Spices Over Yanda Blog (Previously Allyson's Attempt at Domestication)

Here is how my garden looks today! I think it is coming along very nicely. The four boxes with * in them are ones that didn't do well. They were transplants from inside and I think one of the things I have learned this year is that I don't need to start my seeds inside. The carrots, first harvest lettuce and the onion are also seeds I started inside. They are doing well, however I feel they would have done just as well starting by seed. For instance, look at my second harvest lettuce. It's doing just as well and I started that by seed. So far, the only thing that hasn't come up yet is the mixed bell pepper plant. However, it did have a slightly longer germination, so I am still hopeful. My plan with the empty boxes (ones with the * in them) are to plant more seeds for a second harvest. My bush green beans and my peas are doing so well, I think I want a second harvest for those. I think for the other two boxes I will try cucumber by seed and maybe do either a...

When Ray and I were first married, I made him a lot of cheesecake. All it took was him saying he liked cheesecake, and I set out to make it for him! LOL! He would cut the cheescake into 4 quarters and grab one piece on his way out to school. At one point I had to stop making it for him, it wasn't healthy, haha! You do need a springform pan. There really is no way to make a cheesecake properly without the springform pan. You can get them most anywhere and they are fairly inexpensive. I've seen many cheesecake recipes over the years, but my favorite comes from good old Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. It's called Cheesecake Supreme. I only make one slight change from the recipe. I like more crumb mixture so I use 2 cups of graham cracker crumbs instead of 1 3/4 cups. You can choose how you like yours. The nuts in the crust give it a very unique flavor and most everyone that has tried it really likes it. I also make a fruit sauce to go with it..the picture on the left is a p...

First my handy husband made this wood frame. I think he used 2 2'X8' and had Home Depot cut them in half. Therefore the box is a 4'X4' and has 16 square foot boxes to plant in. He had already put up the fencing you see, so he had fencing wire left over and decided to use that for the grid. In hindsight he would have opted for something easier, but it was still a good use of something that was left over. He also burned the ground underneath for me, to get rid of grass and weeds, then we covered that area with weed control fabric. I place my "box" on that and then filled it with the reccomended Mel's mix which is 1/3 each of peat moss, compost and vermiculite. Mine ended up being about 1/2 compost and 1/4 of each vermiculite and peat moss. Right now it's not very pretty, but it's really new. I have a few plantlings I had started from seed inside, some look good, others not so much. The rest is seeds that just got planted today. I also lef...

On Monday nights I don't get home until around 7:30, but Ray and the two youngest get home around dinner time. Sometimes my mom is here with the kids and cooks for them, but some nights I need to make sure there is something waiting for them. Like tonight. :) I needed something easy, something yummy and something I could make ahead and it would be hot and ready for them. Here is what I ended up doing and it got rave reviews by all. Hope you enjoy it as well. When I'm on my game I brown my hamburger ahead of time and then freeze it in ziploc bags. This is sooo convienent and easy, I wish I would be smart enough to do it all the time. So today, I took a bag of already browned hamburger out with onion and stuck it in my small crockpot on high. It heated up and when it was all loose again I added: 2 Tbsp mustard 2 Tbsp brown sugar 1/2 cup ketchup 2 tsp wheat germ (sneeky ;) ) Mixed it up real well and then set it to low and left it. Then I made the rolls which were sooo easy and qu...

Doesn't this look delicious? Guess what? It is!!! I love rye bread. This also is from my new cookbook, "Artisan bread in 5 minutes a day". It was almost as easy as the master recipe, just a couple more ingredients. I started out with my NEW grain grinder. Isn't is BEAUTIFUL! I'm a big fan of appliances and this is one I've waited a LONG time for. It's super easy to use and gives me the BEST flour to work with. I started out with this. Rye berries. I got them in the bulk department at Central Market. I don't remember the price per pound, but I know I got that whole huge bag for under $5, so not too bad. Here is how my rye flour turned out. Isn't it pretty? LOL! Then you can see my dough after it's first rise. Now it's your turn to try. Let me know if you try it and how you liked it! 3 cups luke warm water 1 1/2 Tbsp yeast 1 1/2 Tbsp kosher salt 1 1/2 Tbsp caraway seeds, plus some for sprinkling on top 1 cup rye flour 5 1/2 cups white flour ...