Pickin' the strawberries

Our strawberries are certainly making there appearance the past few days and I have been picking them like crazy. One thing about strawberries is that if they are pink and white in color the next day they will be red and ready to pick, but after that either they are eaten by some random animal {or your own dog in my case half the time} or they start rotting right away. 

I have so many strawberries already I don't know what to do with them. I thought about ice cream, but seriously how strawberry ice creams am I going to have in my freezer?! The freezer is already stocked up with meats and other flavored ice creams currently, I can't possibly fit anymore. <unless we start eating more and fast>

strawberry ice cream

Strawberry muffins   

old fashion strawberry pie ?

chocolate strawberry torte ?

strawberry upside-down cake...  MmMmm

strawberry dessert crepes

The thoughts and recipes are endless, I mean just look at pinterest it gives you a million options and they all sound amazing...however, the only down side to this is that both my husband and I are currently doing  a low-carb diet for the next week and i feel like my joy of dessert making isn't going to be an option for these strawberries this week.... 

I mean they are amazing looking this year! They do say (I don't know who they are- farmers? strawberry growers?) the first year they aren't very big and are pretty small, which was true last year for us. But so far this year they are a pretty decent size! 

For those of you who never grew strawberries before please note that they are considered weeds and they will SPREAD! I should have contained them in a raised bed when I first planted them, but obviously did not think about it and they are now all over the place. Good thing I love berries.

 Same thing with my raspberry bushes... All over the place haha

My 1st picked berries this year! -->

<---

Why I took a picture of them in a red bowl is beyond me...

Diamond ring?!!

FINALLY!!!
My candle from Diamond Candle I ordered came in the mail today!! As soon as I opened it I had a lighter in hand and its already burning as we speak!!

 The scent I ended up ordering is called: Orchid Meadows. So far it seems to have quiet a smell to it <in a good way>.  Now I know it's only been about 15 minutes since I lit this candle, but I would probably buy another one of their candles just based off smell alone at the moment. 

{Payment} 
I paid (with shipping and handling) about $30.00, which is about equal in price for a Yankee candle. I really wanted to try out a forest/wood smelling candle, but they were all sold out of them, NEXT TIME! I will tell you this, if you do order a diamond candle it will take about 6-7 days for the shipment to make it to your home. Now a days when you order something online its usually at your door step in less than 4 days, so don't be alarmed when it's been a week for this candle. Again if it's something that you're interested in trying out for yourself their website is: 
http://www.diamondcandles.com/

It's funny as I sit here typing this I keep staring at the candle and I normally hate when candles burn fast because that means it will be done faster, but right now all I want is for it to burn really fast so I can see this ring. I promise once I get to part where I can get the ring out I'll be sure you let you know my results! 

I have to admit IF... IF...this ring turns out to be worth $1,000 or $5,000 I will
probably end up selling it to a jeweler and taking the money. In my mind, yes it would be awesome to keep $1,000 ring but the reality of it- Harry and I could really use the money. 


PHOTO OF THE RING COMING SOON....
....and the ring is probably $10 hahah but its pretty... 

Homemade Peach Ice Cream!

I love to bake and make any kind of dessert I can {especially when I am bored} The peaches I bought at the store a few days ago are way beyond mushy for my liking to just eat, unless I want to eat baby food mush. See this is what happens to the fruit and veggies we bring into our home sometimes. Harry and I just get so busy with work half the time that we forget about the fruits and vegetables that need to be eaten within a certain amount of days and they start going bad. Well I don't want to waste it.. hmmm what can I use these peaches for.... PEACH ICE CREAM!!

My brother and his girlfriend got Harry and I an ice cream maker for Christmas in 2012 and have yet to use it. Oh wait Harry used it once to make chocolate covered strawberry ice cream on Valentines Day/my birthday. (turned out pretty good I thought, but a little watery) Let's give it another shot!... 

Below are the ingredients needed:

1. Cuisinart  Frozen Yogurt Ice Cream & Sorbet Maker 
2. Milk/cream/sugar mixture
3. Peaches purred 
4. Whole Milk
5. Lemon Juice
6. Vanilla Extract
7. Sugar
8. Both Mixture together- finished product
9. Heavy Cream   

 The following is the recipe I used to make it if you're interested in trying it, its good!!

Peach Ice Cream

Peel, pit and puree in a food processor:

2 lbs very ripe peaches [or mangoes/apricots/nectarines]

Pour into a medium bowl and stir in:

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup sugar

pinch of salt

Refrigerate until the sugar is dissolved, stirring occasionally. 
Combine in a bowl and stir to dissolve sugar: 

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1/2 cup whole milk

1/3 cup sugar

pour into an ice cream maker and freeze as directed. when the ice cream is almost frozen, add the fruit mixture      

ENJOY!!

   

 

Preakness

Big floppy hats, flowing dresses, cigars, drinks and the sound of hooves quickly stomping to the finish line..
This weekend Harry and I got to experience our first time at the Preakness in Baltimore, Maryland. We've been to Saratoga, NY before to watch the horse races, but this was a lot bigger! Not much of a horse race better myself and neither is Harry, but his dad is BIG TIME into it and loves it! We both just go along for the fun of enjoying family, friends, and the atmosphere. Needless to say no one in our group won any kind of money, except for Harry's cousin winning $30.00. {hey better than nothing I guess}

The older adults hung out in the grandstands to continue watching the races, while myself, Harry, our 2 friends from college, sister-in-law, her boyfriend and our cousin Joe all decided to go to the infield. The infield had 2 huge stages- one with Florida Georgia Line and the other had Macklemore.

     {I really wanted to stay for Pitbull, but that was later in the night and you had to pay for tickets to see that..oh well. }



All around the stages were vendors for food and alcoholic drinks, many alcoholic drinks. Apparently the official drink of Preakness 2013 was the Black-eyed Susan:
 

Black-Eyed Susan Recipe

1.25 oz Finlandia Vodka

0.25 oz St. Germain Liqueur

2 oz Lemon Juice

3 oz Lemongrass & Blackberry simple Syrup

6 drops of Angostura Bitters

Garnish with one sage leaf

..... let me tell you it was NOT very good. I actually had to throw it out and I hate to waste food or drinks, but it was terrible. There are a few different ways to make this drink- above is the recipe I found they used at the races. 

After 4 hours of walking around and having a good time the final race was about to start. We all rushed back to our seats and BANG the horses are off! Nothing is more exciting then the final race. 

Screaming our heads off for the number 6 horse to cross the finish line first, going neck and neck with two other horses...#6 finally breaks free and crosses the finish line as NUMBER 1!!

Fun time :)

{Harry and I before the race}

Obsessive much?

Everyone is obsessed with someone or something whether they like to admit it or not.  Okay here it goes, my obsession is... candles. I LOVE CANDLES! 

From little tea lights to wall decor that hold candles. Just like when you go shopping with your boyfriend or husband in a store and he always tends to levitate towards the tool/machinery aisle, YUUUP that's me when it comes to the candle aisle. Harry always says my obsession is a healthy obsession, it always makes the house smell good. And let me tell you it was one hell of a plus when hurricane Sandy happened and we were out of electricity for a few days, it was rather awesome if you ask me. Even my husband was excited about the fact that we had enough candles to light up the basement so he could do his lifting routine that day. See? haha

Both our addictions combined (Harry = lifting, Justine= candles) That's love right there!

Soo a while back I saw something on an ad either on Facebook or somewhere on the internet, I don't particularly remember where, but either way I saw a product called "Diamond Candles". Maybe you've heard of them? Anyways these candles are made from all natural soy and inside every single earth friendly candle they make is a real ring worth $10, $100, $1,000, or $5,000! 

  

What's a girl not to love about this product?! a candle and a free ring?! Okay you don't have to twist my arm to order one. In fact, I am currently, impatiently awaiting the delivery....since Friday...I hate waiting.  As soon as the candle comes I'll be sure to let you know how it is, but in the meantime, check it out for yourself at:

 http://www.diamondcandles.com/ 

Grow veggies, Grow!

Now I'm just playing the waiting game for the arrival of dirt and soil from Harry's work to make its way into our backyard. A few bushes were ripped out and have left giant sink holes and not to mention our ground is pretty uneven....Sooo until then the flower garden will have to be postponed until God knows when. In the mean time, however, I was able to plant a few things in the veggie garden yesterday instead! So far I have planted:

• Broccoli
• Potatoes
• Peas
• Green Beans
• Watermellon
• Red onions and yellow onions.   

(the raspberries and strawberries are taking over half my garden and trying to keep them under control is driving me insane! I just can't wait to eat them!!) 
Still need tomato plants, cucumbers, eggplant and carrots for sure and then I'll throw a few more random things in there. And by random, I've always wanted my own peach tree, lemon tree and have grape vines. I've been doing some on and off research about starting a lemon tree from a seed. With some of the information I have obtained I am going to attempt to start my very own lemon 'tree' this week from a few seeds and see what comes of it! I'll keep you posted on how things goes, hopefully I get positive results!!
   
Speaking of positive results I put a few sunflower seeds into the ground last week and they are really sprouting!!! So excited! I'm not sure which I am more excited about though, the fact that I'm going to have pretty flowers in my yard or the fact that they are going to be blocking the view to my neighbors ugly side of his house. Along with my sunflower seeds sprouting, I also planted a rose bush for the first time and it too is starting to grow !!  In the mean time since I'm unable to plant any flowers in the garden yet I bought a clematis flowering vine to get this garden started!

Flower Garden~ Stage 1

In between all of the rain yesterday and today I was able to get started on my flower garden project!...[along with planting and maintaining my veggie/fruit garden]

Like I mention to my mom the other day, I want to try to use all recycled materials to create this garden.

#1-  Door:
Now this door, I believe has been sitting on top of my hill (mainly to block the mean bull dog that drives my dogs crazy...) for about 3 years now since we have renovated our kitchen. So as you can imagine weather takes a toll on the paint and most of the paint was already peeled off. For the remainder of the dried paint I just scraped it off and then cleaned the doors surface.

#2- Wooden Pallets:
There are multiple different ways to use wooden pallets to plant plants. I originally was going to keep all of the rows intact in the pallets, Buuuut I decided against it, I want more planting space inside the pallet itself.

Next step~
     I want to take the deck board parts {the wooden board pieces I sawed off} and turn one of them into a window bed and attach it to the door right underneath the window. With the extra deck boards I think I'll turn them into beds as well... hopefully more projecting tomorrow!

Green Thumb

Well it certainly has been a while since I have wrote on here... 

This past weekend a bunch of Harry's AGR brother's (Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity) from DVC [Delaware Valley College] helped do a lot of much needed yard labor and with all of their help finished in 5 hours in what would take me probably 3 days.

• Fence repaired~ Check!   (now Mahone won't be able to dig underneath the fence to escape- damn the smart breeds!)
• 2 dead bushes pulled out~ check! {now I can plant my flower garden!!}
• Half of hot tub removed from yard~ Check!
• Garden weeded~ Check! {now I can see my raspberries and strawberries}
• Sticks cleaned up/ grass mowed/ trees trimmed (now i can see out of my driveway) ~ CHECK CHECK CHECK!

For the past few hours since I have woken up, on my 2nd cup of coffee, I've been trying to decide what type of flowers, design and what not I want to put into my new flower garden! Since we aren't made out of money and I can be quite crafty I want to do as many D.I.Y or use recycled things to create this garden. What I have come up with so far (if anyone has any better ideas please do share): 

How the "garden area" looks like before

1. wooden pallets to use as garden beds (make L shape Left along house and along fence in front)
2. Old door- repaint and decorate with vines/window box/ hanging plants, ect.
3. Sunflowers to block the fence to the neighbors yard on right side
4. DIY bird bath-  (old big bowl and a tree stump)
5. 2 Cinder blocks- use as a plant bed ??

Crap I just looked at the time, off to work I go in the down pour rain and thunder :/