I enjoy doing so many different things, which makes it quite difficult to juggle my already very busy schedule.  I love culinary arts, creative arts, performing arts, some sports,  and admire everyone’s talent, who creates beautiful things out of simple supplies.

I embroidered an Easter outfit for my granddaughter this past spring, so now the time has come to make something special for my, very soon to join us, grandson.  We are extremely excited, and anxiously awaiting his arrival.

What can bring more love and satisfaction than making something with your own hands, and throughout the whole process keeping that person in mind, and close to your heart?

I have decided to try my crocheting skills, which I have learned at the age of 12, by watching my sister crochet her own black fishnet stockings (some of you might remember that style….), and a matching pair of gloves (I wanted to wear them so badly, but she guarded them pretty well).

I do crochet now and then, without following any specific instructions, but rather creating my own designs.  However, last fall I actually took a crocheting class and learned few new patterns (the blanket reflects one of them).

So, here are the items I have crochet for our baby grandson:

A very soft baby blanket.

Baby hats in two sizes, one for a newborn, and the other one for 3-6 months.

A pair of booties, to keep his toes nice and toasty.

These booties took probably as long to complete, as the whole blanket, since it was more challenging to figure out the correct shape, but with determination, and perseverance, I was finally satisfied with the outcome.   I tried to find instructions for this pattern, but without success, so I decided to “wing” it, and these are the results.

I did not write down my instructions, so this project will remain one of a kind, however, I would like to share  that I used two skein , 50z each, of   Softee Baby yarn , by Bernat, and the hook size for the blanket is H, and for the booties and hats, is G.

Baby showers are so much fun.  So much excitement and so many cutesy baby items to admire, and to  ooohhh and aaahhh about.

You already had the pleasure of reading about a baby shower with a girl’s theme, and now you will find out about a baby shower with a boy’s theme.

This one was for my son and daughter-in-law, as they are expecting their first baby boy, which will make me a proud grandma for the second time.  I am ecstatic, and can’t wait to meet the little fellow.

Lots of preparations were made by members from both sides of the family, and it was a fun party, with lots of delicious food prepared by Giando on the Water in Brooklyn, NY.

Gorgeous view of Manhattan from the restaurant,

and fully decorated baby shower party room.

The decor theme was “Onesies”, which  was also reflected in the invitations, as well as one of the games, where everyone was invited to express their ideas by decorating a Onesie.

All the decorated Onesies were so adorable, that ALL qualified to be the winners, so the prizes were awarded to the youngest “artists”.  This project was definitely lots of fun for everyone.  I highly recommend it for your baby shower.

For the table centerpieces, we used various stuffed animals attached to bunches of balloons,  and the start up kits for decorating the Onesies.

I created a Diaper Cake, out of 150 Pampers diapers, plus some small baby items.  To express the theme of the baby’s room decor accents, I used a plush monkey paying a guitar, as the cake topper.

The book  “Curious George” was my son’s favorite baby book, hence his admiration of monkeys, and idea for a theme of their son’s room decor.

Here are the close up pictures of the different decorations on each layer of the Diaper Cake:

Pacifier with a soccer ball emblem (very appropriate for this year’s World Cup Soccer), and a monkey baby rattle,

More baby rattles, teeter, and soft tip baby spoons (registry items).

Did you notice the monkeys on the ribbon?

Aren’t they adorable?

Last, but not least, the famous monkey with his “Rockstar” guitar.

For party favors, there were individually wrapped special baby cookies, in the shape of Onesies, of course.

Also, bottles of hand soap, dressed up in Onesies.  My daughter is very much into stamping and scrap-booking, so all her tools and ideas helped out tremendously, as well as her time.  She’ll make a great aunt!

TIP: By constructing your own Diaper Cake, you will save a bundle of money, as these cakes can be quite expensive, especially if they have several tiers and use so many diapers, plus the miscellaneous decorations.

Also, preparing your own favors, especially if you are lucky enough to have coupons to purchase your supplies, you can cut the cost down as well.  Of course, it takes imagination,  lots of preparation time, TLC and personal touches.

It is very relaxing and rewarding to plant your own herbs and vegetables.  You don’t even have to have a “green thumb” for planting these vegetables, and fruits, as you most likely will correct me, and call a tomato a fruit, rather than a vegetable.

I feel that some plants require much more care than others.  I have a hard time planting onions and carrots, as for some reason they just do not turn out as nice and appealing as the ones in the store.  If you have any suggestions, please share them, so I will perhaps give myself another chance with these two.

However, growing tomatoes and potatoes is so easy, and this year especially, as they turned out totally free.

Last year I bought a couple of tomato plants, one Beefsteak Tomato plant, and one Cherry Tomato plant.  They both did very well, and produced lots of fruits.  Some of these fruits fell off the plant and worked themselves into the ground, so this year I noticed free tomato plants sprouting in my garden.  I let them grow into at least 6 inch plants, before transplanting them into a more suitable location.

So, here is my first picking of my free Cherry Tomatoes, which grew even larger in size this year, than last year:

I already mentioned in my previous posts that I like to turn my vegetable kitchen scraps into compost, so I have been doing that during last fall and early spring.  I dug up several deep rows in my garden, kept on filling them up with the veggie scraps, covered them with dirt, and left them there until it was time to prepare the garden for planting.  Most of them were already decomposed, but some still stayed intact.

The excitement came in late April, when I noticed that besides the self seeded tomato plants, I also had numerous Pepper plants(not sure yet what color they will be) and potato plants, sprouting from my compost rows.  Since these plants self seeded themselves, they were hardier to survive any weather changes, as spring has kind of unpredictable weather most of the time.

Eventually I will share the peppers cultivated from these plants, but here are my free potatoes.

These Red Potatoes are a result of one piece of a potato which I must have discarded together with the potato peels.  I was very pleasantly surprised when the potato plant dried up, thus a sign that it is time to harvest the crop, and I found all of the above potatoes under that plant.  Amazing, don’t you agree?

I also told you that some of the potato peels sprouted as well, and these plants of course were much weaker, as the peels did not have much nutrition to feed the plant, unlike the potato chunk.

Nonetheless, they still managed to produce some potatoes.  Can you believe this, growing potatoes from a potato peel?

Here they are, free Russet Potatoes.

These are baking potatoes, so the skin is darker and thicker than the Red Potatoes.  Since these are a product from only potato peels, they are much smaller.  The larger ones are the size of an egg, and the smallest ones are the size of a grape.

I still am in a total disbelief that potato peels had enough nutrition to produce these potatoes.  I could have let them grow a little longer, to give them a chance to get larger, but I needed to dig them up as the tops were totally gone, and they just grew in between my other vegetables, not exactly where I would normally plant a potato.

So you see how easy it is to grow plants in your garden, even from scraps!

If next year to wish to try growing your own potatoes, I will post easy to follow potato growing instructions.

All you will need is at least one chunk of a potato, and a place to plant it.

photo credit: BFS Man

As I mentioned before, I am following this super website on tips for living green, and promised to share some of these with you.

Now that you are becoming more aware of these great ways to save the environment, energy, and money, you can join in and be part of the Living Green Team.

Mother Earth and future generations with thank you!

Today’s post is all about conserving water and saving a bundle at the same time, so read on.

Don’t Just Go with the Flow

What?
Conserve water – and lower your bills – by installing low-flow showerheads and faucet aerators.

How?
It’s brilliant, really. Low-flow showerheads and faucet aerators allow you to enjoy the same water pressure with lower water consumption.

Why?
Conventional showerheads use anywhere between 2.5 and 5 gallons of water per minute, while low-flow showerheads can reduce that number to 1 to 1.5 gallons per minute.

Did You Know?
Installing a low-flow showerhead can save you $100 per year in water usage and water-heating costs.

Scrub, Rinse and Get Out of There

What?
Save money and water by speeding up your shower routine.

How?
The average showerhead uses about five gallons of water per minute. Thus, trimming your daily shower by just three minutes can save 15 gallons of water per day – and 5,460 gallons per year!

Why?
Reducing your water use can save you about $170 per year. In addition, it decreases the amount of fossil fuel energy used to supply, treat and heat your water.

Did You Know?
Americans use an average of 100 gallons of water per day. No wonder 36 states are anticipating severe local, regional or statewide water shortages by 2013.

Do the Rain Dance

What?
Save water by installing a water catcher or rain barrel for your home.

How?
Position the barrel to capture rainwater from your gutters. Then use the non-potable water to wash cars, flush toilets, water the lawn, etc.

Why?
A rain barrel can save approximately 1,300 gallons of water during peak summer months.

Did You Know?
Lawn and garden watering make up nearly 40% of total household water use during the summer.

Don’t Be A Drip About Water Usage

What?
Save time and water with a drip irrigation system for your yard.

How?
Shop online or visit your local gardening store to buy a system. Once you’re set up, you can retire the sprinkler and put away that hose you keep tripping over.

Why?
Drip irrigation is extremely efficient because it applies water directly to the plant’s roots. As a result, it eliminates excess water usage as well as the misdirected spray that promotes weeds.

Did You Know?
Over 90% of the water used by drip irrigation is absorbed by the plant, compared to only 40-75% for sprinklers.

No Leaking – In or Out of the Pool

What?
Conserve water by identifying and fixing leaks in your swimming pool.

How?
The bucket test. Fill a five-gallon bucket with water, and put it on a step or bench in the pool. If the pool’s water level decreases faster than the bucket’s water level, you may have a leak.

Why?
In a big pool, even a small leak can waste over 100,000 gallons of water per year.

Did You Know?
You can search for pool repair experts in your area at www.poolleak.info.

Are You a Profligate Sprinkler?

What?
Conserve water through responsible lawn watering.

How?
Use an electronic soil tester to measure moisture. Water your lawn in one deep session per week – rather than frequent lighter sessions. And do it in the early morning to minimize evaporation.

Why?
Most lawns need about one inch of water per week, and many Americans go way beyond that. To make matters worse, we’re wasting water while many states have droughts.

Did You Know?
A whopping 60% of water use on the West Coast is attributed to watering lawns, a non-essential usage.

photo credit: VirtualErn

Summertime calls for outdoor cooking/grilling, and enjoying fun activities with family and friends.

There doesn’t need to be a special holiday, or celebration, to have a barbecue.  You do it just because you feel like taking advantage of the warm weather, and cooking outdoors.  Not to mention to give your husband a chance to show off his grilling skills, while you are relaxing with a nice cold drink and chatting with everyone (that is after you set everything up for him beforehand…).

My son-in-law, with the assistance of my daughter, prepared these finger licking barbecue ribs, and they let me share this recipe with all of you.

Pork Baby Back Ribs

Ingredients:

• 6 pounds pork baby back ribs
• 1 pinch black pepper
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 pinch crushed red pepper
• 4 cups barbecue sauce (see recipe below)
• 2 (12 ounce) bottles porter beer, room temperature

Directions:

1. Cut ribs into small portions of 2 or 3 bones each.
2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
3. Season water a pinch each of salt, black pepper, and crushed red pepper to the water.
4. Boil ribs in seasoned water for 20 minutes.
5. Drain, and let the ribs sit for about a half an hour.
6. Meanwhile, preheat an outdoor grill for high heat.
7. Lightly coat the ribs with barbecue sauce.
8. Cook the ribs over high heat for a 5 to 10 minutes on each side to get a nice grilled look to them.
9. Place grilled ribs in a slow cooker.
10. Pour remaining barbecue sauce and one bottle of beer over the ribs; this should cover at least half of the ribs.
11. Cover, and cook on High for 3 hours.
12. Check ribs every hour or so, and add more beer if needed to dilute sauce
13. Stir to get the ribs on top into the sauce.
14. The ribs are done when the meat is falling off the bone.
15. The ribs were cooked completely in the first process, the rest is about flavor and texture.

Bourbon Whiskey Barbecue Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1/2 onion, minced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 3/4 cup bourbon whiskey
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 tablespoon salt
• 2 cups ketchup
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 1/3 cup cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons liquid smoke flavoring
• 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/3 teaspoon hot pepper sauce, or to taste

Directions:

1. In a large skillet over medium heat, combine the onion, garlic, and whiskey.
2. Simmer for 10 minutes, or until onion is translucent.
3. Mix in the ground black pepper, salt, ketchup, tomato paste, vinegar, liquid smoke, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, and hot pepper sauce.
4. Bring to a boil.
5. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for 20 minutes.
6. Run sauce through a strainer if you prefer a smooth sauce.

Jello desserts are great any time, but I love them that much more during the summer months.

Then again, whipping up a jello dessert mixed with cream cheese and fruit, how can you beat that?

The recipe I am about to share with you is also very quick and simple to prepare, and it makes a very refreshing dessert for your family barbecue, or a dish to pass at a neighborhood get together.  I made this jello mold for numerous occasions, and I never had to worry about storing any leftovers…..it’s yummy!

Ingredients:

• 2 boxes  (3 oz each) of Strawberry Jello
• 1 cup hot water
• 1 large box frozen strawberries (12-16 oz)
• 2 cups crushed pineapple , drained ( 2 – 20 oz. cans)
• 1 small sour cream ( 8oz)
• 1 package cream cheese ( 8oz)

Directions:

1. Dissolve jello in hot water.
2. Drain the strawberries, and mix into jello.
3. Cool until partially set (the frozen strawberries will cool the jello very quickly).
4. Mix in the crushed pineapple.
5. In a separate bowl, mix the cream cheese with the sour cream, to a smooth paste.
6. Add to the jello mixture, fold in well.
7. Place in a serving bowl.
8. Cover.
9. Refrigerate until well set (couple of hours or overnight).

Enjoy!

If you love roses, but just do not have the right spot to plant them in, why not go for potted roses to adore your deck, patio,  or any other place around your home.

My sister-in-law, in upstate New York, did just that.  She loves flowers, especially roses, but always had to go through tremendous effort to protect her plants from undesirable visitors, such as deer, woodchucks, squirrels, and others.

This year she outsmarted these nuisance animals, and decided to plant her Chihuly Roses in large pots on her deck and front porch.

She was kind enough to share with me, her pictures of these beauties, and I am showing them off to you, in case you are looking for some ideas.

Cream-Yellow rose, not only it is so delicate and beautiful, but also very fragrant.

Don’t you agree that these are gorgeous,  and very healthy looking?

Not only the flowers are perfect, but the foliage is so vibrant green, without any blemishes, or imperfections.

If you grow roses in your garden, you know that it could be quite challenging to keep roses in such perfect condition, so I asked her to share some of her tips.

She informed me that she let them remain in their original containers, for a couple of weeks after purchasing these from a nursery.  After the two weeks, she replanted them into larger planters, leaving intact the original soil around the plants, and adding Miracle Gro soil which contains built-in fertilizer.  For additional nourishment she used liquid Miracle Gro.

Also, to protect her plants from infestation and disease, she applies Sevin powder and spray, per manufacturers directions.  Potted plants need to be watered daily, as the soil gets warm, and the water evaporates easily.

Best way to water is close to the roots, as not to get water on the leaves, to prevent formation of mold and mildew.  Preferred watering time is in the early morning, or after sun down, so the roots have a chance to absorb most of it, rather then losing it to evaporation.

I would like to ask you all to share your tips on gardening in pots, whether it is flowers, herbs or vegetables.

June‘s hot weather was not very kind to gardeners, or their gardens.  No matter how much I was watering my garden, it was back to desert conditions the next day.

The best time to water your garden is either early morning, if you have time, or after sun set.  Also, it is good to remember not to water your tomato plants from the top, but rather down by their roots, to prevent the growth of fungus, and other diseases.

I am always so amazed to see how much difference a light rain makes in my garden, in comparison to my daily watering.

So, let’s play  “show and tell” with what’s new in my garden in July:

These gorgeous White Lily plants are very special, because last year after Easter, they were tossed out by their original owner, and offered to me, that is if I really wanted them.  They did not look like they had much life left in them, but that was more of a reason why I adopted these famished plants.  I watered them really well, and planted them the next day in my South-West side flower patch, to keep them warm and protected during the winter months. Only the two stronger ones looked like they accepted their new home last year.  However, I was pleasantly surprised this spring when they all came out, and bloomed so beautifully in late June.

This Red Canna Lily plant, and about 6 more of these throughout my flower patch, were given to me by my husband’s aunt, who loves tending to her flower and vegetable garden, and the fruits of her labor are definitely showing in her garden.  The tubers of these plants needed to be kept in a dry cool place (my basement) during winter, and I planted then in my garden in mid April.  These Lilies do not have much of a fragrance, but they have such luscious foliage, and a very interesting way to display their flowers.

My granddaughter loves sweet peas, so this year I planted some in my garden.  It is so much fun to watch them grow, as they climb up and for support attach themselves to whatever stands in their way, in my case, the fence. I admire the way the peas sit in the pea pod, so tight together, and so orderly.  Looks delicious!

We love green beans,  so of course, I planted some of these in my garden as well, and here is my first crop of the season.  I can’t wait to steam some for dinner!

So, what’s new in your garden this time of the year?  Please share your comments.

TIP:  Planting your own vegetables not only saves you money, but also provides you with fresh, delicious, and pesticide free veggies.

It has been a while since I had some fun stuff on this blog.

Even I miss it already….

I love Maxine humor, so here is some for you to enjoy:

I guess this should do it.

At least now you have some

“words of wisdom”

to arm yourself with,

in case you need a “come back” line for today!!

Every time I see a ready assembled vegetable platter at a grocery store, just to pick up and go to a party, I cringe at its cost.  I think it mostly reflects the price of labor, rather than the value of the veggies.

I can understand if you are in a hurry and rally do not have time to put it all together, but even that is not a good enough excuse.

It doesn’t take a culinary genius to cut up raw vegetables, and to arrange them on a platter.

Even if you still have to buy the ready made dip, you will save money, doing the platter yourself.

Here is what you will need:

• Baby carrots (1/2 bag)
• Celery stalks ( 3 stalks)
• Green Peppers (1)
• Red Pepper (optional)
• Yellow Peppers (optional)
• Cherry Tomatoes (1 container)
• Cucumber (one)

I know once you add up the cost of these items you might come up close to what the platter costs, but you will not use up all of these vegetables for this one platter.  You will have leftovers for your own use.

If you want to cut down the price even further, skip the peppers all together, and fill up that space with celery.  Also, instead of cherry tomatoes you can select broccoli and cauliflower.

You may also substitute the baby carrots with regular carrots, peeled and cut them up to chunks (french fries size), these will also cut down on the cost of carrots.  It all depends on your budget and the current price of vegetables.

Maybe you don’t have a vegetable platter to arrange these on, or you don’t want to use your own and worry about bringing it back home.  In that case, stop at a Dollar store  and purchase one for a Dollar.

Once all assembled, wrap it up with foil, or plastic wrap, and off you go.  Not only you will same some money, you will feel good about your creation, and maybe impress someone as well.

TIP: To make a quick and easy vegetable dip, use 1 cup of sour cream, add 1/2 packet of Good Seasons Zesty Italian

flavored salad dressing mix, mix it all up, spoon it in a plastic container and it’s ready.  Money saved again.  This whole platter will cost about $6, if you do it yourself.