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

Everything is growing! I'm having some trouble. Something happened to my peas. It's the second year for my peas not to do well and so I may not try them again. We'll see. It was a different problem this year. Not sure if they didn't get enough nutrients or if the late freeze ruined them or what. Some of them just plain old died. So sad. I've also got a leaf eating problem. To the best of what I can figure out, I've got some grasshoppers doing the leaf eating. So far I don't noticed any major damage, but I'm still watching. My strawberries also seem to have a problem. The part that touches the soil isn't turning red, in fact it's turning brown and it's deformed in that part. The rest of the strawberry does fine and they taste oh soo good, but not sure what is causing that. I'm also only getting berries on 2 plants which were my 2 original plants from last year. The two new plants are just busy growing this year. :) Here is ...

I finished this awhile ago, but am just now getting it posted to show off! :D It was a fun project and easy enough for me to do without stressing. I will definitely be doing this project again. :) I hope my friend is enjoying this and her new baby! :D Here is my post with the link for the tutorial from the blog Creations by Kara .

It's garden time again! I've been working pretty hard to get my garden going again and I finally have most everything planted. I might do one more big box since we have a lot of compost leftover, but it would just be to try out some things we haven't before. We'll see. Here is my big box from last year. I had left the strawberries from last year. They started out as 2 plants and have grown to several. They now take up an entire row and will probably grow more and more each year. They are already blooming and we should have fruit on them very soon! Yay! On the top there I planted some onions. This year I used onion sets and they did much better than last years seeds. I also tried a few shallots. The shallots are growing much slower. I planted my onions in various ways. In two boxes I did them closer together so I could have some "green onions" and then further apart in one box so I could have some regular onions. I'm excited to see how they di...

Here is another great way to save money and never run out of what you need. The commercial packets are expensive and can really add up. Save money and make your own at home! Ranch Dressing Mix 1 ½ cups dry buttermilk 1 ½ Tbsp parsley flakes 1 ½ tsp each, dill weed, onion powder, dried onion flakes and salt 1 ½ Tbsp ascorbic acid (Vitamin C powder) ½ tsp garlic powder 1 ½ tsp ground black pepper Whisk together until well blended. Place in an air-tight, labeled container. Note: One tablespoon is equal to one packet of commercial Ranch Dressing Mix To Make Ranch Dressing: Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of the Ranch Dressing Mix to 1 cup mayonnaise and enough water for desired consistency (about 6 tablespoons). This is an excellent dressing to use in salads (egg, tuna, potato, cabbage, tossed greens, a topping for steamed vegetables, etc). Dry Onion Soup Mix Similar to Lipton’s Onion Soup Mix Combine the following: 7 oz beef bouillon powder ½ teaspoon pepper 1 cup dried minced onion ½ cup onion po...

I've been meaning for awhile now to post this fabulous, easy french bread recipe. I have given it to several people and I love making it! I have a request for it again tonight, so I decided to just get it posted. Here ya go! French Bread - recipe from Debra Oldroyd 2 Tbsp sugar 2 Tbsp yeast 2 Tbsp oil (I use olive) 1 1/4 tsp salt (optional to taste) 2 1/2 Cups water (hot from tap) 6 Cups flour In a large bowl, put sugar and yeast then pour water over them. Let yeast proof for several minutes (until foamy...) Add 3 cups flour and mix until smooth. Add salt and oil, mix until smooth. Add 2 1/2 Cups flour, stir (dough should pull away from sides of bowl). Leave spoon in the dough. Cover and let dough rise for 10 minutes. Stir down (repeat this step 5 times, stir well each time). Pour dough out onto floured counter, knead lightly. Divide into desired loaf sizes - roll each into a rectangle, loosely roll dough into french loaves, place on greased (or sprinkled with cornmeal) cookie shee...

I don't know what happened, but I've totally been bit by the CRAFT BUG!!!! :D Here are some of the things I AM working on, some I WANT to work on and maybe a few I ASPIRE to work on. hee hee!! First things first, I'm getting ready to start working on a rag quilt. I found this super easy tutorial HERE and I just bought all my flannel fabric ON SALE at Joann's today so I'm super excited to get going on it. Mine will be for a boy, but I'm not saying whose boy it's for because I can't remember if she reads this blog or not, LOL! I'll keep you posted on how it's going... Last year we had a sink that overflowed in our powder room that is located in our extra living area. We have mostly used this room as a playroom for the kids, but they are getting older so we're slowly changing the playroom over to the game/media room. Since the carpet got ruined in the flooding, it was an opportunity to redo the bathroom and the game/media room. The bathroom is ...

Here is a special deal for any of my MANY readers that like my calendar book. I buy my calendar book every year without fail from: http://www.busybodybook.com/ I would be lost without it, really! Right now she is offering a 25% discount on ALL busy body book organizers and I am allowed to share the code! :D Just use code: BBBVDAY Leave me a comment if you end up getting THE book and tell me how you like it!