Falling for Fall

                I don't like to rush the seasons, and I know I'm gonna get some flack for even mentioning this, but I'm ready for fall! There, I said it! July is finally over, making way for August and I'm praying for kinder weather, I'd be thrilled with average temps at this rate! But August brings hope, the stats show that the high and lows begin to change and I'm holding out for that! July was the hottest July in 110 years here, unreal!!

        Whining helps, so does surfing the web for autumn photos, recipes and decorations, not to mention all the fun fall projects. Stayed tuned for my annual autumn apron swap, that will be later in the month of August so we have pretty new aprons to bring in the new season. There will also be fallish recipes coming your way on Tasty Tuesdays, just to inch our way into my favorite season, one recipe at a time!

         Yep, I'm falling for fall, alot earlier this year, but when your garden life has shorten due to extreme heat, and your energy is just drained from the heat, you have to do something to hang on and I'm thinking ahead to a cooler time, and I'm praying the A/C can keep up! So long July..........

Tasty Tuesday Giveaway!

                   Short on time today to post a recipe, but how about a giveaway? I have a brand new copy of the Eater's Digest for one lucky TT fan.  It's full of fun facts and stuff like that, a book every kitchen should own, so all you have to do is leave me a comment here and tell me what your having for dinner tonight, your very own Tasty Tuesday! You have till Monday Aug. 1 at midnight to enter! So, what's cooking tonight at your house?

Color Combos

                    What is it about certain colors that you just can't live without? I've gone through so many color combinations in my home, each one pleasant and fun but I'm finding as I get older, I want MORE color! As you know, I re-did 3 rooms this past winter and yes, they haven't changed yet! But one room is my favorite and I can't get enough of red & aqua, I'm even having visions of re-doing the kitchen in these colors, but I'm afraid my patient hubby might object to that one! Let me work on him for a bit.........
    So, I'm wondering, what is YOUR favorite color combo and where do you use it? Paint is wonderful isn't it, how it can change a room over night and for under $20! Come on now, share your love of color with us, I'm anxious to hear your choices!

Tasty Tuesday

               In my quest to find something else to do with my zucchini, I found the Skinny Chef, no pun intended but how? lol  Anyhoo, she had a recipe that caught my eye, actually, double chocolate caught my eye but oh what a sweet way to use up some zucchini!

Double Chocolate Zucchini Brownies

5 ounces bittersweet dark chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 egg whites
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cups all-purpose flour or oat flour, plus 1 tablespoon for flouring the pan
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice
1 1/2 cups shredded zucchini, (about 1 large zucchini)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or almonds
Non-stick cooking spray

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 8×8-inch baking pan with cooking spray and sprinkle with the one tablespoon of flour. Shake the pan until the flour evenly coats the inside of the pan. Place chocolate in an ovenproof dish and place in the oven, 5-6 minutes until just melted. Or place chocolate in microwave (30 seconds to 1 minute) until melted. Cool slightly.

In a large bowl, mix together the oil, egg white, sugar, vanilla and melted chocolate until well blended. Stir in the flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt, cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice. Fold in the zucchini and nuts. Spread evenly into the prepared pan.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center of the pan. Cool completely in the pan and cut into squares. Store in an air-tight container for up to 3 days.

           They won't last 3 days in my house and no one will know where the  zucchini went too! Keep cool, the extreme heat is due to cover 40 states so if it's just too hot to bake, shred your zucchini and freeze it for later use, fall baking sounds good to me! 

Birthday Quilt

              I've had this project on my mind and tucked away in my files for a very long time!  Shame on me! But all it took was a grand daughter's birthday to inspire me and here is the finished lap quilt, just in time for Chloe's 6th birthday yesterday! She loves it!!  It's a bandanna lap quilt, so easy to make and super fast too, only took me one afternoon! Now, I owe the other grand kids one of their own, will let them pick and choose the colors they want. Chloe leaves on vacation today so it'll be perfect for the trip, in the car or just for nap time! I signed it so she could always remember when she got it, the birthday quilt was a hit!

        Another hit was the cupcakes in a jar, yep, I made one for each child and a few extra for us adults, with the birthday girl having a candle on top of hers! I'm in love with this idea, and it was fun making the layers of goodies, so many possibilities. I started with a cupcake, then brownie, then marshmallows, strawberries, frosting and sprinkles on top! This will be our new birthday tradition!

Christmas in July

      I'm pretty sure a creative person came up with this popular notion, to get a jump on the holiday season and who couldn't use a push, so to help us get inspired and to make this year the year we actually get a head start on all that handi-work, check out this annual event over at Tip Junkie! I'll be there with bells on! lol

Tasty Tuesday

                  The harvest that never ends.........zucchini! But I've found another use for it that was a welcomed surprise, zucchini fries! Baked, and healthier than the french version, these breaded sticks were tasty, which is why I'm sharing them today!

Baked Zucchini Fries

3 medium zucchini sliced into 3" x 1/2" sticks

1 large egg white
1/3 cup seasoned bread crumbs
2 tbsp grated Pecorino Romano cheese (can be found in the spaghetti sauce aisle next to Parmesan cheese)
cooking spray
1/4 tsp garlic powder
salt
fresh pepper

Preheat oven to 425°.
In a small bowl, beat egg whites and season with salt and pepper. In a ziplock bag, place breadcrumbs, garlic powder and cheese and shake well. Spray cookie sheet with cooking spray and set aside.
Dip zucchini sticks into eggs then into bread crumb and cheese mixture, a few at a time and shake to coat. Place the breaded zucchini in a single layer and spray more cooking spray on top. Bake at 425° for about 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve with 1/2 cup marinara sauce for dipping (.5 pt)


        I found this recipe over on Pinterest where someone pinned it from The Girl Who Ate Everything, be sure to head over and check out all her yummy recipes, it's a cute site and she's on Facebook too! This is a great way to use up zucchini ! 

Beating the Heat!

               I'm becoming a wimpy girl in this heat! I'm trying to make peace with summer, it's my least favorite season, thanks to the heat/humidity and darn heat index that is extreme and breaking records! Our weather pattern has been breaking records each month and I'm sure our normal or average weather is gone for good! That leaves us trying to beat the heat and praying the A/C unit can handle the stress!
 
      So, I'm stuck inside, feeling grateful for my comfortable home and yes air conditioning, but I don't take kindly to being held hostage by the weather, there's enough of that going on in the winter months! I am trying to do my part in keeping the utilities down by doing laundry at 6am after the hubby leaves for work and the A/C isn't working over time yet. I've got all the blinds closed, curtains drawn and ceiling fans circulating. I try not to use any major appliance during the peak hours and no baking with less cooking. Eating light is key and keeping fluids handy is a must, water and unsweet tea for me!!

     A fun way to keep cool is to watch Christmas movies, esp. if you don't have a pool. I could and should be sewing but just not in the mood, it's gardening season and my mind is out there! It's become a twice a day chore just to keep the containers and window boxes from dying, but I'm not complaining really! I know it gets hot in July, and maybe I have become wimpy, or spoiled, or just lost my tolerance for the heat, and when I use the word heat, I'm referring to the extreme heat, anything pass the low 90's mixed with good old fashioned Ozark humidity is just miserable! But, I haven't found a better place to live so as long as I can keep beating the heat, wine a little, and stay comfortable I'll be ok!  But no matter what I'm always very thankful to have all four seasons, there's always a change around the corner and lots of ice tea!

How are you beating the heat?

Garden Gossip

              How is your garden growing? Ours is doing pretty good, so far. The one problem I'm having is my tomatoes are splitting down the middle, and they are staked real good? Surprising, the toms are still alive and growing so I'm hoping to get some, but have already warned the husband, we've got to come up with a better tom cage! Most of our veggies are in raised beds, it's much easier to weed, mulch stays put and easier on my back. I'm growing cucumbers on a trellis this year and they love it! I do too, leaves me room for a couple of zucchini plants, that have already supplied me with a batch of zucchini relish and zucchini fries tonight! I'm also trying mini pumpkins are a trellis, next to the pumpkins in the photo on top, and bird house gourds too. I want to make a purple martin house colony out of them next year!  The front line of boxes are mainly herbs: rosemary, sage and lavender for future soaps and salves.

           The bottom photo is the potting shed, it's coming along, not as fast as I'd like it too but as the budget allows. I'm hoping it will be completed by fall, I vision pumpkins and mums all about! It will have a porch on the front, old rescued windows on the sides and a old screen door for air control, for now. Next year, we hope to add a greenhouse off one side and mower storage on the other. I've been combing through my old issues of Country Gardens for ideas and I'm getting excited the closer it gets to completion.

           Now for some garden gossip! Did you know that roses love coffee just as much as I do? lol  I've been saving all our used coffee grounds in a old coffee can and applying them each time the can is full, they love it and are growing like crazy!!  My tomatoes and peppers love teabags too! I've been mulching them with our left over tea bags from each brew and they look so perky! And don't forget those egg shells! I crumble them up and sprinkle around the base of any plants that caterpillars like to eat, mainly the toms, so far, it's working! If you have any handy tips, please share them here. I'd love to try some more tested, natural ways to re-use and recycle! Happy gardening!!

Tasty Tuesday

              I'm planning a birthday party for our soon to be 6 yr. old grand daughter, Chloe and I'm thinking about making these cakes in a jar, which are all the rage now, and just so darn cute too! Very easy also, you bake the cake ahead of time, crumble it up, layer it in the jar with frosting, sprinkles and so on and top with a birthday candle! What I love about this idea, is each person can have their own jar for less mess! Check out this helpful site for all kinds of goodies in jars, some are baked right in the jar and other's aren't but either way it's the newest party favor and sweetest gift idea!

Kool-Aid Jelly

             Summer is the season for re-runs, not only on the tube, but here! I was going through my recipe drawer on this HOT July day, love the inside chores on a day like today, and came across my recipe for kool-aid jelly. I used to make this for the kids, the fun of so many flavors! This is a simple task so gather the kids to help and make some memories to boot!

Kool-Aid Jelly

1 pkg. kool-aid, any flavor, no sugar added
1 pkg. Sure Jell
3 c. sugar
3 c. water
Mix water, sure jell and koolaid together. Bring to a boil, stirring so it won't stick. Add sugar and stir well. Bring to a full rolling boil that can not be stirred down. Allow to boil for 1 min., stirring. Remove from heat, skim off foam and pour into clean jars and seal. Makes 4 pts.


       I love this recipe because koolaid is still cheap and not SO sweet and makes a nice jelly for those peanut butter sandwiches that we never out grow!  No canning involved either since it's a small batch recipe, this jelly can be kept in the fridge, if it lasts that long! Happy summer!