Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Odds and Ends

 When I was in junior high, I had a watch set where you could wear a different colored watch band to match your outfit. I thought that was so cool.  I've always liked interchangeable jewelry - see my Interchangeable Earrings. Well, now there's a new product hitting Joann Fabric and Craft Stores called Odds and Ends.  I was lucky enough to get to try it out.


Odds and Ends

My friends from Cousin sent me a whole package of different Odds and Ends to try out.

Odds and Ends


Basically you start with a bangle of silver or gold. There of tons of different options for the ends. You simply insert the end into the bangle.

Odds and Ends

There is a big variety of ends - from classy and elegant, to trendy and edgy.


Odds and Ends
I played around with them, mixing up the colors. I'm loving the look of the silver bangle with the gold spikes in the background. I think it's my favorite one. In fact I'm wearing it right now along with the gold arrow and gold bangle below.

Odds and Ends


There's something for everyone.  My 12 year old called dibs on both sets of owl ends.

Odds and Ends
So check out your local Joann store to get your own set of Odds and Ends or shop online at www.joann.com.

What is your favorite set?

 I am a member of the Cousin Creative Circle. I receive product from Cousin Corporation of America. In return, I create jewelry pieces from that product, and share about them through my blog and other social media outlets. All opinions expressed in this post are mine.

Thursday, April 23, 2015

Gardening #2


Can you believe this? The weather in Utah is always a bit unpredictable. We've had an exceptionally warm and early spring and a week ago we got a couple days of snow. We're really hoping we still get some fruit.
Gardening


A few days later it's back to spring and my goal for this week was to get the front yard weeded. This spot had the most weeds, so I started there and worked my way around the rest of the front yard. 

Gardening and Weeding

Here's the after:

Gardening and Weeding
 Eventually I'll figure out what I want planted here, but for now I just try to keep it free of weeds.

The rest of the front yard had just a few weeds here and there so it went pretty quick. I also raked up all the pine needles, which is always a chore in the spring when you have three pine trees.

You can read my tips on weeding that I put together a few years ago.


Our cool weather plants have sprouted. We planted peas, carrots, lettuce, broccoli and cauliflower.

gardening - cool weather plants


gardening - peas
Looks like all the peas came up well. Here's to hoping the dog doesn't trample them as soon as they're ready to harvest like he did last year!

What have you been working on in your yard?


Friday, April 17, 2015

Gardening - Cool Weather Plants

I'm going to start a new series sharing my gardening ups and downs. Basically, each week {or every couple weeks} I'll share how things are going and what I've been up to in the yard.

All this is from a few weeks ago - I had a really busy spring break, but now I finally have time to start this series.

A few weeks ago, we planted our early garden. We planted peas, carrots, lettuce, broccoli, and cauliflower. These plants are called cool weather plants. They are less susceptible to the cold weather and actually flourish when the temperatures are cooler. The rule of thumb for my area is to plant cool weather plants in mid-March. I didn't end up planting until the end of March this year.

Garden Boxes


This will vary for different parts of the country. My mom, who lives only about an hour away, has to plant later, because she is higher in elevation and therefore it stays cold longer.  Someone from a local garden shop would be a good resource to ask any questions you may have about when to plant different types of vegetables in your area.

I typically plant next to my soaker hoses to make sure the plants get watered. I have found much more success in our garden since we added the soaker hoses. Instead of having to remember to water the garden, it's automatically watered when we water the lawn.

We've had an early spring this year. These are our cherry blossoms. We had a cold snap and I'm afraid that we've lost them now.
Cherry Blossoms

The apple blossoms...

Apple Blossoms

And my favorite, the peach...

Cherry Blossoms
The peach tree is right outside my kitchen window. I love looking out at the blossoms. They're so pretty. It's also fun to watch as the peaches grow.

I also finally got around to trimming my raspberry bushes. It really should be done as soon as the buds start to appear. If I get around to it as soon as they start budding, then I'll trim them to about six inches from the ground. This year I was late getting to it and so I left them higher. My husband has done it in years past and barely trimmed off the tops. Basically, it hasn't seemed to matter too much how much is trimmed off. 

Raspberry Plants

Next up on the list is to get everything weeded.


Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Daisy Braid Bread Recipe

 If you want the perfect make-ahead, but still enjoy a hot bread recipe: you must try this Daisy Braid Bread. This has become one of my go-to breads for Sunday dinner. It's perfect because you can make the dough ahead of time, either in the morning or even the night before and refrigerate it. Then just stick it in the oven and serve it hot with dinner.
Daisy Braid Bread Recipe
I found the recipe over at It's Always Autumn. I tweaked it a bit to include wheat flour. If you want a white bread recipe, head over there and check it out.

Daisy Braid Bread Recipe





Daisy Braid Bread Recipe
This makes two loaves. I usually bake them both at the same time. We eat one and freeze the other {after it's cooled} for another time. The day we want to eat it I pull it out in the morning and by dinner it's thawed and I just stick it in the oven for 5-10 minutes to re-heat.

More Bread Recipes

Daisy Braid Bread

Daisy Braid Bread

Servings: 16
Author: Rachel Nielsen
Prep time: 30 MinCook time: 25 MinTotal time: 55 Min
If you want the perfect make-ahead, but still enjoy a hot bread recipe: you must try this Daisy Braid Bread. This has become one of my go-to breads for Sunday dinner.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 c. warm water
  • 2 T. yeast
  • 1/2 c. sugar
  • 1 t. salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 c. margarine, softened
  • 3 c. bread flour
  • 2-3 c. wheat flour
  • 1 T. dough enhancer
  • 1 T. vital wheat gluten

Instructions

  1. Combine water and yeast and let sit about 5 minutes until yeast is foamy. 
  2. Mix all ingredients together in a stand mixer, adding the flour as needed to form a dough. Knead 5 minutes. 
  3. Let rest 20 minutes. 
  4. Divide dough into 6 sections. 
  5. Take 3 pieces and roll each out into a long "snake" Braid the pieces together and place the braid in a round cake pan. 
  6. Place in fridge, covered for 2-48 hours.
  7. Take directly from fridge and place in hot 350 oven for 25-35 minutes. Brush with butter.

Nutrition Facts

Calories

260.03

Fat (grams)

7.30

Sat. Fat (grams)

1.47

Carbs (grams)

41.10

Fiber (grams)

1.57

Net carbs

39.53

Sugar (grams)

6.42

Protein (grams)

7.19

Sodium (milligrams)

160.86

Cholesterol (grams)

23.25

Nutrition information is automatically generated and is not guaranteed to be correct

braided bread,
Bread
American