Raised Bed Progress--Still Growing!

It's week nine of working in my raised bed garden.  It's looking a lot fuller since I started it!  As you can see, I've been slowly adding sections.



It's so exciting to see things growing!

The zinnias are *this close* to blooming!

The basil has gotten so big and fragrant.

We also have green beens....

 And squash, among other things!

Even more fun that watching the plants grow is actually getting to harvest and eat them.

These are scallions. Not only had I never grown them before, I'd never even eaten them!  They are a lot like onions.  And the entire green top can be chopped up and used as an herb, kind of like chives.  They are great in a baked chicken crust!

These are the tops of just three scallions! What we haven't used are chopped and in the freezer.

The lettuce has probably been our most sucessful crop. 

We've been eating our lettuce crop for a month.  When you snip off the big leaves, they regenerate bigger than ever!  The best part is that we started harvesting it less than six weeks after planting.  How's that for a fast turnaround?

Anyone else having fun in the garden?

Bottle Cap Magnets

I hate waste.

How about bottle cap magnets instead?



Tiny, "unusable" pieces of scrapbook paper and bottle caps combine for this fun project.

Cut some circles, glue them inside the caps, seal with some clear resin, and super glue a magnet to the back of each.

I love a ten-minute project!

To see what parties I link to, click the Blog Parties tab!
I'm also linking to Tutorial Tuesday and Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm, Inspiration Friday and:

Kat Griffin Folk Art

It has been such a delight to participate in Pay it Forward 2011!  The giving and recieving of handmade gifts is such a treat!

Last week, I received these fantastic gifts in the mail....

Kat is a new blogger and a fantastic artist.  You can visit her Etsy shop here.



Thanks so much for the treasures, Kat!

Jar Centerpiece

This is the new centerpiece on my kitchen table.

Do you ever just get tired of what you have, and suddenly, everything you're doing has to stop so you can attend to the centerpiece emergency?  That's kind of how this was.

My current centerpiece had changed several times since my Christmas setup, and I'd never been really happy with it.  It just didn't "work."    (And the picture is blurry, which just adds to the sadness of the whole situation.)

Totally blah, totally uninspired.

I grabbed a few jars and put them in a basket I'm not using.

But it still looked weird.

I added our "piggy bank" jars where we save for specific things that we don't want to take out of the household fund.

I liked having the basket totally full of jars, but I was still far from satisfied.

Nothing about that runner and basket were working together, so I removed the runner.

Definitely getting warmer.

I grabbed a fabric swatch that I pulled out of a (hideous) old wallpaper book....

And I tucked it neatly into the edge of the basket.

I then added some yellow silk tulips (I love fake flowers, as you can see here) and craft moss into one of the corner jars and placed a stark white doily underneath the basket.

Much, much better, don't you think?

Emergency over. 

I'm linking up to these great parties:
Fantastic Fridays
Feathered Nest Friday
Show and Tell Friday
Vintage Inspiration Friday
KISS

Pecan Pie Cheesecake

This is not a pecan pie.  It's a "pecan pie cheesecake!"

I found it through the Pioneer Woman who found it from Never Enough Thyme, who found it in Southern Living!

Making it was fun and super quick.

I whipped one up for our supper company.  Everyone loved it!

Recipe:

Ingredients

½ (15 oz.) package refrigerated piecrusts
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened
4 large eggs, divided
¾ cup sugar, divided
2 tsp. vanilla extract, divided
¼ tsp. salt
1 ¼ cups chopped pecans
1 cup light corn syrup

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350.
Combine the cream cheese, 1 egg, ½ cup sugar, 1 tsp. vanilla, and salt.
Beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth.
Pour the cream cheese mixture into the pie crust.
Chop the pecans and spread them evenly over the cream cheese mixture.
In a medium bowl, combine the remaining 1/4 cup sugar, corn syrup, remaining 3 eggs and 1 teaspoon of vanilla.
Whisk everything together until it’s well combined, and pour the mixture over the pecans.
Place the pie on a baking sheet.
Bake at 350 on the lowest oven rack for 50 to 55 minutes or until the pie is set. Cool completely on a wire rack (about 1 hour).
Serve immediately, or cover and chill up to 2 days.

Enjoy!

Spring in Full Swing--White Wednesday

Spring is surely here and in full swing....


There are fresh whites everywhere.

I love white's purity.

On a waffle weave tea towel



 Soft white embellished pillows

 

Delicate pearly beads

White Victorian-style afghan

Silver and white Vera Wang china

Happy White Wednesday!