blog #291 >> Springy Sprouts

After all of our rain, these past few sunny days have really made things start popping up in the garden. I had to replant a row of lettuce that drowned, and dug a little ditch to catch the rain water, but besides all that, I think it's going to do really well. One thing for sure is, it's going to be a great year for strawberries.










T

blog #290 >> Fairyland Fabrics

I'm always impressed with the amount of fabulous fabrics Etsy has to offer. It was really hard to pick just a few to feature today, so I may need to do more Etsy fabric posts in the future.

From left to right, top to bottom:

Japanese Jack and the Beanstalk
brought to us by: From Japan with Love

Japanese Cute Little Red Riding Hood and Flower
by: Karaku Style

Heather Ross' Mendocino Collection
from: Fabric Worm

Japanese Snow White
straight from: This and That from Japan

Heather Ross Mendocino, Mermaids in Aqua
presented by: Pink Panda Fabrics

Alexander Henry, Petite Granville in Pink
by: Pink Panda Fabrics

The last three are...
Heather Ross Frog Prince Far, Far Away
courtesy of: Spice Berry Cottage

T

blog #289 >> I've won!

I'm so happy to have been honored with this wonderful award!
Perhaps more people read my blog than I realize...
Anyhow, I'd like to thank Miss. Mary from Lolly-Tots for bestowing me with this prize, and now I shall pass it on.



The Long Thread



The Small Object



mairuru



Geninne's Art Blog



Experiencing Food in Portland



Inside a Black Apple



See more prize winning blogs here!

T

blog #288 >> Nebraska's No. 1 Polka Band

a drum roll please.......
Czech Records is proud to present....
ERNIE KUCERA
and his orchestra
Nebraska's No. 1 Polka Band!



I've been listening to this one all night and it's fabulous! Lots of accordion solos and it's even got some singing. This might even be better than Lawrence Welk's Polka for Polka Lovers.
Thanks Bud!
T

blog #287 >> Lemon Stuff

For those of you requesting this recipe, here it is!
The lemon bars came from allrecipes.com with some alterations.
The candied lemon peel came from Better Homes and Gardens.
And the tart was my clever, but not clever enough combination of the two.

Lemon Bars

2 cups flour
3/4 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup soft butter

4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 tea. baking powder
1/4 cup flour
3/4 to 1 cup fresh lemon juice
(3-5 lemons depending on their size)
2 T. lemon zest
(or however much 1 or 2 lemons will make, depending on taste.)

Preheat oven to 315 degrees F. Mix flour and powdered sugar together, add butter. Press into pan. Prick with fork. Bake at 315 degrees for 15-18 minutes until crust is slightly brown... a little tiny bit golden. You're gonna bake it some more so don't over do it.
Now make the filling. Mix eggs, sugar, baking powder, flour, lemon juice, and zest. Pour on top of crust. Increase oven temperature to 350 degrees. DON'T FORGET THIS! Bake for 20 minutes. You might want to tent them with foil if they're getting too brown. Let cool completely and dust with powdered sugar. Eat and enjoy.

Candied Lemon

Thinly slice one lemon.
Boil in 1/4 cup water and 1/4 cup sugar for 15-20 minutes.
(I boiled mine for about 45 minutes.)
Let dry on parchment.
(To speed things up I baked mine in the oven at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes and decreased the temperature to "warming" and left them in there for about an hour.)
You can also dip them in sugar just before serving.
(Basically these are really easy and there's no wrong way to make them.)


My poor tart... I'm sorry I ruined you.
It was good in theory... Since I was short a 9x13 pan, I thought I'd try out my tart pan, which worked marvelously for lemon bars. And then I thought instead of sprinkling the top of it with powdered sugar, I'd layout some mint leaves and candied lemon slices and encase them with the leftover simple syrup from the candied lemons... Well that part worked alright, and looked beautiful, but soon I realized that even though the simple syrup was cooling off, it wasn't thickening like I thought it would. In hindsight I should have added some corn starch before pouring it on top to ensure it would thicken... but I didn't think of that. Normally my simple syrup gets pretty thick on it's own. But I think the lemon juice made it thinner than usual. Whatever the case, I did my best to get it to thicken after I had poured it. I tried sprinkling extra sugar on top, but it just soaked it up. And the only other thing I could think of to fix it, was to throw it back in the oven and try to cook down the syrup some more... Well, I carefully took it off the plate and placed back onto the pan. Then, back in the oven it went. Previously the lemon custard layer had protected the crust from the simple syrup layer. But when it was back in the oven, it all melted together and soaked into the crust making it soggy. Then it broke apart when I tried putting it back on the plate... At least it tastes good.

T

blog #286 >> Ring around the Noodle

Today I made this fancy Noodle Ring with Mushroom Sauce. It turned out very good. However, I'm a purist. I like ice cream and pie, but not together. It was the same with this. I liked the noodle ring, and the sauce, but I would have preferred the mushroom sauce on plain noodles and the noodle ring on it's own. But besides that it was really keen.




I got the recipe from Curly Wurly, who posted an article from an old Better Homes and Gardens about "11 Glamorous foods with the smooth, tempting flavor only Evaporated Milk can give." Yes, what food is more glamorous than evaporated milk?



Anyhow, I did switch up the recipe a bit. I substituted bacon for frankfurters... well because bacon is better. I also left out the pimento olives... which I don't keep in my fridge. And I also made a half recipe because it was new and because my jello mold wasn't as big as the one they called for. Oh, and I also used one giant portobello mushroom for the sauce which turned out phenomenal. It's kinda like beef stroganoff, but with mushrooms. mmmm....

T

blog #285 >> Musical Couple

Doesn't that make you want to buy a couch?

- ad from American Home Magazine 1954.

T