Washi Wonder(ful)!

I use washi tape every day. Yes, without fail! Why? I use it to decorate the Scriptures I write out. (See this link with more information on the Scripture writing challenge I set up each month.) I have had a few people on Instagram ask me where I get my washi. Some of it comes from Michael's, but  a lot of it comes from Amazon.  Here's a look at some of my favorites...

{Affiliate Links Used}

I love the seasons, and seasonal washi with a botanical bent (I love to garden) is my new favorite type of washi design. I recently bought this set that has three different seasons in it, but I can see where it could be used year round...



Here's the link to it on Amazon.  It contains spring, autumn, and winter patterns, but the green and blue patterns would work for summer also. Here's a look at some pages I did with this collection...

Here are some other sets I either have or want to get in the future...

Geometric washi is fun...



Geometric washi



This circle, triangle, and square pattern comes in different colors: Pink/Orange, Blue/Green


I adore birds!  Here are several bird-themed washi tapes: birds on a wire, bird collection, birds and cages.


Here's a set of washi gardening tape that I use a lot. It mainly has succulents in the design.

I love this nighttime gold and silver washi! It is on my to-buy list for this winter.

If you love coffee (like I do) this washi is cute!!





And because I love the watercolor effect, I am looking to add this watercolor design set with eight different colors.

Finally, if you are looking for creative ideas on what to do with washi, see my Pinterest board.

Gardening Recipes

Our winter in central Alaska has been a long one.  I can't wait for it to be over.  If you read my blog yesterday, you will see that I am dreaming of my garden even though there is still snow on the ground.  Besides, wishing for the start of my garden I am also looking forward to using what we get out of it.  Here are a few recipes that use the different types of veggies that we grow each year.

Carrot Soufflé

My boys love this!  It is not big and puffy like a regular soufflé. No worries about it falling.

1 1/2 lbs. carrots, sliced

6 T. butter

3 lg. eggs

1/2 cup flour

1 1/2 t. baking powder

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 t. cinnamon

dash of nutmeg

Preheat the oven to 350. Lightly grease a 1 1/2 qt. dish, set aside. Cook carrots in boiling water to cover for 15 min. or until tender, drain. In food processor or blender, combine carrots, butter, eggs, flour, baking powder, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg and process til smooth. Spoon into prepared dish. Bake about 1 hour or until set and lightly browned. Serve immediately.

Spaghetti Salad

4 oz. uncooked spaghetti noodles

1 tomato, chopped

1 small cucumber, chopped
1/4 cup chopped bell pepper

1/4 to 1/2 cup Italian dressing

Salad Supreme 

Cook the spaghetti noodles.  Drain and rinse. Add veggies to noodles.  Pour enough dressing over the mixture to coat it.  Mix well.  Sprinkle with Salad Supreme and mix well.  Refrigerate for at least an hour.  You can add more Salad Supreme before serving.

Crunchy Zucchini Circles
3 small zucchini
1 egg
2 T oil
6 T unseasoned fine bread crumbs
3 T. Parmesan
1/4 t. salt
1 t. dried basil
1/2 oregano
1/2 t. onion powder
Slice zucchini 1/4 inch thick.  Beat egg in small bowl. Put oil in frying pan and heat to medium. In a medium-sized bowl mix bread crumbs, Parmesan, salt, basil, oregano, onion powder.  Use a fork to hold a zuke slice. Dip into egg and then dry ingredients. Put zucchini in pan.  Cook 5 min. and then turn them over and cook 5 minutes more.  You can also put the zukes on a baking sheet and spray them with oil and then bake them in the oven.  We serve these with Ranch dressing.

This recipe is the best one I have found for making zucchini bread in bulk. You can freeze some of it for later!

Roasted Green Beans

fresh  green beans

olive oil (maybe about 2 T for 2 lbs. of beans)

salt

pepper

Preheat oven to 425. Place the beans in an oven safe dish. Drizzle with olive oil and add salt and pepper to taste.  Mix completely. Roast for about 15 minutes until beans are crisp tender and starting to brown.

 

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

{More strawberry than rhubarb}

2 cups rhubarb, chopped

4 cups strawberries, sliced

1 1/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

1 T. lemon juice

1/4 t. cinnamon

pastry for a double-crust pie

In a bowl, combine rhubarb, strawberries, sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice and cinnamon. On lightly floured surface, roll out half of the pastry and line a pie plate. Spoon in filling.  Roll out pastry for top crust (you can either do cookie cutter shapes for the top (like I do) or do a lattice top. Flute edge of crust. Bake on a baking sheet with sides in a 425 degree oven for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 375 and bake for another 60 minutes or until rhubarb is tender, filling thickened and the crust is golden. Let stand 20 minutes before cutting.

 

Rhubarb Cake

(This is to-die-for!  Even those that don't like coffee or rhubarb eat this...I should know because Tim claims to hate both!)

Cream:

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 cup shortening

Add:

2 t. cinnamon

2 t. baking powder

1/4 t. salt

Add alternating:

1 cup cold coffee

3 cups flour

Mix in:

3 cups finely chopped rhubarb

Pour into a greased 9 x 13 pan and sprinkle with brown sugar and nuts (optional on the nuts or you could substitute with oatmeal).  Bake 45 min. in a 350 degree oven.

Rhubarb Pudding Cake

(This is my grandma's recipe)

Cook together:

4 cups chopped rhubarb

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup water

Mix together and then put in the bottom of a pan and spoon the rhubarb mixture over it:

1 cup flour

1 t. baking powder

1/4 t. salt

1/3 cup shortening

2/3 cup sugar

2/3 cup milk

1 egg

1 t. vanilla

I don't have the baking instructions. Grandma never wrote them down.  But you can put the cake in a 9 inch square baking pan and bake at 350 for about 30 minutes or until cake is done.

 

Dreaming of Gardening

Spring will not come easy here this year.  As I am sitting writing this post it is snowing. Yes, in April.  This, of course is not unheard of in Alaska.  I made the false assumption that because it had started to melt that we were well on our way to spring. But it has been snowing for days.  So my only solace is in dreaming of my garden and what I am planning to grow.  I have taken up the search for more ideas and tips for this year.  Here is some of what I have found and may try:

Here's a Companion Planting guide. I never dreamed that plants would be finicky about who they hang out with!

Last year I made garden markers.  They were super easy!

 

Here is a great post of herb gardening.  I used some of the ideas from this post last year.

I just recently found this garden planner online.  Such an awesome way to plan out your garden for the year!

Here are some tips from growing tomatoes.  And some more tips.

Small space gardening ideas

How about trying to grow celery from what you bought at the store?

This year I am planning of growing tomatoes, cucumbers, beans and zucchini in my greenhouse.  In my other garden there will be potatoes, peas, lettuce, some herbs, beets and carrots.

So what are your garden plans?

Watering Tomato Plants in Pots

Each year I learn a little more about gardening...it has been a process over a decade of learning what works for each type of plant.  Tomatoes can be tricky in interior Alaska.  Our summers are just too cool. Putting tomato plants in the ground just doesn't work well.  However, this year I bought a greenhouse to put my warm weather plants in.  I have about nine tomato plants (three varieties) and have been researching how best to grow them.  One of the tips is to water them slow.  Well, I had never done that...so this past weekend I came up with a way to do just that.  Three little words...Red. Solo. Cups.  My husband poked a little hole near the bottom of each cup.  I then fill each cup and set it in the pots.  I do this a couple of times to get a deep watering for the tomatoes.  So far it seems to be working well!  I can't wait for juicy, red tomatoes!!

Garden Markers

I recently found a great project online to make garden markers using oven-baked clay and letter rubber stamps. I don't absolutely need markers for my garden, but I have had this clay laying around for AGES and thought this was cute and easy enough to do.  I did have to go through a test run batch.  They turned out too big and fat.  I would actually use a little less clay for each marker than given in the instructions.  I also realized that they looked better if you start the stamping at the end of the word and work your way back to the beginning.  That way your word ends at the end of the stick.

{Noah stamping out the letters}

I can't wait to start digging in the garden!

A Collection of Cool Ideas (Pinterest)

So I recently got a Pinterest account and am loving it!  Do you know about Pinterest? It is basically a virtual pin board where you can collect all the wonderful ideas you see on the internet. I love it because I am a visual person and at a glance can look through the ideas I have collected.  That way you will never have to go searching again for an idea you saw awhile back when you were surfing the web.  I am using it to save recipes, home organization ideas, gift ideas and homeschooling inspiration.  Here's a look at some of what I have "pinned".

{S'more Nachos}

{Tea Wreath}

{Tutorial to make Word Blocks}

{What a cool way to organize ribbon!}

{DIY etched glass containers}

Ripening Tomatoes

This year we have been blessed with tomatoes! A few weeks ago someone we know who owns a greenhouse in town gave us a bunch of tomatoes that I used to make salsa and spaghetti sauce with.  Well, it is time to finally start pulling my tomatoes off the vines (I think I have about 60-70 Early Girls and tons of Tiny Tim tomatoes!).  The problem is that if you live in Alaska like I do tomatoes don't ripen fast enough before the cool weather hits.  So I decided to bring some of them indoors and start the ripening process.  I was setting them in my kitchen window that gets lots of light, but was running out of room.  Then I came up with the idea of going vertical.  By placing the tomatoes in mason jars I was able to get more of them in the window sill. What is more they are kind of decorative up there! Pretty cool!

Update on the Garden

This is the biggest garden I have had yet.  We are growing some new veggies that I have never grown before: cucumbers, eggplant, spaghetti squash, and round zucchini.  Everything is doing really well, except for my peas.  I have a few pea plants, but for some reason they didn't sprout real well this year.  Here are a few pictures...

{All types of summer squash/zucchini}

{Orient Express Eggplant}

{Cucumbers}

{Tomatoes}

{The start of a pumpkin}