These tips for preparing spring flower beds will make things much less hectic when the warm weather arrives in a few weeks (or months!) Spring is just around the corner and daylight savings on the horizon, we’ll soon be wanting to start planting for flowers and vegetable gardening. The weather is so cool now, and …
A silicone baking mat can take high heat and replace parchment paper for baking & food preparation. I like to use them in lots of unusual ways in my kitchen. You can use them for cookies, of course, but there are lots of other creative Silpat baking mat uses, as well. With a silicone baking …
Today’s featured daylily is a real beauty. It is called Daylily Earth Wind and Fire. It is a gorgeous large daylily that blooms in mid summer. This daylily was first hybridized by Lovett in 2004. The plant is from the family hemerocallidaceae, genus Hemerocallis About a year ago, I spent the day talking to the owner …
Crock Pots are a huge help in the kitchen. They make meal prep a cinch and give a wonderful aroma as the meal cooks, almost by itself. But be sure to avoid these slow cooker mistakes. If you open the lid, fill pot too full or add ingredients in the wrong order, you may end …
This recipe for baked Italian sausage and peppers is oven baked in one dish for a really easy week night meal. Flavorful whole sausages are combined with tomatoes, Italian seasonings, sweet peppers and onions for a tasty dish that is really simple to prepare. It is one of my favorite 30 minute meals. Keep reading …
Looking for a pretty indoor plant to brighten up a window sill or table? Try this purple passion plant – gynura aurantiaca. This distinctive plant has velvety leaves with slightly raised hairs on greenish purple stems. Gynura aurantiaca is native to Java and is fairly easy to grow if you have a brightly lit room. …
Butternut pumpkin is one of my favorite types of squash. It is resistant to squash bugs and tastes wonderful when roasted. Instead of planting the crop in soil enriched with compost, I experimented this year by planting in compost to see what would happen. This type of planting works best in a rolling compost pile …
These Hasselback baked apples are a fun take on the traditional baked apple recipe. Instead of hollowing out the apple and adding a filling, the apple is thinly sliced and then drizzled with a delicious buttery brown sugar topping. A crunchy gluten-free flour and oat topping completes this delicious dessert recipe. When you are following …
Growing Columbine – aquilegia in your garden will reward you with delightful dangling bell shaped flowers that come in almost every color of the rainbow. This hardy perennial is easy to grow and much sought after by many gardeners. Since they self seed readily, you will never be without them once you have them planted. There is …
With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, this Baileys Mudslide Truffle recipe is the perfect way to end a romantic meal with a loved one. I love the taste of sweet treats that are mixed with alcohol. They add a touch of decadence to recipes and are perfect for celebrating. These Irish Cream Truffles are …
If you like to cook French cuisine, growing chervil is a good idea, since the fresh herb is hard to find at local grocery stores and Farmer’s Markets. Chervil is a delicate herb that comes from the carrot family. Close cousins are dill, parsley and fennel. Chervil is a native of Southeastern Europe, southern Russia …
Plants, vegetables and trees can grow into the most amazing shapes. These oddities of nature show that twists, bends and outgrowths can turn an ordinary plant into something that looks totally different. This inspiration for this post came from a morning breakfast jaunt. After breakfast Richard and I were driving around and we came upon …
Are you looking for an easy slow cooker hearty winter meal? This flavorful vegetable beef barley soup is chock full of vegetables in a delightfully seasoned broth that will warm you to the bones. The soup cooks for hours so you can get on with your day, and makes the kitchen smell amazing, to boot. …
There are dozens of uses for license plates if you just think outside the box a bit. The colors and designs lend them selves to loads of home decor projects, both inside and outside the home. Have you ever thought about using number plates in DIY projects? Using recycled items saves money on the projects …
Large, showy indoor plants are a delight in the home. Growing dracaena fragrans gives the feeling of being in a corn field. The striped yellow and green leaves bring a lot of softness to any corner of a room. It is not too hard to figure out why Dracaena Fragrans is called The Corn Plant. The …
Aphelandra squarrosa, also known as zebra plant can be a real challenge to grow. But the spectacular flowers and showy striped leaves make it worth the effort. If you love to grow flowering houseplants, zebra plant can’t be beat The flowers come in late summer and autumn on a tall flower stem that is long …
Pruning forsythia requires some basic knowledge of how the plant is meant to grow. Forsythia flowers give us one of the first splashes of color in early spring gardens. But to get that color and a well shaped shrub, it’s important to trim forsythia bushes correctly. Check out this article for more information on forsythia …
No holiday season would be complete without the buttery and crisp taste of a Scottish Shortbread cookie. Biting into crunchy shortbread cookies gives you a light as air texture and taste that just can’t be beat. The cookie is so popular that January 6 has been labeled as National Shortbread Day. Let’s learn how to …
Spaghetti recipes are always a big hit at our house. They are cold winter comfort food at their tastiest. There are literally dozens of ways to incorporate a tasty spaghetti sauce into a quick and easy weeknight dinner sensation. One of my earliest spaghetti recipes was a combination of both beef and pork that became a …
Cryptanthus Bivittatus is a member of the Bromeliaceae family of tropical plants. It has many common names such as starfish plant, earth star, and Red Star Bromeliad. The bromeliad is a plant commonly grown in terrariums. It is a gorgeous plant to grow for Valentine’s Day. This pretty bromeliad is native to Brazil and has …
There are many healthy kitchen swaps that you can use all year round for weight loss success. Implementing these food swaps will make sure that those extra pounds won’t find themselves on your thighs and rear next year. For many of us, the start of the year means making a New Year’s resolution to lose …
This DIY candy cane vase makes an easy holiday decor project that is as much fun to put together as it is to display. Since it uses poinsettia flowers it goes right along with all your Christmas plants. All you need are some candy canes and a few inexpensive supplies. Grab some peppermint sticks and …
This year, make some Irish Cream Fudge as a part of your Christmas traditions! It is creamy and sweet and has a lovely consistency. This delicious Bailey’s fudge recipe has a surprise addition of coffee for a great flavor. Who doesn’t love the taste of a glass of Bailey’s Irish cream during the holidays? It …
Liriope Muscari Variegata is an evergreen perennial that easily spreads to form a deep carpet of grass-like plants that makes a great ground cover or border plant. This form of liriope aptly has the common name “variegated lilyturf.” Variegated liriope is less invasive than the normal variety. Keep reading to find out how to grow …
This delicious one pot beef curry recipe is big on flavor but low on calories. It truly is one of the easiest curries that you can make, but don’t let that fool you. The flavor is amazing! This Thai curry is a gluten free and easy to make meal that will delight your family. I …
This list of 15 bulbs to plant in fall will make sure that next year gets started with a burst of color with very little effort on your part. If you enjoy the beauty of spring-blooming bulbs, it takes a bit of early planning to get that look in your garden. I’ve also included lots of …