I promised to keep you posted on the progress of my Suburban Garden, and my  flowering plants of the month.

Here are my May blooms:

White German Iris

Pastel German Iris

Purple Japanese Iris

Blue Japanese Iris

Royal Blue Columbine

Jacob’s Ladder

Hot Pink Peony

White Peony

Red Rose

Flowers are such perfection of nature…..wouldn’t you agree?

photo credit: Javier Aroche

If you really have to have the “Java Jolt” in the morning, rather than a more mild smoothie start, here is a quick and simple smoothie recipe to get your going.

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbs. instant espresso (regular or decaf)
• 1 cup fat free yogurt (organic is my preference)
• ½  cup skim milk
• 3 Tbs. of sugar, or sugar substitute (optional)
• 4 ice cubes

Directions:

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend, or frappe, into a smoothie.

If you are looking for a nutritious, refreshing, simple, and filling snack (or breakfast on the go), nothing beats this Berry Smoothie.   It takes only 5 minutes to prepare, and it is packed with multiple high-nutrient foods, which fill you up, and taste great.  This recipe makes two 8 oz servings and only 144 calories per serving.

Ingredients:

• ¾ cup instant oatmeal (prepared with water or skim milk)
• ¾ cup organic skim milk
• ¾ cup mixed fresh or frozen berries
• 2 tsp. whey powder
• 3 ice cubes, crushed

Directions:
Place all ingredients in a blender, and beat, or frappe, for 5 minutes, and your smoothie is ready to enjoy.

Tip. For variation I use 2 tsp. of ground flax seeds instead of the whey powder (which I also like to add to my cereal, or oatmeal).  I also like to use 5.3 oz of Oikos Organic Fat Free Plain Yogurt in my smoothie, and use other fruit like banana, strawberry, peaches, or whatever fruit I have available on hand.

I love yogurt, not only because it tastes great, but also because it is a very healthy part of my diet.  The main ingredient in yogurt is milk, live and active cultures, plus other ingredients such different fruit and flavors, fortified with vitamins.   Yogurt is made by adding cultures of certain bacteria to milk. These microorganisms convert the lactose in the milk to lactic acid. The lactic acid gives yogurt its characteristic tart taste and causes the milk to form a soft curd.

Yogurt is a great source of calcium, for strong bones, as well as an aid  to speed up metabolism and improve digestion.

If you use yogurt, you already know that there are many different companies producing it, and in many different textures and flavors, as well as calorie counts.  There are regular yogurts, light yogurts, fat free yogurts, organic yogurts, baby yogurts, and lately I came across Oikos Organic Greek Yogurts, made by Stonyfield Organic Farms.

In the chart below, I have compared Oiko’s Organic Greek Nonfat Vanilla yogurt (I was not able to find any Low Fat Oikos Greek yogurt), with Stonyfield Low Fat Organic Vanilla yogurt, and Low Fat Vanilla store brand yogurt.   The Oikos Organic Greek yogurt is made by Stonyfield Farm, is very thick, creamy, has the least sugar and sodium, and is high in protein.  All Stonyfield organic yogurts are made with 5-6 live active cultures, which most yogurts (like the store brand here), use only enough live active culture to meet the requirements.  The flavor used in Stonyfield organic yogurts is also obtained from organic ingredients.  The blueberry, vanilla and honey flavors, which I tried in the Oikos Organic Greek yogurt,  were very natural tasting,  as if you were having fresh fruit, real vanilla bean, and raw honey.

I was very surprised by the large variance in all the listed Nurtition Facts groups  in the Stonyfield Low Fat yogurt versus the store brand Low Fat yogurt.   As you can see the store brand yogurt is much higher in calories, total fat, sodium and sugar, and contains half the calcium, fo the organic yogurt.  The price of the Oikos Organic Greek Yogurt was $2.19, the Stonyfield Low Fat Organic yogurt was $1.99, and the store brand Low Fat yogurt was $.89.  So here is proof to the famous quote: “you get what you pay for”.

My daughter buys only the Stonyfield baby yogurt for her daughter, and my granddaughter absolutely loves it!

photo credit: iLoveButter

When we think of the word “organic”, we relate to something that is natural, wholesome, crude, unrefined, untreated.   Most often we think of fruit and vegetables which have been cultivated in harmony with nature, and not treated with chemicals found in fertilizers and pesticides.  However there is also organic milk and milk byproducts.

So, you say- how is organic milk different from any other milk?  Isn’t all milk already pure and natural?

The answer is:  Yes, all milk is a natural product, but organic milk is even more pure.  There are special dairy farms, which are producing organic milk, which means that their cows are fed special natural feed, such as corn, soy and hay, which also was grown on organic farms without chemicals and pesticides.

Organic farms and the milk industry are also very strictly regulated by the USDA (US Department of Agriculture) with processing, handling and labeling procedures.  These regulations prohibit the use of antibiotics and synthetic growth hormones (rBGH – recombinant bovine growth hormone) in cows producing organic milk.  These cows are also required to have access to fresh air and pasture.   Organic production prohibits the use of genetically modified organisms (GMO’s).

Even organic product labeling undergoes strict regulations by the USDA, such as:

• 100% Organic – means that this product was made with 100% organic ingredients.

• Organic – means that the product was made with at least 95% organic ingredients, with strict restrictions on the remaining 5%, including no GMO’s.

• Made with Organic Ingredients – means that the product was made with minimum of 70% organic ingredients, with strict restrictions on the remaining 30% including no GMO’s.

• Products which are made with less than 70% organic ingredients, may list specific, organically produced ingredients on the side panel of the package, but may not make any organic claims on the front of the package.

One of the more popular organic dairy farms is Stonyfield Organic Farm in NH.  They make organic, and non-organic products, to cater to customers from all walks of life.  Organic products, whether agricultural or dairy, are slightly more expensive, in comparison to their non-organic counterparts.  The higher prices are a direct result of lower demand for organic products, as well as the cost of production, packaging, and labeling of these products.

Stay tuned to my next upcoming post, where I will provide you  with some very useful information about organic and non-organic yogurt.

Ice cream cake is my husband’s favorite cake, especially for his birthday.  Every year we would buy a Carvel’s Ice Cream cake, but this year I decided to make one (for a fraction of the cost of Carvel’s cakes).  Making this cake was quite simple, since all the ingredients are ready made, and no baking is required.  All I had to do is to assemble, freeze, and serve.  The most laborious part of this project, was the unwrapping of the ice cream sandwiches.

Ingredients:

• 14 ice cream sandwiches
• 1 ½ Quarts Vanilla Ice Cream (his favorite)
• 1 Quart Vanilla with Black Cherries Ice Cream (my favorite)
• 1 cup Vanilla Wafers, crushed
• ¼ cup butter, melted

Directions:

1. Unwrap the ice cream sandwiches, one at a time, keeping the remaining ones in the freezer.]
2. Cut 12 ice cream sandwiches in half, vertically.  Leave two uncut for now.
3. Place in a container, and return to freezer, to keep them from melting.
4. Take the vanilla ice creams out of the freezer, to thaw slightly.
5. Mix the cookie crumbs with the melted butter, set aside.
6. Grease a 10 inch springform cake pan with butter.
7. Cut a rectangular strip of parchment paper, 34 inches long x 3 inches high, to fit inside the cake pan to line the sides.
8. Press the cookie/butter crumbs on the bottom of the pan.
9. Take out the cut up ice cream half from the freezer, and arrange vertically against the sides of the pan, forming chocolate and vanilla stripes.
10. Fill in gaps with additional vanilla ice cream.
11. Place the 1 ½ quart of vanilla ice cream into a bowl, and mush slightly with a spoon to even out its consistency.
12. Form a vanilla layer, by spooning the vanilla ice cream over the cookie crumbs.
13. Smooth it out.
14. Prepare the vanilla with black cherries ice cream as above.
15. Spoon over the vanilla layer, and smooth it out.
16. Remove the one unwrapped ice cream sandwich and cut vertically, into ½ inch thick slices.
17. Decorate the top of the cake with these slices, to create a design.
18. Cover the cake with a foil parchment paper, and foil wrap, and return it to the freezer.
19. Remove from the freezer 10 minutes before serving, for easier handling.
20. Before serving, unwrap the cake, open the spring form, and remove sides, peel off the parchment paper from the sides.

May serve with hot fudge drizzled over the ice cream slices, with whipped cream on top.

I love tea, as you know from my previous post, so when a friend of mine told me about this tea room in our area, I shared that information with my daughter, and we decided to definitely stop by for tea one day.

This Saturday was a perfect day for such an outing, since my daughter, granddaughter and I, celebrated Mother’s Day together.   To our surprise, the tea room was fully seated (that is about 50 people), and since they do not provide seating accommodations for small children, the baby had to stay in the stroller during our afternoon tea lunch.  She was so cooperative, and loved tasting all the goodies we shared with her.

The Tea Room décor is of course a classy Victorian style.  Each table is set with a votive candle in a crystal candle holder,  cute tea cups, a silver, lacy design, chafing dish with a tea light, to keep the individual tea pots warm, doilies for place mats, and very elegant silver utensils.  The tea sandwiches and sweets are served on three tier silver trays, where the bottom tray contains the tea sandwiches, the middle one has the scones ( a must at a tea lunch), and the top layer displays the additional dainty sweets, which nicely finish off the rest of the selection.

The British Bell Tea Room menu offers Brunch, Lunch, Afternoon Tea, and High Tea.  As a special treat for Mother’s Day, all the mothers were presented with a complimentary chocolate dipped strawberry, accompanied by an edible orchid (I took a nibble, to find out if it actually has any special taste, but to my surprise, it resembled a rather neutral taste of a lettuce leaf).

My daughter and I selected the Afternoon Tea, which included an individual pot of loose-leaf tea of your choice, out of the 40 different flavors they offer, I selected the Lotta Colada, a pineapple, coconut fruit blend, and my daughter selected the Spring Breeze, a citrus vanilla taste.  In addition to the tea, we had a choice of 3 Tea Sandwiches, Scones served with clotted cream, lemon curd and preserves, and an assortment of baked goods.  All of this for only $19 per person, and they also provide boxes and cups for your leftover food and tea, which is very thoughtful, since the tea is so tasty, but too much to finish in one sitting.  The atmosphere was very relaxing, and almost made you feel like you are at a tea party at a friend’s home, rather than in a restaurant.

The staff was very courteous and hospitable, and the owner mingled here and there, despite being very busy.  A real family atmosphere in a family owned Tea House.

There is also a gift shop in the entry to the tea room, which is well stocked with myriad of varieties of loose-leaf teas, cook books, tea sets, even jewelry.  It is a nice place to shop for something special for a tea admirer.

They also host Tinkerbell Tea Parties for children:

And now they are adding a Wine and Cheese Gallery, for Friday and Saturday, to cater to those who also enjoy wine in addition to the tea:

My daughter and I are planning to visit again, and try different flavors of their delicious tea.

photo credit: katkimchee

It is a well known fact, that children do say the darnedest things, and they always do it in such a sweet and honest way.

Have fun reading these, and you’ll see what I mean.

WHY GOD MADE MOMS
Answers given by year 2 school children, to the following questions:

Why did God make mothers?
1. She’s the only one who knows where the scotch tape is.
2. Mostly to clean the house.
3. To help us out of there when we were getting born.

How did God make mothers?
1. He used dirt, just like for the rest of us.
2. Magic plus super powers and a lot of stirring.
3. God made my Mom just the same like he made me. He just used bigger parts.

What ingredients are mothers made of?
1. God makes mothers out of clouds and angel hair and everything nice in the world and one dab of mean.
2. They had to get their start from men’s bones. Then they mostly use string, I think.

Why did God give you your mother and not some other Mom?
1. We’re related.
2. God knew she likes me a lot more than other people’s Moms like me.

What kind of little girl was your Mom?
1. My Mom has always been my Mom and none of that other stuff.
2. I don’t know because I wasn’t there, but my guess would be pretty bossy.
3. They say she used to be nice.

What would it take to make your Mom perfect?
1. On the inside she’s already perfect. Outside, I think some kind of plastic surgery.
2. You know, her hair. I’d die it, maybe blue.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the Moms, and Moms to Be!!!!

Gardening is one of my favorite pass times, as well as a convenient way to exercise, and to relax. In my spare time, I keep busy tending to my flower patches, and organic garden of vegetables, herbs, and fruits.

It actually looks like this year my granddaughter and I might be able to pick fresh strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries in my fruit garden…..there are lots of blooms… which hopefully will turn into fruits, and the birds won’t get them before we do.

I will try to take pictures throughout the gardening season, and keep you posted about our progress. I was planing to share some pictures of my spring blooms, but as my computer crashed, I lost them all. I will try again next year.

Here are some pictures to introduce you to one of my flower patches.

This is my East side, starter flower patch, as it appeared four years ago.

This is the same flower patch as of today. Lots of changes in four years!

Peony already has buds, Pink Azalea is in full bloom, and the Siberian Iris is not budding yet.

Columbine is starting to bloom, Hardy Viola already in full bloom, and German Iris might be ready to bloom in a week or so.

Isn’t nature beautiful and mesmerizing?

I LOVE SPRING!!!!

I can’t believe how time flies.  I have been a grandmother for a whole year already, and it has been such a wonderful experience.  If any of you, who are reading this post, are already grandmothers, you know exactly what I mean.   Those of you who are anxiously awaiting for this honor to be bestowed upon you, I am suggesting to hold on tight, and patiently wait your turn, because it is worth every second, and you will feel blessed.

So, my granddaughter turned one, and of course there was a celebration.  I wish I could share pictures, but I have made a decision right from the start of my website, that I will not be posting any personal pictures…thank you for your understanding and support.  But I will share some pictures of the cupcakes and favors my daughter prepared for her little darling’s First Birthday.

The theme for the party decor was Sesame Street Characters, so  of course, it started with an invitation, and carried over to the cupcakes and favors, and here they are.

This invitation was the first step in the realization of the plans for the birthday party, which also gave everyone the insight on the theme of the upcoming party.  This invitation was created and constructed by my daughter, which also contributed to the expansion of her craft supplies inventory, and gave her a good excuse to visit the craft store more frequently.

Half of the cupcakes were vanilla flavor and the other half were chocolate flavor, to please everyone equally.  My granddaughter had her very own small birthday cake to eat…….. and mostly  to play with.  If you ever attended a First Birthday party before, you are well aware of the traditional cake eating ceremony by the Guest of Honor….it’s quite entertaining !!!

The favors consisted of the Birthday Girl’s empty food jars, filled with M & M’s , and decorated with cut outs, which my daughter prepared with her craft tools and supplies (she loves stamping, scrapbooking, quilting, etc.), and a ribbon with a cute “Thank You” note attached to each jar.  The children received plastic jars (for safety reasons of course), and the adults were trusted with the glass jars.

Then the gifts came….. lots of them….and as you can imagine, the most fascinating thing for a One Year Old is the tearing off of the wrapping paper, and not so much the contents of the packages (hmmmm….strange how this changes as they grow older…..).

I am so proud of my daughter, that inspite of her busy schedule of being a professional career woman, working full time, she was able to put so much love and effort into the party planning for her daughter’s First Birthday.  To top it all off, she prepared a beautiful selection of hors d’oeuvres, plus a scrumptious full course meal, for her and her husband’s family, all 20 of us.  Her husband is a wonderful support system for her, so my hat off to him as well.