Friday, July 31, 2009

Pink Saturday! & Fertilizer Friday!

It's Prime Time
in
My Garden!

The Stargazer Lily's are in full bloom!

How about a Dahlia...
this is the Cactus variety.
I had to plant it...
it was the last package
of bulbs left on the shelf.

The Bee is abuzz...
with Runner Beans.

A bit of Yarrow has survived
the Soapwort invasion.

The Cleome's are starting to bloom -
Yippee!

For more pink...
&
For Fertilizer Friday

Robyn

Sunday, July 26, 2009

It's Monday!

This Bluebird
is happy...

We finally
had the time
to change out
the front planter!
I had the flowers
purchased for weeks...
Jacob brought them
from the back yard
to the front for me.

The pansies had their day...
They just can't take our July heat.

I bought petunias
and geraniums
to add to the ivy.

See, doesn't that look much better?
I've never waited 'til mid-July
to swap the plants out before.
It will be interesting
to see how they do.

My garden is filling in nicely.
The coneflowers are blooming
despite the Bunnies best efforts.

I have a tomato on the vine
with promises of more to follow!

The Scarlet Runner's
have climbed higher than ever!

And this is this week's "Grow Sign" shot!
Look closely,
it's in there somewhere...

This year's first Dahlia!

The Stargazer's are starting to show!
Next week's pix will be spectacular!

It's amazing what a little bit of rain,
and a whole lot of sunshine
can accomplish.

I'm linking this post today to:

Artie@Color Outside the Lines
&
Tootsie@Tootsie Time

Robyn





Thursday, July 23, 2009

Foodie Friday! ~ Dough!

Jacob had a hankering
for Cheese Ravioli
and I wanted
Grilled Pizza.
So we said
What the Heck!
Let's go for broke
and make both of them!

We started with the ricotta cheese filling.
We added grated parm, shredded mozzarella,
fresh basil & italian parsley.
Mmmm! Mmmm! Mmmm!


Place the filling in the fridge,
until you are ready to use it!

The pasta is a cinch!
It's just 2 cups of flour & 3 eggs.
I put the flour in my largest bowl
and make a well in the center.
Add the three eggs
and mix it until it
comes together to form a ball.

Then knead & knead for about 10 minutes.

Roll it through the pasta roller.
Start at the widest setting - number 7.
We stopped at number 4.

I have this nifty ravioli mold I should have
photographed - Doh!
It has an indentation for the filling and a
zigzag ridge to help form the ravioli squares.
I just spoon one teaspoon of filling per square.
Put a bit of water
around each square
to seal the deal,
place another pasta sheet over all
and run over it with the rolling pin.

Fresh pasta only takes a few minutes....

The leftover scrapes made for a tasty plate, too.

Served with Fire roasted tomatoes, garlic,
and red peppers.

Now, onto the Pizza D' Resistance!

I grilled sweet red peppers and onions.

Hot Italian Sausage Links.

Grape Tomatoes.

The pizza dough is pretty simple,
and only takes 30 minutes to rise.
4 cups of flour, 2 packets of rapid rise yeast,
1 tablespoon of honey,
and 1 tablespoon of olive oil,
a palmful of italian seasoning and minced garlic,
1 and 1/4 cups of lukewarm water.
Mix all at once in your Kitchen-aid mixer
for about 10 minutes.
Place into a well-oiled bowl
and place in a warm, draft-free area to rise
to about double in size.
Rub your hands with olive oil,
grab a fistful of dough,
Spread it out quickly and carefully
onto a preheated tile (450+ degrees).
It only takes a few minutes to bake.
Remove to a plate...
Turn the dough over
(the bottom is now the top)
and put on your fav ingredients.
Mine are caramelized onions,
pepperoni, italian sausage,
roasted red peppers,
mozzarella cheese.
Sometimes, I grill olives,
asparagus, and chicken breasts, too.
The skies are the limit.

Jacob likes pizza sauce,
italian sausage,
pepperoni and mozzarella cheese.

I place the pizza
back on the grill's top rack
for about 2-3 minutes -
until the cheese is melty and brown.
There's nothing like
the grilled roasted-in flavor!

The dough makes about 6
8-10 inch pizzas.
I suppose you could
pre-roll out the crusts
and refrigerate them until party time,
but I think it is more fun this way!

Sometimes,
there is a little bit of leftovers....


which makes for a great snack later....
(or for breakfast the next day)
While you read through all of the other
Foodie Friday recipes.

Visit Gollum for the list.

Robyn







Sunday, July 19, 2009

A Blue & Met Monday!

It's time for me to celebrate!
Two Met Monday
projects were completed!

Actually, this was Gramma's Birthday Cake.
Have you ever had a cake from
Sam's Club? They are very good.
(I chose this cake 'cuz the frosting was Blue.)

This driveway has seen a better day.
It was patched and sealed,
and re-patched
and re-sealed.
I've never had an asphalt driveway before,
we've always had concrete in the past.

It was time for it to go.

In a matter of two days,
the crew removed the old driveway,
set up the forms and rebar,
poured and prepared the driveway.
I'm excited! It really looks so fresh and new!
Now we just need a little rain
for the lawn to fill back in.
(I may have to breakdown and buy some sod.)

While the garage was free,
it gave me ample room
to refinish the bench from the front porch.
I was so pleased with the bench
from the patio, that I decided to stain
this one with the same Sage stain.

Let's go check out all of the other
ideas today!

Robyn

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Pink Saturday!

Nothing makes me happier
than reaching the weekend
after a very lonnnnng work week.
The Sweetest Part
of course!

I cannot believe
that it is already mid-July.
Where has this summer gone?
I am in the midwest
and it has been a very chilly week,
and a very weird summer.
I'm ready for a vacation
and
some sunny skies.

Robyn

PS: Click HERE
for
Beverly's Pink Saturday!



Friday, July 17, 2009

Foodie Friday!

I thought
I would start out this Foodie Friday
with something enticing.

Everybody loves bacon...
It was on sale this week at the grocery store.
Besides Grampa was craving a BLT....

I've discovered that this is the perfect way to prepare it.
I put tinfoil on a baking sheet.
Spread the bacon out nice and straight.

Bake in a 400 degree oven for about 18-20 minutes.
It comes out nice & straight & just perfect!
And the clean-up is a snap!

By the time everybody munched on apiece or two,
Grampa barely had enough left for his sandwich.

My Aunt made these yummy brownies
for our Family Reunion Picnic
and I have been craving them ever since.

They're called S'more Brownies.

Start with a regular brownie mix.

They're pretty simple.
They just require these few added extras.

Spread the Brownies into a prepared 9x13 pan
and bake as directed for about 18 minutes.

When you take them out of the oven
immediately cover them with the
entire bag of
Miniature Marshmallows,
and the entire bag of
Hershey's Milk Chocolate Chips.

Then just top it off with
the Graham Cracker squares.
(I think that maybe next time
I may crush the crackers into large chunks
and then sprinkle them on top.)
Return them to the oven
for about 5 minutes
until everything is nice & melty!

They are best
when you let them cool
before eating.
Although that is very hard to do.
Just don't burn your tongue!

Actually, they are better
the Next Day!

Just click here to visit Gollum
for more Foodie Friday!

Robyn

Friday, July 10, 2009

Fertilizer Friday! (Foodie Friday to Follow this Afternoon)

I've Fertilized
so

This must be the year for herbs...
They have really taken off
and they look and taste great.

The Soapwort or "Bouncing Bet"
is blooming bright!

As well as, the BeeBalm and the Yarrow!

The "Worts" Spider and Soap.
How DID they get their name?
That doesn't sound very pretty,
does it?

Here's a close-up of the Soapwort.

It will bloom from now until October.

My friend Sandy and I made this bench about 10 years ago.
(I don't know why Jacob's insulator collection
stopped here....)

We're finally getting some peppers -
we'll have some Salsa afterall!
It's a beautiful day,
I need to go out & weed!

Visit Tootsie for more beautiful flowers!

Robyn


Tuesday, July 7, 2009

I can't believe it's time again for another

This week I'm happy to report
that the
Feverfew
has started blooming!
I think that it is so cute.
It reminds me of Daisies.
My all time favorite flower.
I plant Feverfew every year.
I guess you can brew a tea with it.
I don't do that .
I just plant it because it's cute.

Here is this week's version of the "Grow" sign.
I'm getting color in my garden!
So from now until fall -
I should have blooms!

I noticed this little hole
in the garden,
then I just stuck the camera
down in front of it and snapped.
After I uploaded my pix
I noticed this little guy
hiding out.
Don't be shy,
just click on the link below
to visit Susan
@
for more of
Outdoor Wednesday!

Robyn

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Blue Monday/Met Monday

I have a dual post again today.
and

For starters I actually completed a project,
and remembered to take a before pic,
and an after pic!

I have a cedar glider on my patio
that is so comfy,
but it was starting to look like
it had seen a better day.

I had a little help from Grampa,
he helped reinforce it,
then I sanded it and repainted it with
Behr Solid Stain in sage.
(Below is the before - see awful
it was starting to look?)
It was finished and dry just in time
for our 4th of July festivities!

I prepared a boneless turkey breast on the grill.
First I rinsed it off and patted it dry.
Applied a light layer of vegetable oil,
applied pepper and a little paprika.
I discovered that you don't really want
to salt it. The brine that it is packaged in
is quite salty already.
I snipped a few herbs from the patio
and placed them randomly around on it.
I used Sage, of course, some Marjoram,
and a bit of Thyme.
I placed it on prepared tin foil.
Sealed it up and double wrapped her.
(Just a note....place a drip pan underneath
if you want to catch any stray juices for gravy later.)
I'm from the old school, I keep it on the grill
until it reaches 180 on the
instant read thermometer.

We had the turkey breast, cheesy potatoes.
You know the ones made with hash browns
and two kinds of cheese,
(I placed them in a tin foil pan right onto the grill also.)
potato buns, and a Wild Rice Broccoli Salad.
The recipe is to follow.
See, the turkey breast turned out beautifully.
Juicy, not too dry,
because it is wrapped in foil.

I use the Cultivated Wild rice, not the cracked,
for this recipe.

I dice and add a red pepper (I used an anaheim ancient sweet pepper -
but you can use a red bell pepper as well,
a medium red or vidalia onion,
broccoli flowerettes cut into smaller bite size pieces,
and slivered almonds to taste
(that should be toasted, if you have the time),
to the cooked and cooled Wild Rice.
Then I add 3/4 bottle of
Girard's Chinese Chicken Salad Dressing,
(you could make your own with the Ramen Noodle packet)
one minced garlic toe, and a palmful of
Italian Seasonings.

See how pretty it is?

Jacob wanted the bottled Coca-Cola from Sam's.
(It turned out that it is from Mexico,
so it processed with sugar, rather than corn syrup.)
Just like the good old days.

I'm using my new dishes from The Pottery Barn.
Although the plates look like they are paper,
they actually are china, and my cup
appears to be plastic, it actually is glass.
Everyone got a kick out of that.
We are so green....

I hope you give this salad a try.
Everytime I take it somewhere I am asked for the recipe.
It actually tastes better the next day.

I'm off to check out the other Blue Monday offerings
and all of the great projects of

Robyn


Friday, July 3, 2009

Happy 4th of July!


Happy 4th of July!!!



After a week of unseasonably cool weather,
(which I am certainly not complaining about)
The garden is starting to
grow buds and blooms as well as foliage.

Last weekend Jacob and I
hoped to pick strawberries....
Only to discover
that the fields are not open on Sundays :(
But, we stumbled upon
the nicest little
farm market.
(and wouldn't you know it,
I didn't bring my camera)
Along with freshly picked strawberries,
they had a small petting zoo
and a greenhouse.
I couldn't resist this pretty
variety of Clematis.
Her name is Anna Louise.
She is purple with a reddish stripe
on each pedal.



I also bought this Bittersweet vine.

As you can see, it likes it here!
It already has made itself at home!!!

The Cleome is starting to bloom....

I think that Miles has found a bunny....

My mailbox planter
full of Petunias
has filled in nicely.

Thanks for visiting my garden today.

Visit Tootsie @ Tootsie Time
&
Artie @ Color Between the Lines
& of course
Beverly @ How Sweet the Sound

Hope you all are having a
Safe & Happy 4th of July!

Hugs from
Robyn & Jacob