Recommended Reading: Beautiful Creatures

I would call this a twinkie book. It did not have much substance, but was fun while it lasted. The kind of book that is best devoured in a couple bites. I read it in 2 days. At first, I was afraid that it was too dark and mysterious and it remained mysterious all the way through the end, but not dark.  It was from the now cliche family of witch/vampire books, but had some fun twists to it. I don't think that I would ever have picked it out on my own, but my old college roommate recommended it on GoodReads and my local library had it. It is a good book for a long plane ride or leisurely beach time.

There are 2 more books in the series. And apparently there is already a movie of it? I am so behind in my pop culture!

Reuse Recipes: Stale Bread 2

Bread, especially the crusts and ends, is one of those things that I am constantly experimenting with creative ways to reuse. See my first bread reuse post here. This week I had 2 successes that I think are worth sharing. The first is a new spin on the crouton idea from my first post.  I try to avoid store-made crackers as much as possible - too expensive and not especially good for you, although they are very tasty. I was wondering whether I could make my stale bread into a tasty cracker-type treat that my kids would like. I may try a salty variation at some future point, but this week we were going for cinnamon graham cracker style. They were a HUGE hit. Like gone in less than 24 hours. The kids ate them for breakfast (in the car on the way to the Transportation Day fair that I forgot to bring my camera to) and then they wanted more for snack.

Stale bread becomes cinnamon croutons

Here are the general directions for Cinnamon and Sugar Croutons:

1. Cut up stale bread ends into crouton size squares. 
2. Melt 1/2 cup of butter per full cookie sheet worth of cubes and drizzle it over the top of the cubes. I did this right on the cookie sheet and then mixed it around on there, but I think it could be done equally well if not better in a mixing bowl.
3. Mix 1/2 c. sugar with a couple tablespoons of cinnamon and a dash of nutmeg - and sprinkle that all over the "croutons", stirring them around to coat evenly all sides. 
4. Bake at 350 on a cookie sheet for 10 minutes or until crispy and golden colored. 

These would also be delicious on/with ice cream... My first batch did not last long enough to test that out though.

Next, I made a recipe that I had tried once before, probably a year or so ago -- Egg Strata.  As I was looking for the recipe that I had used, I realized that there are many different types of strata - Breakfast Strata, chicken strata, Asparagus Mushroom Strata, EasyStrata, Blueberry Strata, and the list goes on! They all can be made using stale bread.  I made bacon asparagus strata and I can't stop eating it - so yummy. I used real swiss Gruyere cheese on it (from Trader Joes), which I think makes all the difference. My Frenchies have spoiled my cheese taste buds forever!

Use stale bread deliciously to make Strata

Garden Progress: Planting Popcorn, Cucumbers, and Marigolds

More direct seeding this week -- popcorn is a very exciting new plant that I am trying to grow this year. Inspired by my friend who grew it last year.  I've always heard that corn is hard to grow.  I fertilized like crazy and am hoping for some beginner's luck.

from Farmer Fred

Sew Special: Modest Alterations

I am not an alterations expert, but I like to help people out with them when it is something simple or just the right thing to do.  A girl at church was trying to find a modest prom dress and ordered one online. But the neck-line was a bit low and the dress was way too long for her petite person. So I said that I would help. We raised the neck-line by tucking in some of the fabric at the back. That made the shoulder seams slide toward the back by a half inch or so, but it was an easy fix and much more modest  all the way around.

Tucked the lace in at the back raising both the neckline and back of the dress

It's a lovely dress.  Delicate and stylish. I think this type of sleeve could also be replicated to make a sleeveless dress more modest too. I am kicking myself that I did not step back and get a better shot of the whole dress.  I was a little distracted - a bumble bee decided to crawl up my pant leg while I was taking these pictures!  I literally jumped out of my pants try to escape the buzzing that I knew must be a bee. My nice husband went up and captured the bee in a jar for the kids to get a good look at before freeing him outside.

The fabric is stretch and slippery so I did the hemming by hand

Recommended Reading/Reference: The Garden Primer

The Garden Primer by Barbara Damrosch is a book that I bought last year towards the end of the gardening season. This book is of biblical proportions --820 pages, and is an encyclopedia of garden care. It has been super helpful already this Spring and I expect that I will continue to refer to it. It is the kind of information that I read and think, "yes, right, sweet potatoes need x,y,z fertilizer and potatoes need c,d,e, but then by the time I get to that step I forget and have to go back and read that section again.
It is organized by veggies, fruits, shrubs, lawn care, common pest problems, etc. and it has an excellent index. The book contains 2-3 page entries on most common veggies, herbs, and fruits: how to grow them, common pests, soil preferences, etc. The only problem that I have been having with it is that I have decided to grow some "unusual" things this year, like huckleberries and honeyberries, which are not found in the index. Also lemon balm is not mentioned. I guess even 820 pages can only cover so many plants!

Reuse Recipe: Oatmeal

A note on reuse recipes: I have realized after writing these for 4 months now that I want them to be real -- not ideas that I researched just to blog about.  I try to write about something that I actually used this week. Meanwhile, I am also continuing to use the old faithful reuse recipes that I shared way back in January and February. Like just this evening I made another batch of leftover fruit juice pops from the can of peaches that we had with dinner. It has become part of my routine and I am happy with that.

Oatmeal is another staple in our family. I confess - I don't really like it! Kids and hubby do though, so that's fine. When a bowl full is left in the pot and I don't want to finish it off (per usual).  I put it in the fridge for later use.  My go-to oatmeal reuse method is to make pancakes the next day.  They are so yummy. Much more yummy than oatmeal in my humble opinion. I like to improvise my pancakes so that they are not too dry -- the method goes something like this:

1. Put leftover oatmeal/cold cereal in the pancake bowl
2. Add 2-3 eggs -stir
3. Melt 2-4 Tablespoons butter in the pan you are going to use for frying. Meanwhile add 1-2 Cups flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 2 Tablespoons sugar, and a pinch or 2 of salt to the pancake bowl.  Stir.  
4. Add the now melted butter from your pan to the pancake bowl. Now the pan is all greased and ready for you.
5. Assess the mixture's consistency and add milk until it reaches your preferred pancake consistency. I like mine kinda runny. Half way between American pancakes and crepes.
6. 

Giant Oatmeal Pancake

7. Pour into the pan to make a "giant" pancake

8. Your kids will gobble it right up!

Garden Progress: Sprouting

The milk jug starters are working well so far.

Opening the first set of milk jug starters

Success!

Also a new edible joined our landscaping this week: Bay Laurel. No need to buy any bay leaves from now on.  It is a perennial, but only in zones 8-10, and will have to come in for the winter so I potted it. 

Bay Leaf Shrub