strawberry sherbet

In my quest to find ways to use our strawberries, I stumbled upon a sherbet recipe. I tweaked it a bit and the result was deeee-lish!

Recipe:
1lb frozen strawberries, halved
6oz vanilla yogurt
4oz water
6 tablespoons sugar

Combine all ingredients in food processor and blend until smooth with the consistency of icing. It's easy to over-process, so be watchful.

Yields 4 servings.

the ingredients:



















the finished batch:















As always, I learned a few things while making the sherbet.
1) I have a small food processor and the frozen strawberries were a little too much for it. I could definitely smell a little bit of motor burn...next time I will quarter and freeze the strawberries. And I might cut the recipe in half.
2) I started out with less water (maybe 2oz) and then kept adding to get the right consistency. That worked really well.
3) Other recipes recommended 2 tablespoons of sugar, but our strawberries were pretty bitter, so I would start with 2 and then taste/add as needed.

strawberry sauce

Friday I realized that we had about 4lbs of strawberries that weren't going to make it through the weekend. I found some recipes for strawberry puree (mostly called strawberry sauce) and I made up my own.

1lb fresh strawberries, halved
3 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Combine all ingredients in food processor and blend until smooth. Add more water as needed for desired consistency.

The puree can be used for cocktails, on pancakes or ice cream, and in cakes or pies.


fresh strawberries...















my 1oz cubes...















i had more puree than ice trays, and
delicious strawberry lemonade
was had by all...

Sprouts-a-plenty

The basil is looking strong. Of the 216 squares, there are only about 10 that don't have sprouts. And most of the squares have more than one sprout...we're going to end up gifting lots of basil plants and I'm pretty excited about that!

sweet basil...















dark opal basil...















mammoth basil...















Day 14: March 26

Garden 2012

We have talked about planting a garden every single year since we moved to North Carolina. In the past we've done tomatoes here and there, some peppers in 2009, and we had great blueberry, raspberry and blackberry bushes in our last yard. This year we're planting three varieties of basil (because I'm pesto-crazy!), but in 2012 we are planning a giant garden-palooza! We've identified the perfect space in the yard:






















As you can see, it's going to require a lot lot lot of work. To celebrate Earth month 2011, we're going to develop an overhaul and planting plan. For those veterans out there (coughChristyAmandacough), we welcome your feedback/tips/suggestions!

Spring-tastic!

This is our second Spring in this house and I still haven't planted the first thing. That's mostly because the previous owners planted so many things that I don't know where to start. Well, that's not true...I need to start by tearing out a bunch of the overgrown, overcrowded things.

In any case, this is the time of year that I find it impossible to be frustrated by the landscapestravaganza....flowers are in bloom and everything looks marvelous!

Houston, we have SPROUTS!

I checked the seed trays for sprouts yesterday and though I didn't expect to find any, I was still disappointed. When Jose announced this morning that we had sprouts in all three trays...I was beside myself!

Mammoth basil...






























Sweet basil...
















Dark Opal basil...(can you spot the sprouts?)















Day 8: March 20

MiL Socks

Last month we took a trip with the in-laws to Charleston, SC. The first order of business (after dropping Berger off and grabbing lunch) was visiting the local yarn shop, Knit. My mother-in-law had requested that I make her a pair of socks...I was excited because I thought I could use up some of my stash...but she didn't want wool socks and wool and wool/nylon is all I've got. So we set out to find a good cotton blend. German-made Opal is what she picked:

I had a suspicion that this would be self-striping,
but the entire label is in German, so it was anybody's guess....
















the finished product...
















one of my guilty pleasures is gift wrapping...
just couldn't help myself...

what's more boring than dirt?

Photos of dirt.
















We FINALLY planted the basil seeds that I gave Jose for Christmas! I had no idea how many seeds would be in each pack, so I have way, WAY too many seeds...I had also bought some cilantro, but we didn't have space.

We planted:
sweet basil
mammoth basil
dark opal basil

I know Christy will appreciate the photos, even if they are just of dirt-filled trays, but I started thinking "how can I make others interested?"
































Yep, still just dirt. Sorry.

Day 1: March 12

Red Scarf - Numero Uno

After I decided that I would use my red yarn to contribute to the Red Scarf Project, I started this basic 2X2 rib scarf. It's supposed to be unisex and this was the most neutral pattern that I could think of.




Also, this is my childhood bear, Ben. Given to me by my brother. Amazing childhood pal, perfect knitted goods model.

Crochet Sunday

We were cleaning out one of our closets today and I was rummaging through boxes of my grandmother's things. My brother had left these boxes with me after cleaning out his garage, but I didn't realize everything that they contained. I found this canary yellow crochet set that my great-grandmother made for me when I was a baby.

the whole batch...













bonnet and booties...















looks like a february sweater, no?













hoodie...

















this made me think three things:
1) I wish I knew how to crochet
2) I wish I had thought about having my niece's photo made in these when she was a baby
3) I wish I had knitted when she was a baby so that I could have made her something like this

Reading Challenge

I would like to draw your attention to a post on Tumblr. You can submit some authors/books that you like and the canaries will make a recommendation for you. I'm pretty jazzed about it!


March Reading Madness Challenge

The canaries have hatched a plot. You will like this plot. For the month of March, we challenge you to read a book. And not just any book.

1. Send an Ask with two or three titles or authors you’ve enjoyed in the past, or a genre you’d like to try.
2. We will reply with a recommended read.
3. Your challenge will be to use the month of March to read and jot down a review (ie, your thoughts) of the book.
4. Submit the review! (To us, of course. Whom else?)
5. Rinse and repeat. Chirp.

Who’s game?

See the list of PARTICIPANTS here!