Leprechaun in Mobile, Alabama

Ahhh...this just made my evening.

Happy Skin! Or is it?

Also, I need to update on this post. I blogged about the Oil Cleansing Method for your face, and that my skin loved it.

Well...turns out that didn't last very long. It broke me out like crazy and my face was not a fan. So, while I hear it works well for some people, it did very bad things to me! I just didn't want to leave that unfinished...

Garden Upgrades

I left town last weekend for a wedding, and when I came back, the garden was all wilty and half dead :( I had watered before I left, but I guess several days in the near 100 degree heat didn't make the plants too happy! Also, the weeds were so bad, it looked like we just planted a garden in the middle of the yard. So, this week, Kathryn (dear sweet sister) and I put down thick layers of newspaper to kill the weeds and covered everything in mulch. Hopefully that will keep weeds out, keep the soil cooler and help retain water a little better. I'm so sad that I let it get so bad before doing something, but hopefully we won't loose too many plants or anything. I also put out some Marigolds and I hope those will help with the bugs. I've gotten a couple of veggies out of the yard with bug holes in them. Also, we found some rogue Basil plants (lots, actually) growing in the garden. I think they came back from seed from last year. So, I transplanted those to a different spot in the garden, also.

Ginger- I didn't know if you knew this or noticed before you left, but your tree is FULL OF PEARS!

Also, not sure if this is just a crabapple tree, but some of the apples are the same size as the ones you get in the store!
Here's the garden- This side is squash, zucchini, black beans, pumpkin and corn.
Here's the other side- Tomatoes, peppers, and herbs.

I'm back (at least for now)

I haven't blogged in FOREVER! For those of you who even bother to still check, sorry about that! It ended up in the part of my mind where cleaning the bathroom, paying bills, etc. reside. I starting thinking of it as something that would be a chore and take a very long time to do, but in reality it would only take a couple of minutes to update! And besides, it is something I enjoy. So, here I am!

I would attempt an update of what's gone on the past several months, but that could take forever. So, I'll blog a couple of exciting things, then start to write more frequently and catch people up that way.

First, Ginger got me started making yogurt at home. I made it for a second time yesterday afternoon and it turned out so well. It's as thick as store-bought stuff, but tastes MUCH, MUCH better! And, it is a lot cheaper. 1 gallon of milk, plus 2 cups of "starter" yogurt will make at least 6 big containers of yogurt. Anyway, I used Alton Brown's recipe, but added about 1 tablespoon of vanilla to it.

When it was all mixed up, I put a heating pad in a cooler, placed the containers of yogurt on top, a warm towel on top of that, and put the lid on, and stuck the whole thing in the garage (it was in the 90's here yesterday). I just left it out there alone for 7 hours, and then stuck the yogurt in the frig and it was wonderful this morning with breakfast. I put it on homemade Cinnamon Pecan Date Granola and it was fantastic!! Below is a picture of how well it set up (for some reason this picture only uploads sideways, even though it's right on my computer, sorry!).

Second, Ginger and I's garden is doing really well this year! You can see pictures and an update on her blog. I grated, blanched and froze our two zucchinis we harvested, and it ended up being 14 cups of zucchini! I also made 5 containers of pesto with all of our basil. We currently have corn, black beans, peas, zucchini, squash, peppers, strawberries, tomatoes and herbs all as vegetables growing! We also have plans for pumpkin, lettuce, broccoli, etc. that don't have any veggies yet.

Here is the green tomato I had on my sandwich today...it tasted wonderful! Anyway, just a quick post. Like I said, I'll keep updating more regularly and add some more recipes, info and updates!