Upcycling Your Watermelon

Sorry for the delayed post this morning! Blogger was giving me some fits last night...which confirmed my recent decision all the more: I'm moving! I've enjoyed blogger for several years, but it seems things are becoming more and more unstable around here - PLUS with my very own brand-spankin-new *WEBSITE* I'll be able to sell my Vintage Garden goods at the same place! Can I get a "woohoo"?! Ok...so I'm not moving just yet-these things take time, but I'll keep you all abreast of the situation - and if things seem a little wonky around here from time to time, you'll know why...

Now...

Onto upcycling your watermelon! ----- You know how when you melon ball out the inside shell to use the meat for a salad, you're left with something like this:

Lots of watermelon juice

Which you then promptly empty down the drain, and throw away the shell? Well, allow me to suggest an alternative!

Pouring it through a sieve (to catch the seeds) and you're left with this gorgeous pink liquid. That's about a cup and a half and from only HALF of a watermelon!

Now you can use it in a punch, a mixer, pour it into your ice cube trays and make flavored ice for your lemonade or iced tea, or my favorite idea:

Watermelon ice pops! Refreshing, delicious, COLD, and all natural! Now, that's what I call upcycling!

Friday's Foto Felicity

"The only ones among you who will be really happy

are those who will have sought and found how to serve."

Albert Schweitzer

Gardening 101 Part 1

Hello Friends! Last year, I wrote a few posts on gardening, and since we're back into gardening season (well, most of us are), I thought I'd re-air them for all you new gardening or wanna-be gardening readers! I hope you find some of the information helpful...

Hi everyone! Paperwork probably seems a funny place to start, huh? Well, I just wanted to share some of the things I do to stay organized before I even head out to play in the dirt. - One thing I've done from the very beginning, is keep a "Gardening Journal" of some sort every year.

Here is one where I just had a small notebook and wrote entries maybe weekly on what was blooming, when I had planted things, where I had planted things, what plants were thriving, which might need to be transplanted, when I fertilized, when I sprayed for pests, when my vegetable started picking, etc..  Through these you can see a very visible bloom patten develop, and if you're trying to have something blooming at all times of the season, you'll know what bloom time-frame you'll need to look for when you go to the nursery to fill in the gaps. - Other years I've just done calenders like so:

These are super easy - just print a blank calender out on your computer, and each day there is something to record, do so! Lots less writing, and easier to find what you're looking for. - I also try to keep diagrams of how things were planted. Below is an example of one of our vegetable garden beds. This is helpful for crop rotation purposes, and also to keep track of good planting patterns for future reference (good when you garden in very small spaces like we do).

It's also good to chart your bulb planting so you can keep track of what doesn't come up, and then get replacements which brings me to my last point for today:

Caught! Red-Pawed

So one day, I wake up, stroll through my living room on the way to the kitchen, and suddenly stop. Something caught my eye. Something was out of place. This looks like the scene of a crime. What was it, you ask?

This:

Mmmmhhhmmmm...and we didn't even have the windows open or the fans on that night, so it wasn't an act of nature.

Lovely. All of my poor beautiful viburnums wilting - gasping for breath! How tragic (said with a French accent)!

Upon further inspection...if you look real close (beyond the dust and pollen -ahem- coating my table), you might just be able to make out our one real clue. A paw print. Now, although all the 4-legged creatures in our home have about the same size paw print, only one is capable of jumping onto the living room coffee table. And that one was in the big doo doo.

Undesirable #1

Pets. Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em.

*This post was brought to you by Chester who would like the world to know that he is not the only pet in this house who performs evil acts of mischief.

How to Cut a Mango (and other fun things)

Ok, so I lied about the "other fun things". This truly is a vlog about how to cut a mango, and as a super-de-duper bonus just for you, I also show you how to cut an avocado! *and the crowd goes wild* Not that there aren't other ways to accomplish said tasks, mind you. This is just what I have found is the most spectacular way to get 'er done! -

Oh, and P.S. I do own (and would recommend) a better knife to do your dirty work than the one used for this taping- I guess just all the excitement of a vlog made me reach for a steak knife right before we were "on air". Who the heck uses a steak knife to cut fruit I ask you?! My brain sometimes...

Friday's Foto Felicity

"Your life is like a coin. 

You can spend it any way you wish, 

But you can spend it only once."

Lillian Dickson

Usually for FFF I like to post raw, unedited pics that I love. But today, I broke my own rule, and thought I'd share a little retro-action photo editing with you. Taken at Berry Hill Plantation in April. Hope you like it!

I've Got Gadgets and Gismos a Plenty...

Ten points if you name that movie!

Today I thought I'd share with you the newest addition to my kitchen gadget collection. One that I don't know how I have lived without! May I introduce you to my Cuisinart Immersion Blender:

If you love to make smoothies and soups, this is a Godsend! The soup pictured above (my Hearty Tomato Bisque) used to require cooling the soup, transferring to a blender in small batches, then reheating. Now, I just use my little immersion blender to blend it to a smooth creamy consistency right in the pot with no transfer or cooling/reheating time (which was probably about 20 minutes on the conservative side), plus it saves 3 or 4 extra dishes from being dirtied! Can I say this is my new best friend?! You can also make smoothies right in your glass with this little baby. Easy as a wink. - So if you've never considered an immersion blender before - perhaps you should!