The other thing that I made from the unexpected bounty of cayenne peppers that we got in the farm share was Homemade Frank’s Red Hot. This recipe doesn’t make very much, but it could easily be doubled, tripled…..you get the idea. It’s super easy and quick.
I can’t seem to keep up with Bananas lately before they start getting overly ripe. I started making Banana Bread because my kids like it but also because it is very easy to make. Here is a very simple recipe for the Banana Bread I use regularly. You can easily add different ingredients to make it your own. For example, nuts or different kinds of chocolate chips
My sister gifted me a scrapbook when I first started crafting scrapbooks. She had made the cover and I slowly added pages of girls trips and events- that we had pictures of us together. Down the road it will be a gift to someone and I will keep adding to it little by little as I get more pictures of us. The tricky part is keeping it in a timeline if possible.
I have made a lot of wreaths to decorate my house specifically for Christmas. I don’t like them to all be the same and I don’t like to spend a lot of money on decorations so I usually buy the plain wreaths and add floral stems and bows. I mix up the kind of wreath and items that I add but all of my decorations have the same colors etc. Wreaths are a great way to decorate not only the front door, but can be used in balconies, windows, and above fireplaces.
As part of our farm share this summer, we got some cayenne peppers. I had never grown cayenne peppers and really didn’t know what to do with them. I don’t think that many of our fellow farm sharers knew what to do with them either because instead of rationing them out like all the other produce, they were in a box that said “help yourself”. So, I took a bunch……about 200. I did a little research and realized that there were two things that we eat pretty regularly that are made from cayenne peppers……crushed red pepper flakes and Frank’s Red Hot sauce
My kids love making things with popsicle sticks. I wanted to harness their creativity and make something for a decoration we could use throughout the years. We made these Frankenstein faces and Scarecrow faces by lining up some sticks however wide you want the face to be and then laying one across the top or back at an angle, and gluing it down to hold it all together.
A simple idea for a centerpiece when decorating for the fall is a vase with seasonal flowers, I chose to use some boxwood strands that I had and added some sunflowers. My Mom had made a table runner for me years ago, and I placed it in the middle of the burlap runner I use everyday.
Decorating for the seasons is a fun way to change up the decor in your house and my favorite season is FALL! I like to get strands of leaves and drape them along the mantle and I add some pumpkins and lanterns etc. to go along with it. The one thing I always do, is change out the wreath that is attached to the mirror above the mantle.
Each year I try a new plant or two. This year, I found seed potatoes on sale and thought that I would at least try them. I followed the directions on the box for the seed potatoes, which basically involved cutting each of the potatoes into about 1 inch pieces, each with one eye (sprout). I left them on the counter overnight.
I had a couple of plastic pots from last year that didn’t hold up very well. I cut rectangular holes out of the sides of the one that was in worse condition so that I would be able to see the progress or get some potatoes out without disturbing the others. I put that pot inside the pot that without the holes cut in it.
I LOVE growing vegetables. I usually start seeds indoors around March so that I’m ready to transfer the plants outdoors when the weather turns warm enough in May.
This year, we decided that we would try raised garden beds. Honestly, it was a decision made mostly out of laziness. We have a rototiller but the soil in our yard has so much clay that we end up having to add a bunch of sand just to make it workable and I hate having to sift out grass and rocks.
Along our back fence is the spot in the yard that gets the most sun, so that is the spot that we picked. We started with one bed. We found a good deal on standard concrete blocks. I thought that I would be able to grow some smaller plants (maybe onions or herbs?) in the holes of the concrete blocks. We stacked the blocks 2 high. I wanted to make sure that it was high enough that we would be able to use tomato cages for our tomato plants.