BORN IN THE WRONG ERA

Good morning everyone! How are you all doing today? I am alright. I’ve got the kids off to school and I already watered my plants and put my seedlings out for some “fun in the sun” LOL! I’m gonna take it kind of easy today… just kinda piddling around doing not really much of anything.

I went out with my mom yesterday on a “Lemon Hunt” LOL for things for the kitchen and let me tell ya… there was nothing to find ANYWHERE! OMG I was like “Are you serious?” Who knew lemons as a theme would be so difficult?! I told my mom maybe I was born in the wrong era cause from what I remember and have seen, these kind of things were easy to find back in the day. I found chicken stuff but that was kinda it! It was so frustrating. We found one piece of fabric and that wasn’t really long enough to do anything with… so the hunt begins. I’m gonna start ordering kitchen catalogs and weird stuff catalogs, etc. to make my pretty kitchen!



Well I got a few garden updates to share with you. Remember my Giant Pumpkin plant? Yep here it is! Its getting quite large and soon it will have to go outside forever to produce a wonderfully large pumpkin to amaze and astonish people of all ages! LMAO!!! But seriously… its getting real big huh? If I actually get a giant pumpkin I am gonna flip!



These are the Apache Berry vines I got that the Houston Garden Center! They are putting on the first bloom! YAY! Pretty soon it will be pickin berries in my own garden! WOOHOO! I’m still praying for the other vines I have left… but they aren’t looking too well!



This is my big baby! Its one of my Roma Tomatoes and its about as big as an egg almost. Isn’t that the cutest thing?? And I have 5 of them growing already! And don’t even ASK about the cherry tomatoes! I have so many of those growing its absolutely crazy!



For those of you who have never seen this before, this is broccoli plants flowering like crazy! Pretty soon it will be munching on some yummy broccoli (raw of course) with some ranch dressing…. OH YUMMY!



These are the second set of seedlings that DD and I planted a few weeks ago. We have sprouts!! Right now I see peas and Beef Steak Tomatoes popping out and 1 watermelon. We are gonna start round 3 of seeds probably sometime this week.



And finally this is my first tray of plants big enough to be in 4 inch pots. They will eventually be for sale when I have enough to justify a table sale on the roadside. I am aiming for maybe May to have enough to sale. I’m gonna offer the yucca plants and whatever else I can find and grow. LOL!

I decided that, along with the baby plants, I am going to sell some homemade jams too… but not ordinary jams & jellies… oh no… you can buy those at the local grocery store. But have you ever seen Habanero jelly or Jalapeno Jelly or even Mountain Dew Livewire Jelly at the store? Didn’t think so LOL! When I was cleaning out the storage, I found 2 brand new cases of 4oz. jelly jars that would be perfect for the unique flavor jellies. Because trust me, you don’t need very much of these to pack a punch! I may even play around and experiment with some NEW flavors LOL!

Oh I have to tell you about the weird dream I had last night. I dreamt that I had mutant tomato plants take over my back porch! LOL… I dreamt that they busted out of planters and pots and just rooted into my deck and grew everywhere! Oh I was freaking out… but I had tons of tomatoes of all kinds! LOL! Isn’t that the funniest thing!? Think I spend too much time with my plants? LMAO!

Now for the crafty person… like me… who likes to sew, having enough stick pins can be an issue. LOSING them is an even bigger issue LOL. A cute gift for the seamstress/crafter in your life is this neat little pincushion. And the best part is, you can use different size jars and store the extra pins inside!



Craft Idea of the Day: Canning Jar Pincushion

Supplies:

Fabric Scrap of your choice
Jar with lid and band
Cotton balls or fiberfill
Card Stock
Glue gun

Instructions:

Step 1: Using the lid of the jar, cut out a circle of the same size from the card stock.

Step 2: Using the lid of the jar, trace around it on the wrong side of your fabric. Increase that circle’s radius about 1” and cut out the larger circle.



Step 3: Layer the fabric, cotton balls, and lid then place the “sandwich” inside the band.

Step 4: Press the lid down so that the cotton balls and fabric form the pincushion on the opposite side of the band. Check to see if you need to move the fabric to avoid creases. Make any necessary adjustments and then fold in the fabric and hot glue it to the underside of the lid.



Step 5: Trim away any excess fabric and hot glue the cardstock over the fabric edges.

Step 6: Line the band with a small bead of glue and insert the pincushion into it, pressing firmly. Add the lid to the jar and YOU HAVE A NEW PINCUSHION!

Ok, so are you hungry this morning? I am starving actually. Not sure what is going on with me, but its day 2 in the casserole week, so here is a sweet but savory dish I thought you’d enjoy!



Country Ham & Pineapple Casserole

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 2/3 cups sugar
8 eggs
16oz. cubed ham
2 (20 ounce) cans crushed pineapple, drained
3 tablespoons lemon juice
10 slices day-old white bread, cubed

Directions

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. stir in pineapple, ham, and lemon juice. Fold in the bread cubes. Pour into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking dish. Bake, uncovered, at 325 degrees F for 35-40 minutes or until set.

Ok folks, that’s all for today. I am going to sit back, drink a cup of cocoa and maybe even read a bit. Who knows… all I know is today is lazy day/do whatever day for the Frugal Mom, so I will see you tomorrow. HUGS!