Strawberry Fields Forever

Went Strawberry picking today. So much more fun than I would have thought.

They were $1.20/lb. The girls were a big help. We picked 13 lbs and I purchased an additional 10 lbs. We will be eating strawberries all year!

The Strawberry Fields

The girls helping out

I Spy a Pepper!!!

Okay, it is starting to look more like a garden. I was getting nervous for a bit.

We've got:

Onions

Peas

Peppers

And my most successful Basil plant ever!

Flowers are blooming

After some nice long, hot days, the flowers are starting to bloom.

Hello Kitty Cake Pops

Hello Kitty Cake Pops-My daughter's favorite!

A little more difficult than just dipping in melted candy. Did turn out pretty cute though!

Had to form the balls into ovals for her head and attach white chocolate chips for her ears.

Ugh Oh! The black cookie pen we had would not write on this candy.

Husband saves the day by running to Target for some Wilton icing in a tube.

Worked like a charm!

Chocolate Cake Pops-Love Them!

Took a break from gardening to make snack for preschool. We made Cake Pops from Bakerella.

They were FABULOUS. Easy enough for the kids to help and so much fun choosing sprinkles.

You can get the full recipe here but here are my highlights. So here's how we did it.

Baked a cake from a mix (gasp!) in a 13 x 9 pan. Let it cool

and then crumble into a bowl.

Added a can of chocolate frosting. Hey, these are for kids, they

do not appreciate my "made from scratch" cakes.

Continue to stir until thoroughly combined. Mine started to

look like truffles.

Roll in balls on wax paper. I got 46 out of this batch.

Melt some candies. Dip the stick the lolli stick into the candy and then

stick into the balls. Freeze for an hour (this made it so easy for me to dip and shake without the ball falling off of the stick).

Dip ball into melted chocolate and decorate. Stick in styrofoam block

to dry. We chose pink, white and lavender candy melts and then colored some

white melts sky blue.

As you can see, the kids loved them.

Week 1-Something is Growing

Some of the seeds have germinated and are peaking through.

Oh this is so exciting! It has been 7 days and very little sunshine and yet

stuff is still growing!

Parsley, arugula, turnips...

Parsley

Arugula

A whole row of radishes

A beautiful raspberry plant from the market.

We have Visitors

Found these prints today dried up in the mud. The kids were

very excited. I am sure a raccoon visiting the bird feeders.

Stay out of my Garden!!!

Sunny and 70-Looking like Spring

Starting to dry up a bit. Looking okay. Rosemary seems to have grown a foot!

Blueberries starting to flower. Flowers blooming.

I feel so impatient. Only 5 days in and I want to see something grow!!!

Rosemary is looking good.

Blueberries

Strawberries are turning red

A little yellow blooming

More rain

Had rain and thunderstorms through the night. Only puddling in certain areas so may have to avoid those next year if fruit is ruined.

The drainage puddle on the right is drying up.

Tomatoes and peppers seem to be surviving the excess water.

Rain

Wow, did it rain. Don't know if some of the tomato or pepper plants will make it. Tried to walk in the garden and my boot got stuck in the mud. We'll see...

Sunflowers are growing

Turkeys are back

Our lovely wild turkeys are back! So much fun to watch. Can't wait for the babies next month.

The Great Morel Hunt

Went out Morel hunting this morning. Had so much fun and found a great spot.

Found 10 or so mushrooms which made for a wonderful dinner.

Growing nicely

Seeds are coming along nicely. Light when in when first batch germinated.

Light runs 12 hours a day.

Seeds are coming along nicely.

Let the Planting Begin

Started our seeds indoors today. Planted some Heirloom tomatoes, rosemary, thyme, peppers, hot peppers, parsley, cat grass, zinnias & wave petunias.

Just used the 6-pack cardboard containers and some organic starter.

Put in laundry room with cover on until they all germinated, about a week.

Dessert: Dark Chocolate Potato Chips

Yummy! Made a few desserts for Valentine's Day and this was one of them. It couldn't be easier.

1 or 2 bars of dark chocolate

Some potato chips

Sea Salt

First you melt the chocolate over a double boiler.

A glass bowl over a saucepan with simmering water works just as well.

Dip the chips into the chocolate and drag around with a pair of tongs.

Lay them out on wax paper to cool.

Enjoy!!

It's a CHALLAH-Day

We love homemade Challah. Well, really any homemade bread is delish. We especially love this one because the dough is done in a bread machine so all you have to do is braid and cook.

Just out of the oven. Can't you smell it?

Dough right out of the bread machine, waiting to rise.

This makes enough for 2 loaves but I broke one

in half to have 3. Two small loaves above and

one big one below.

Basted with egg and poppyseed. All ready to bake.

Fresh Challah out of the oven.

This recipe is adapted from Kosher by Design.

Here is the recipe:

4 1/4 cups bread flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 cups water

5 large egg yolks

3 teaspoons of Kosher salt

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 tablespoon active dry yeast

1 large egg, beaten

poppyseeds

1. Place dry mix then wet mix in bread machine.

2. Process on dough cycle

3. Remove dough from machine onto floured surface.

4. Preheat oven to 350.

5. Divide dough in half, then in three pieces.

6. Roll each section and then braid. Repeat with other three pieces.

7. Place on parchment-lined or silpat lined baking sheet.

8. Cover with cloth and let rise for 30 minutes.

9. Brush challah with beaten egg and sprinkle with poppyseeds.

10. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

If you only need one loaf, wrap 2nd loaf in foil and freeze.