Monday, April 25, 2011

Gardening by KJo

So, I received all my seeds from Italy about 2 weeks ago and started our indoor garden.  Documenting my progress.  2 weeks now and my seedlings are HUGE (photos to come.)  Just wish the weather would finally start to turn to warmth so I can start to plant everything in the outdoor garden.  This year I am going to have Eric expand the garden 2 times the size.  Excited to see all my hard work pay off with a great harvest this summer. 

START:


Week 2 (photos to come):


Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Great Tips on Easter Egg Color Creating from Metro Parent

http://www.metroparent.com/Metro-Parent/April-2011/Naturally-Dyed-Easter-Eggs/

Now, gather your supplies. Here is a list of natural ingredients and the colors they make:.
•Red-onion skins: soft lavender to red, depending on how long you boil them or how many skins are in the pot

•Red cabbage leaves: a lovely shade of robin's egg blue (yep, blue – not red)  WOW...I never knew!

•Beet juice or cranberry juice: different shades of pink

•Dill seeds: brown to gold color

•Grape juice: lavender

•Strong coffee: different shades of brown

•Yellow onion leaves, turmeric, orange and lemon peels, cumin or carrot tops: yellow

•Paprika: orange

•Spinach: green

•Yellow delicious apple peels: green to gold color

•Blueberries: blue

•Grass: green

To dye eggs that you can eat, you will need:

•White vinegar

•Eggs

•Water

•Your choice of natural dye items

Here's what you do

1. Hard-boil your eggs.

2. Add 2 to 3 tablespoons of vinegar to a quart of water, along with your natural ingredients. If it is a solid, like spinach, you can use up to 4 cups. For spices, you will need about 4 tablespoons. Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes. Let cool, then strain.

3. Dip the hard-boiled eggs into the dye. The longer they are in, the more colorful they will be. Turn the eggs every so often so the color will come out even.

4. Allow eggs to dry in egg cartons. Refrigerate eggs you intend to eat.

Gift Giving Gadget Idea!

I've been super busy and time is flying bye...ugh!  I had to try to slow down this week and finally put an order in for a unique gadget that I thought my sister would like.  She loves to bake with her boys, so I thought this would be fun!  Also, I had to get one too!  LOL  Yep, I got one for my hubby and my girls.  Just something cute and fun to create for parties or school treats.  Back to the gift giving, I actually missed my sisters birthday in December (bad sister here I know...ugh) 2010.  Its hard to get gifts now because she has everything and I have a hard time figuring out what to get, but I guess because I waited so long this Baby Cakes Cake Pop maker caught my eye on Cake Pop Makers.com and I bought it to send to her.  Here it is:  Its a cake pop maker.  Perfect size cake pops and makes them in 2 minutes flat.  Hope she'll like it! 

http://thebabycakesshop.com/products/cake-pop-makers