We have been busy, so today is a pool day. The kids are loving this pool we got on clearance at the end of the year last year. We are looking at triple digits here for the next few days. Stay cool and safe.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Fern Care
Summer is officially here and where I live that means ferns on your front porch. I have to admit that I love having them hanging on my front porch. To me ferns are welcoming, like little green smiles hanging up waving at you to come on up on the porch. I know every time I go out or I pull up to my house, my ferns make me smile.
I've had an opportunity to watch some FoodNetwork shows this week and I've caught a couple of Paula Deen's shows. If you watch her show, when she cooks in her kitchen in Savannah, Georgia she has a large brick fireplace that is right behind her. And in the fireplace they've placed a large fern. I love that look. It is amazing how a plant as simple as a fern came be such a decorative item. That leafy, pop of green can add so much to a space.
Today I want to share a tip about caring for ferns that has made things so much easier for me. I bought my ferns last month and up until this week our temperatures have been a bit mild since the humidity has been down. Now the humidity is up and the heat too. Yesterday, some of the areas around me had a heat index of over 100 degrees. When the weather gets that hot it can be hard to get motivated to water plants. Even at eight or nine or ten o'clock at night it can feel like a sauna outside.
My mother in law shared that her brother shared a great watering tip with her for keeping his ferns lush and green even at the height of the heat and humidity we get here. His tip is to take your fern and submerge it in a 5 gallon bucket. Let the fern soak for a while and then take it up and hang it. This way the roots get a good drink. The great thing about this is you don't have to lug a heavy hose and stand there and watch the water go through. You also don't loose as much water this way. The thing that has been great for me has been that I can put my ferns in the bucket and go off and get other projects done and then come back and switch them out. I'm all about multitasking, so this works great for me. Some of the ferns I purchased were on sale and they were stressed from not being watered properly at the store. They have really perked up since I've started the new watering process.
Here is a picture of one of my ferns enjoying their morning drink. My porch gets afternoon sun, so having the ferns soak either in the morning or after the sun goes down works best for me.
I've had an opportunity to watch some FoodNetwork shows this week and I've caught a couple of Paula Deen's shows. If you watch her show, when she cooks in her kitchen in Savannah, Georgia she has a large brick fireplace that is right behind her. And in the fireplace they've placed a large fern. I love that look. It is amazing how a plant as simple as a fern came be such a decorative item. That leafy, pop of green can add so much to a space.
Today I want to share a tip about caring for ferns that has made things so much easier for me. I bought my ferns last month and up until this week our temperatures have been a bit mild since the humidity has been down. Now the humidity is up and the heat too. Yesterday, some of the areas around me had a heat index of over 100 degrees. When the weather gets that hot it can be hard to get motivated to water plants. Even at eight or nine or ten o'clock at night it can feel like a sauna outside.
My mother in law shared that her brother shared a great watering tip with her for keeping his ferns lush and green even at the height of the heat and humidity we get here. His tip is to take your fern and submerge it in a 5 gallon bucket. Let the fern soak for a while and then take it up and hang it. This way the roots get a good drink. The great thing about this is you don't have to lug a heavy hose and stand there and watch the water go through. You also don't loose as much water this way. The thing that has been great for me has been that I can put my ferns in the bucket and go off and get other projects done and then come back and switch them out. I'm all about multitasking, so this works great for me. Some of the ferns I purchased were on sale and they were stressed from not being watered properly at the store. They have really perked up since I've started the new watering process.
Here is a picture of one of my ferns enjoying their morning drink. My porch gets afternoon sun, so having the ferns soak either in the morning or after the sun goes down works best for me.
Do you enjoy ferns and have them at your house? If so, where do you have your ferns?
I hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods!
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Mini Peach Cobblers
Hello middle of June. How did you get here so fast? And I thought things would settle down once preschool ended, but little did I know that my son would come down with Hand, Foot, and Mouth over the weekend. So, I've had a cranky guy who is itchy. But we are hanging in there. My laptop has also been acting up, so that has limited my blogging. It is good to be back blogging today.
Yesterday was an overcast day here and we were stuck in the house with my little guy being sick. Fortunately, I had purchased some ingredients to make a recipe I found on Pinterest. The recipe is for mini peach cobblers and they did not disappoint. They are so easy to make. If you have any fresh fruit right, I thin you could put in strawberries, blueberries, or blackberries and they would work great. I love the fresh fruit and vegetable options that are available at this time of the year.
The pin I found on Pinterest led me to alli-n-son blog. One of her guest bloggers, Melissa from Sugar Derby shared her take on mini peach cobblers. I remember having cobblers when I was growing up, so I was excited to try this recipe. It was so easy. I did change the recipe and instead of just using cinnamon, I used Pampered Chef's Cinnamon Plus Spice Blend. It really added a nice flavor to the cobbler.
I will warn you if you decide to make this, you can't eat just one.
Here is a picture of my cobbler. The dollop of vanilla ice cream is a must.
Yesterday was an overcast day here and we were stuck in the house with my little guy being sick. Fortunately, I had purchased some ingredients to make a recipe I found on Pinterest. The recipe is for mini peach cobblers and they did not disappoint. They are so easy to make. If you have any fresh fruit right, I thin you could put in strawberries, blueberries, or blackberries and they would work great. I love the fresh fruit and vegetable options that are available at this time of the year.
The pin I found on Pinterest led me to alli-n-son blog. One of her guest bloggers, Melissa from Sugar Derby shared her take on mini peach cobblers. I remember having cobblers when I was growing up, so I was excited to try this recipe. It was so easy. I did change the recipe and instead of just using cinnamon, I used Pampered Chef's Cinnamon Plus Spice Blend. It really added a nice flavor to the cobbler.
I will warn you if you decide to make this, you can't eat just one.
Here is a picture of my cobbler. The dollop of vanilla ice cream is a must.
Be sure to visit Alli's blog for the full recipe. So, what recipes are you finding on Pinterest that you love?
I hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods!
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Marinated Cucumber Salad
Today I wanted to share a recipe that I made the other night that is a good one to put away if you are having lots of cucumbers this summer. I know from growing up that once cucumbers take off, you can really get a lot of them coming in all at once.
I remember going to a food car when I used to work and they sell a fabulous marinated cucumber salad. Remembering that great salad, I recently decided to try and find a similar recipe via the Internet. I stumbled across this one from Cooks.com and thought I would give it a try.
The recipe doesn't specify the type of vinegar to use. I had white vinegar on hand so I used that. I think you could use apple cider vinegar. I may try this recipe using that kind next. I think the apple cider vinegar will give a bit sweet taste which I would like.
I did not add onion to my recipe. If you don't like onions you can omit them and the recipe will be fine.
What I like about this recipe is it is an easy recipe to put together the night before a picnic and it doesn't call for any crazy ingredients. You can make a big batch and it will go a long way.
Since it can be a challenge to find cool foods to eat during the summer time, this is a great recipe. It would be so easy to put a freezer pack or bowl of ice under this during your festivities.
So file this one away with the Fourth of July coming. I can guarantee this recipe will add some fireworks to your festivities.
Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods!
Marinated Cucumber Salad
1 cucumber
1/2 c. vinegar
2 tbsp. sugar
1/2 c. water
Thinly slice your cucumber. In a bowl add the 1/2 c. vinegar, 2 tbsp. sugar, 1/2 c. water. Then pour the ingredients over the cucumbers. This can be marinated as short as an hour, but is better if it is allowed to marinate a couple of hours or even over night.
I remember going to a food car when I used to work and they sell a fabulous marinated cucumber salad. Remembering that great salad, I recently decided to try and find a similar recipe via the Internet. I stumbled across this one from Cooks.com and thought I would give it a try.
The recipe doesn't specify the type of vinegar to use. I had white vinegar on hand so I used that. I think you could use apple cider vinegar. I may try this recipe using that kind next. I think the apple cider vinegar will give a bit sweet taste which I would like.
I did not add onion to my recipe. If you don't like onions you can omit them and the recipe will be fine.
What I like about this recipe is it is an easy recipe to put together the night before a picnic and it doesn't call for any crazy ingredients. You can make a big batch and it will go a long way.
Since it can be a challenge to find cool foods to eat during the summer time, this is a great recipe. It would be so easy to put a freezer pack or bowl of ice under this during your festivities.
So file this one away with the Fourth of July coming. I can guarantee this recipe will add some fireworks to your festivities.
Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods!
Marinated Cucumber Salad
1 cucumber
1/2 c. vinegar
2 tbsp. sugar
1/2 c. water
Thinly slice your cucumber. In a bowl add the 1/2 c. vinegar, 2 tbsp. sugar, 1/2 c. water. Then pour the ingredients over the cucumbers. This can be marinated as short as an hour, but is better if it is allowed to marinate a couple of hours or even over night.
Monday, June 4, 2012
Hello June!
Well, I'm happy that it is June and I can stick a fork in May. May was a stressful month for me. I've had a lot going on with one of my kids and multiple doctor's appointments. So I was glad we took a great family vacation last week to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. We all needed to destress.
This week I hope to share some posts about a few of the places my family likes to visit and eat at while we vacation in the Outer Banks. Last year I shared a post about a place my family likes to eat called Spanky's Grille. This trip we went to Spanky's twice. They have such great hamburger's that I had to get another one. It is a very reasonable place.
Since we went twice on our trip last week, I decided to branch out get ordered their roast beef with mashed potatoes and gravy. That plate was a great deal at only $4.99. So I would continue to recommend Spanky's Grille if you are going to be visiting the Outer Banks any time this summer. The food is great and they get your food out quickly. Which for us is very important because my two boys are not patient waiting at a restaurant.
I hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods!
This week I hope to share some posts about a few of the places my family likes to visit and eat at while we vacation in the Outer Banks. Last year I shared a post about a place my family likes to eat called Spanky's Grille. This trip we went to Spanky's twice. They have such great hamburger's that I had to get another one. It is a very reasonable place.
Since we went twice on our trip last week, I decided to branch out get ordered their roast beef with mashed potatoes and gravy. That plate was a great deal at only $4.99. So I would continue to recommend Spanky's Grille if you are going to be visiting the Outer Banks any time this summer. The food is great and they get your food out quickly. Which for us is very important because my two boys are not patient waiting at a restaurant.
I hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods!
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