What happened to Spring?

I know it will officially be summer tomorrow but what happened to spring?  I admit while I enjoy gardening, an expert I am not.  I'm pretty good with flowers, annuals and perennials BUT evergreens are becoming my arch nemesis!
This will we second time the evergreens that I've planted have bit the dust.  I water - but not too much, but then again how do you know when enough is enough?


 Since I can't figure out what in the world I'm doing wrong I'm going to blame it on the fact that we seldom have springtime weather.

So here's a few pictures from my tea rooms garden, of course I'm leaving out anything that has an evergreen in it - because for me they aren't evergreen they are ever-brown!

Easy as 1-2-3

I've always liked s'mores.  Like so many I first made them when I was in a brownie troop, about the same time I became addicted to Thin Mints and Do-Si-Dos!

S'mores are just one of those things I've never out grown  Here's a way to have them in a flash!

Melt the chocolate then dip one end of a marshmallow in the rich melted

goodness (you may see a chocolate trend with me), while the chocolate is still wet dip the chocolate end in crushed graham crackers.

Set aside to dry.

After chocolate is dry (if you can wait that long) place on stick chocolate side down, toast the exposed marshmallow end.

It would be great ( or dangerous if you don't have self control - I'm speaking from experience) to make these ahead and freeze, then you can have a s'more anytime you want.   Ever ready make ahead s'mores - what more can you ask for?  And it's easy as 1-2-3. 

I like mine a really toasty!

P.S. Not sure why my fingers look purple - I kinda look like an Oompa Loompa from the orginal Willy Wonka!

One Step Forward...

What a week!  I had all of these plans… finish this – finish that.  BUT as I look back on the week I’m not sure if I’ve finished anything at all.  I’m thinking I may have even more to do, what a thought. 

Do you ever feel like you take one step forward and two steps back? 

I’ve always been a list maker but usually just for things that I need to pick up from a store but NOW I think I’m going to have to start making one big list for everything!  At least if I check a few things off I’ll feel like I’m accomplishing something.

So next week I’ll start a little experiment by creating “The List” and see if I can stay on task.  Gosh I hope I don’t take so much time creating the list that nothing gets marked off!

Wish me luck.

Necessity - The Motherhood of Invention

Well it may not really be a necessity BUT I wanted a pair of red and white polka dotted shoes to wear while I’m at our “Melting Pot Market” or other events where I’ll be promoting my business, books, and other fun stuff.  In the booth that I’ll be setting up I want to try and recreate the look of the homepage to my site. (I’ll put up some pictures after the June 9^th Market)

I looked and looked for shoes that would work, but nothing.  My Mom reminded me that she had given me a pair of flats some time ago that would be just the thing.

What? Are you kidding me, I thought, I may have a pair already.  Why can’t I remember them?  So, I ran downstairs to my dressing room and sure enough, there they were, shoved in the back of the rotation line.  I wondered why I had these way, way in the back?

Now I remember – They don’t fit.

Me with my Fred Flintstone feet!  If only they would fit.  So here I am like one of Cinderella’s stepsisters trying to shove my foot it when, I thought, “Why don’t I just cut them up?”

Why not?  If it works great and if it doesn’t what would it hurt.  The shoes already don’t fit and if I have to throw them away that frees up space for a new pair of shoes.

Let the cutting begin.  

After using scissors, knifes, and box cutters this is what I came up with. I realize I shouldn’t be expecting any calls from Nine West wanting to carry my line anytime soon; but I now have what I wanted.

 

Chocolate makes everything better!

Tonight at the Tearoom we started planning for a high tea for tomorrow.  Angie, one of my crew, mentioned something that she saw online.  So we decided to give it a whirl... Cheesecake filled strawberries!

That alone sounded fabulous to me, but I always try to tweak things a bit.

So, what if after we fill the berries we dip the top in chocolate so the filling would be a surprise.   You know chocolate makes everything better.  So we did.  The cheesecake end was dipped.  Then I thought -  OK wait a minute what if we left the stem on the berries, cut the top off about 1/4 of the way down, fill the berry then put the top back on and then dip the berry above the cut line to look like a regular chocolate covered strawberry.
We experimented with all of the above and then, another idea...  If after we fill the berry and dip it, like we did on the very first one (stem removed) set aside and let that chocolate harden, then dip the other side so the whole berry is covered. When the berry was sitting with the point side up completely covered with chocolate it reminded me of a giant Hershey kiss!

I then made  a little tag that said kiss and wrapped the chocolate covered strawberry  in foil.
 
So the next time you want to make chocolate covered strawberries why not fill them, personalize your own tag with anything you would like to say and wrap them up for a special kiss?

I love it when we have time to try and make fun things at the Tearoom BUT I also  make sure to send all of the experiments home with the staff or else those chocolate covered cuties would surely be calling by name at 2a.m.


Here's the filling recipe if you would like to try...
8 ounces of softened cream cheese
3 - 4 Tablespoons Powdered Sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla.
Cream till smooth, after you fill the berries dip the end with the filling in graham cracker crumbs as if that were the cheesecake crust.  Serve after this step or try some of the chocolate ideas given.

This is super fast and super easy.  You never know this may be  "Another Exciting  Episode" on the Souper Woman page of my web site!  Watch for my next adventure.

But she is my baby!

I have a sign hanging in my restaurant that says..."If your dog doesn't like someone you probably should either."  I couldn't agree more.   If my little dog Daisy shies away from someone it usually gives me reason to pause.   I have never understood people that don't like animals.  I get the fact that there are dog lovers and cat lovers, but not to like either, that I just don't get. 

If you've ever been to my restaurant chances are you've met Daisy.  Often times she's in the garden and loves to run to meet the customers either as they come or go, but she always has to say hello.

We even have customers that ask, "If you aren't too busy can you go get Daisy?" She really is the Garden Gate Tea Room mascot.  Daisy and I live in a house across the alley form the tea room.  I like to tell everyone how I have to walk to work (the whole 50 feet or so).  So it's pretty easy to check on her or bring her to the garden throughout the day.

BUT there was this one time a woman came out of the tea room and kicked at Daisy and said, "I hate dogs." Really?  The only thing I could think of was...  Hey Miss Gulch - You wicked old witch, I'll bite you myself!

How can you hate animals, especially cute little Daisy?!

I may not have given birth to a child but Daisy really is my baby!  So for those who feel the urge to tell me I probably should get another dog now because Daisy is getting up in age and won't last much longer, that's the LAST thing anyone ever wants to hear!

Daisy was a Valentine gift several years ago and has been the best gift ever.  She was so small that when I cupped my hands she fit in them. She usually always has bows in her hair and I believe she may even have a better wardrobe than I.

So, some people can think I'm crazy, that's OK - because Daisy really is my baby!  



 

One of THOSE days!

What started out as good day turned quickly to a day that almost causes blood to squirt from my eyes!  What has happened to customer service with companies today? 

It was three o’clock and I should’ve been thinking about wrapping it up for day BUT oh no!  We loose power.  Are you kidding me? We just got over the hailstorm - now this!  What could possibly cause this?  Overloading the grid – boy I hope not or we’re really in trouble come July and August.  So I call to find out when it may be back on… that was my first encounter with costumer service.  Needless to say it didn’t go well. 

Now - I am the first to admit that patience is not my best virtue, but come on!  If I hear one more time “we’re sorry for your inconvenience” without explaining why this continues to happen.  Or, if one more person says “it’s probably a squirrel and it’s not our fault”

 “I’m getting worked up again just thinking about that conversation!”

So, after three unsuccessful calls I decided to go to the art supply store to pick up a few things to finish the illustrations for my children’s book. Maybe that would take my mind off things.

I started feeling a little better. As I gathered some of the items, I couldn’t find the weight of paper that I needed.   I saw a sales associate and asked; her response was a finger pointing in a vague direction and said, “It’s over there.”   

Oh lord, here we go again!

I kept looking till I found what I needed – and oh, by the way, thanks a lot for all of your help.

I stand in line to pay and of course ONE checkout line (that’s another rant)

Finally, the end is near.  I put my items on the counter and wait…  No eye contact, no “Hi, did you find everything you needed?”  No nothing! 

The only thing she said to me was the TOTAL!

I knew then the only safe place for me was home – power or not – because if I encounter one more rude person in the state I was in something ugly was going to happen and my only defense would be temporary insanity.

It’s days like these that make me want to eat something really sweet, salty, or greasy.  After today it may be all three!