My Sandy Spot and Succulents

Even though today has been pretty cool (it's only 39 at the moment), I'm dreaming of warmer weather.  Of course, this means I'm dreaming about my gardens and what I'm going to do this year. 

February is half over so it won't be long until I can start planting.  I have one area that's been in a sort of limbo since we moved here.  It's a flower bed beside the driveway.  Here is what it looked like when we bought the house.

As you can see, it looked pretty sad.  I pulled out all the scraggly flowers and such. 

The rest of the driveway has a Monkey Grass border, so I thought it made sense to continue the theme. This is how it looked when I finished.  Sorry. The picture is a little blurry but you can see it made a huge difference.

 

Last Summer I tried growing sun-loving herbs in this spot.  I planted rosemary, sage, leeks, lavender, and Thai basil.  The rosemary and sage did okay but never got very big.  The leeks, lavender, and basil didn't do well at all.  The soil is just a bit too sandy to hold water.  What to do?

 

As I've been looking through garden photos on Pinterest, I came across a brilliant idea.  I am going to plant a succulent garden!

 

Heat resistant? Check.  Low water needs? Check.  Easy to grow?  Check.  Beautiful?  You betcha!  I was so surprised to see how many beautiful varieties and colors are available. I think I may be able to salvage what, up until now, has been a bit of an eyesore.  The Lady-Across-The-Street will be so happy!

 

My spot isn't huge so obviously, I'll have to keep it a bit more simple but here are some samples at what I hope to do.  I love the lime green plant in the first pic, the spiky dark plant in the second, and the very colorful pink floral plants in the third.  Throw in a few Hens & Chicks and a couple Prickly Pear cactus (I want to eat them!), and it will make for a beautiful and colorful display.  I hope so anyway.  It will be interesting to see how it turns out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Chocolate Strawberries and Cherries for Valentine's Day

OK, I couldn't stand it.  I'm keeping dinner really simple tonight (Stouffer's Lasagna, garlic toast and spinach salad. Hubs faves) so I had to make something tasty and pretty to celebrate. 

I had chocolate and maraschino cherries leftover from my Cherry Bombs and I saw a box of beautiful, red, ripe strawberries at the store this morning so chocolate covered strawberries and cherries it is!  I also spied some wafers in the pantry. 

These are just too easy to make.  Be sure to make the same day you plan to eat them.  They do not store well.

Chocolate Covered Fruit
Strawberries
Maraschino Cherries
Milk Chocolate Candy Coating
White Chocolate Candy Coasting
Assorted decorative sugars,  jimmies, sprinkles, nonpareils, chopped nuts, etc.

Wash strawberries and rinse cherries.  Dry completely.  Be very diligent about getting them as dry as possible, otherwise, the chocolate won't stick & any water will seize the chocolate.

Melt milk chocolate candy coating.  I use my mini Crockpot.  You can also melt it in the microwave.  If you choose the microwave, place chocolate in a microwave-safe container.  Set timer for 30 seconds and stir.  Continue to use 30 second blasts and stirring between until chocolate is completely melted.

Lay out a sheet of foil or parchment paper.

Dip fruit in chocolate, making sure to coat completely.  I use them stems to sort of roll them around and them support them with a candy fork or regular fork and tap gently on the side to let excess chocolate drip off.

Place on foil/parchment to dry.  Continue until all pieces of fruit are covered.

If desired, while the chocolate is still wet, you can sprinkle with sparkle sugar, nonpareils, chopped nuts, or jimmies. I used crushed strawberry Pop Rocks (why not?) and cacao nibs. 

Place in refrigerator until candy coating is set.  They are ready to eat at this point.

As you can see, I didn't use the white chocolate; however, if you want to decorate them with the white chocolate candy coating, following the above directions to melt. 

Take a baggie and snip a tiny hole by cutting a small piece off the corner and then pour the melted white chocolate into the baggie.

Working quickly, zig-zag/drizzle the white chocolate over the hardened milk chocolate.  You can be creative and make designs, initials, whatever you want. 

Refrigerate until serving.

 

 

Tater Tot Cassarole

What?!  No recipe for something drenched in chocolate or covered in fondant roses?  Yeah, well, I actually did make Cherry Bombs (cake balls with maraschino cherries in the middle).  Two flavors even!  White Almond dipped in white chocolate and Devil's Food dipped in dark chocolate.  But guess what?  I forgot to take pictures.  DUH!  Let me just say they turned out beautifully and were a HUGE hit with my fellow co-workers. 

So instead of a romantic dish, I'm baking up some good old-fashioned yumminess.  Tater Tot Casserole has been making the rounds at work and with my friends.  Perhaps it's the cold weather and we're craving some serious comfort food.  Or maybe it's just delicious and now we have an excuse to eat it. 

Everyone has their own unique spin on this recipe.  Some people cook the hamburger/ground pork/turkey first.  Some don't.  Some add veggies.  Some don't.  Some pre-cook the tater tots.  People use different Cream-of-Whatever soup.  Cheese?  Yes and no.  Apparently this is the kind of dish that you can clean out the fridge with, tossing in whatever you happen to have on hand. 

My recipe is a twist on a favorite quick dish my mother used to make when I was a kid.  It was a mix of hamburger, tomato soup, mushroom soup, and Minute Rice.  Remember Minute Rice?  We affectionately called it 'Glop'. Sounds appetizing, doesn't it?  Trust me, it really was tasty.  I think tossing it in the oven, covering it with crispy tater tots, and calling it Tater Tot Casserole sounds a bit more appealing.

Tater Tot Casserole ala Paulette
1 pound Hamburger
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
1 can Tomato Soup
1 can Mushroom Soup
1 cup Mixed Seasoning Blend (It's just chopped onions, celery, green & red peppers, and parsley. Chop your own if you can't find it in the freezer section).
1-1/4 cups shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese
1 bag Tater Tots
Dried Parsley

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Brown ground beef and Mixed Seasoning Vegetables & cook until veggies are tender. 

Drain and spread into a 9 x 13 casserole dish.  I used an 11 x 7 casserole dish because someone got away with my big one!

Mix tomato soup and mushroom soup. 

Pour 2 cups evenly over hamburger mixture.

Sprinkle on the shredded cheese.

Cover evenly with tater tots. Sprinkle with dried parsley just to make it pretty. :)

Bake at 350 degrees approximately 45-60 minutes until casserole is bubbly and the tater tots are crisp and browned.

Oh my goodness!  This is SO good!

 

Happy Valentine's Day!

I hope each and every one of you have a day filled with much laughter, happiness, joy and most of all, LOVE!

Adventures in Bread Making-English Muffins

I have been making bread in my bread maker for several years.  There is nothing like the smell of fresh bread baking.  Unfortunately, there are some breads that just cannot be made the easy way.  English Muffins is one of those breads.

I love English Muffins.  I love them plain with butter and jam and I love them fancy in Eggs Benedict.  All those little nooks and crannies to catch fresh butter. Yum.  So I thought I'd give them a try.

I searched several places for recipes and decided on this one to try first.  It had lots of good reviews and good notes about making them.  I've never made bread without my bread maker so I figured I could use all the help I could get. 

English Muffins
Makes approximately 18 muffins.

Makes servings USMetricAdjust Recipe (Help)

1 cup Milk (I used whole milk)

2 tablespoons White Sugar

1 (.25 ounce) package active dry Yeast

1 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)

1/4 cup melted Shortening (I used butter. I was out of shortening)

6 cups All-Purpose Flour

1 teaspoon Salt 

Warm the milk in a small saucepan until it bubbles, then remove from heat. Mix in the sugar, stirring until dissolved. Let cool until lukewarm.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine the milk, yeast mixture, shortening and 3 cups flour. Beat until smooth.

 

Add salt and rest of flour, or enough to make a soft dough. Knead. Place in greased bowl, cover, and let rise.

 

Punch down. Roll out to about 1/2 inch thick. Cut rounds with biscuit cutter, drinking glass, or empty tuna can.

 

Sprinkle waxed paper with cornmeal and set the rounds on this to rise. Dust tops of muffins with cornmeal also. Cover and let rise 1/2 hour. Mine took about an hour to rise. I keep the house cool.

 

Heat greased griddle. Cook muffins on griddle about 10 minutes on each side on medium heat. As you can see, I broke out the Electric Skillet.  I set it on 250 degrees and toasted both sides approximately 10 minutes. 

Keep baked muffins in a warm oven until all have been cooked. Allow to cool and place in plastic bags for storage.

 To use, split with a fork and toast. Great with butter and/or jam or make a sandwich!

Final analysis: Both Hubs and I thought they were totally yummy but they were not quite what I wanted.  There were some nooks and crannies but not like the store-bought kind.  I will try this recipe again but next time, I will not add the whole 6 cups of flour called for in the recipe.  The dough was pretty dense.  I think this might also help with the nooks and crannies issue. 

 

Happy Groundhog Day!

http://hexmagazine.com/newsletter/imbolccharming-of-the-plow-news-2011/

In the United States, today is  Groundhog Day. We all tune in to see if Puxsutawney Phil will see his shadow, forecasting six more weeks of winter.  This year, seems ole Phil predicts we'll have an early spring.  I sure hope he's right! 

Here in Oklahoma, the weather is very spring-like. I've seen some very small buds on trees. Yesterday, I had a flock of migrating Robins stop in for a drink. When the Robins arrive, can Spring be far behind?

Today is also known as Candlemass, Imbolc, and/or Disting (Charming of the Plow).  The idea comes from our European immigrant ancestors and their pagan past.  They brought their weather lore with them when they crossed the big waters. 

The Scottish had this poem:
If Candlemas Day is bright and clear,
There'll be two winters in the year.

The English:
If Candlemas be fair and bright,
Winter has another flight.
If Candlemas brings clouds and rain,
Winter will not come again.

Disting means "Assembly of the Goddess" and was the first public moot of the year in Sweden.  In other Northern countries, this day marked the first day the fields were plowed.  Needless to say, it was an important event as the fertility of the fields meant a year of plenty or a year of hunger. 

Today is a good day to start taking stock of your gardening equipment.  Check the oil and gas in your lawn mower and your modern day plow, your tiller. Sharpen the blades. Clean off last year's dirt.  Start sprouting seeds to transplant next month.  And don't forget to say a word of thanks to your personal higher power for the bounty of gifts the Earth provides for us. 

Savory Tid-Bits Bread Pudding

I posted a recipe for One Serving Bread Pudding a couple of weeks ago.  It was so easy, I decided to mess around with it a bit and make a savory version.  This is what I came up with. 

I tend to use whatever I have in the fridge when I'm making this sort of recipe.  I use up those little bits of food that I just won't throw out. You can also use up those leftover bread heels that no one will eat.  Groceries are getting so expensive, I just can't stand to throw out perfectly good food.  This recipe is the perfect foil for those.

This is delicious for breakfast or lunch. You could even serve it as a side dish if you leave out the meat. It's economical, filling, and very tasty. If you plan ahead a bit, you can put it together the night before and throw it in the microwave while you're making your coffee.  It only takes about 2 to 3 minutes for a quick and easy breakfast. 

Savory Tid-Bits Bread Pudding
1 cup cubed Bread
1 tablespoon chopped Onion
1 tablespoon chopped Red Pepper
2 cooked, chopped Sausage Links
3 tablespoon shredded Cheddar Cheese
1 large Egg
1/3 cup Milk
1/4 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1/2 teaspoon dried Parsley
dash Salt
dash Pepper

Mix bread, onion, red pepper, sausage and cheddar cheese and put into a small, microwavable bowl & set aside.
Mix together egg, milk, garlic powder, parsley, salt and pepper.
Pour over the bread mixture and stir gently. Make sure egg mixture thoroughly cover all the bread.

Microwave for 1 minute, uncovered.  Check to see if middle is still liquid.  If so, continue to cook at 30-second intervals until the very center is just set.

I think this would be really good using Swiss cheese, ham and caramelized onions. Bread Pudding Benedict, using English Muffins,  Canadian bacon, asparagus, and drizzled with hollandaise sauce would be good.  Mexican Pudding with Queso blanco or Moneray Jack, chorizo, onions, and jalapenos with a dash of salsa & sour cream on top. Change up the herbs and spices to compliment the flavors. Use your imagination and your leftovers to create your own personal favorite.