and HERE

Because I hate dirt, worms, bugs, frogs and especially those little garden snakes, I just bought the Keter elevated garden pot:

My father loved to garden and could grow any type of flower or bush, often starting by scratch, rooting broken branches and planting seeds. Apple trees and peach trees produced an abundance of fruit in our yard and the berry bushes flourished.  

My grandfather was always in his huge vegetable garden, and had no problem tucking a garden snake into his pocket while he weeded, so he would kneel on him!!   My grandmother spent the fall canning vegetables that would last all winter!

I did not inherit a "green thumb" from either of them and I am thrilled when my Basil plant lasts til September!

So far, so good.....

....herbs are pretty easy to grow, I will admit...

,,,but I added a tomato plant a bell pepper plant and a banana pepper plant and some cilantro....

...with the hope for fresh salsa in August!!  Of course there is a "Mojito Mint plant" for a summer night beverage....and some lemon thyme for chicken and veggies!

I do have great success with chives and oregano - probably because they do not require any attention!

And I even have a cute watering can to help me out!!

Wish me "growing" success this summer!

 Thanks for stopping by!

The Easiest Strawberry Pie....

Johns birthday was early June and he LOVES strawberries.  He often has strawberry shortcake rather than a traditional birthday cake, but this year I made my "Easy Strawberry Pie" for him:

The most important part is to find the largest strawberries you can find:

This can be made in a "pre-baked" pie crust, but we like it in a graham cracker crust!

Simply place the smaller berries on the bottom and save those big beauties for the top, trying to get all tips pointed upwards.  Of course you can cut the berries into small pieces, but I like to keep them whole - another reason this is easy to make!!

Simply bring to a boil 1 1/2 c water, 3/4 c sugar and 2 T cornstarch and boil til it thickens.

Stir in one 3 oz box of strawberry jello and pour over the berries, making sure the glaze covers each berry:

Refrigerate for a few hours....

...and enjoy!!

Once set, the pie slices and holds its shape.

This was John's birthday surprise....

...and I hope his birthday "wishes" are that I find some treasures at the MacKenzie-Childs Barn Sale this summer - LOL:

A topping of whipped cream is a MUST:

And it is delish!

Thanks for stopping by!

Ten on the 10th...A 4th July Candy Bouquet....

I gathered some items from my 4th of July stash and pulled out a variety of sizes of wooden skewers.  

I shoved an old used piece of styrofoam into the mug (Dollar Store has these):

I bought 5 different bags of "red and blue" candy at Dollar Tree:

I used scotch tape to adhere the candies onto the skewers:

I added some "star garland" for a little glitz and a few flags:

It's all ready to be picked apart and enjoyed!

I make this every 4th of July and a few lessons I have learned throughout the years:  

If you are going to place this outside during a picnic, do NOT use any chocolate!

Collect the skewers from all grown men immediately - I am sure you can guess why!

Have a back-up bag for children- - there is always one who wants another lollipop when the bouquet is empty!

Do not make it too top heavy - chose a sand pail, or wide bowl if you plan on using a lot of candy.

This is also cute at Christmas and Halloween if you are having a party with children!

Total cost:

$5 candy

$1 mug

Asst supplies on hand!

An inexpensive gift to bring to a party, a perfect centerpiece for the 4th, keep on your kitchen counter for the kiddies or bring to a BBQ!

Stop by the other participants to see what they have created for the 4th for under $10:

Exquisitely Unremarkable 

Let’s Add Sprinkles 

French Ethereal 

Homeroad 

Decorate and More with Tip 

Décor to Adore

Chasing Quaintness 

Patina and Paint 

The Apple Street Cottage 

Bluesky at Home 

County Road 407 - 

Pandora’s Box – You are here!

Thanks for stopping by!

Have you heard of Pumpernickel And Rye Spice Blends?

I recently received a gift package of 4 spice blends from Pumpernickel and Rye and was challenged to come up with a few ways to use these flavors:

The Garlic Herb blend was the first I tried and the blend of_______________________

I sauteed a tablespoon of the seasoning in a tablespoon of EVOO and butter:

...salt and peppered some potato slices....

...and fried them up!

They were delish!!

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I eat zucchini all year long and one of my favorite ways to serve it is "spiraling it" with my spiralizer:

The spiralizer can create "ribbons":

I marinated a one tablespoon of Tuscan Spice blend in 2 T oil for an hour:

and poured it over the "ribbons" and let sit for 1/2 hour:

I microwaved the zucchini for1 minute and tossed it a bit and then microwaved it for another minute and it was delish!!

Do you have a spiralizer?  I am looking for new ways to use mine!

***************

I love the flavors of chocolate and cinnamon together, so when I recently made brownies, I added a few teaspoons of Crumble Spice to the mix....

...and it added a nice flavor to the brownies!

YUM!

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The 4th spice I tried was

I am finding quite a few ways of using these blends, so I hope you will visit

  Pumpernickel and Rye 

and make a purchase!

Here are a few more ideas:

I am still experimenting with the blends and look forward to creating a few new recipes!

Just last night I tried "The Woods"  It has a nice blend with rosemary...

 ...and it was great on grilled chicken:

These blends are so versatile and delish.  Hope you will stop by 

Pumpernickel and Rye 

and try a few!

Thanks for stopping by!

Thanks to Pumpernickel and Rye for the delish blends - all opinions are my own!