New Garden Toy-Cardinals! And a Bird Feeder Kids Craft

I'd been kicking around the idea of adding a bird bath to the raised bed garden area and found this little beauty on Amazon. I love the two tiers, I added bird food to the top and water to the bottom. While it's fun to watch all birds, I knew there were cardinals in the yard and did a little research to find out what they liked... A sturdy non-wobbly feeder, a solid place to perch to eat, black oil sunflower seeds, and trees, bushes or greenery near by. It only took a couple hours for the birds to find it:@) My pics are x10 on my cell phone through the kitchen window... But hopefully one day I'll get a nice clear shot from outside. 

The dishes are sturdy and easy to lift out for cleaning. As time goes on I will probably add a couple small holes to the food dish for rain drainage. Right now I bring it in at night or if I know it will rain. 

I'm very happy with this purchase and love watching the activity! And yes, I’ve had to shoo a few squirrels away…

Neighbors playing nice... The story line: My little bird diner would be a true greasy spoon... Which the locals affectionately refer to as The Chirp and Burp Cafe:@) Alternate names (all start with The and end with Cafe): Peck and Perk, Fly and Try, Perch and Search, Seed and Feed. And finally, and maybe I’ll make a sign, Feathers Together Cafe.

Word is out and the waiting line is a long one:@)

Looking for a fun project to make with kids? Here is a Recycled K-Cup and Popsicle Stick Bird Feeder. There are lots of options, you can make it more stable by nestling it in the branches, or use this as a starting point and make improvements... 

Have a great weekend:@)

Inspirational Friday

 

Have a great weekend:@)

Fresh Strawberry Chocolate Chip Cake

Did you know today is National Chocolate Chip Day? In honor of that I thought I'd re-post a pretty darn good cake...

I like chocolate covered strawberries and figured not only would this Fresh Strawberry Chocolate Chip Cake be a little easier, the extra sugar would help sweeten up the first strawberries of the year. We really enjoyed this cake and thought it was the perfect little dessert for a casual Sunday dinner. Truthfully, I think it would be perfect any time of day and suggest tucking this recipe away for a special brunch or occasion.

We have lots of options here... The original recipe comes from Martha Stewart and she sprinkles an additional 1-2 Tblsp of sugar over the berries before baking, I didn't do that but think sanding sugar would be pretty. You can top it with a sprinkling of powdered sugar before serving if desired. The chocolate chips were an addition from another blogger, and I think they were a good idea:@) She also subbed half yogurt instead of all butter, I used butter.

I'd say this was absolutely perfect as soon as it cooled off fresh out of the oven. The top was crispy, the chocolate chips were still soft and the berries tender and gooey. It's written that this cake stores well, but I think it's best eaten as soon as possible-share it with the neighbors if you have any leftover!

The cake almost has the appearance of a cobbler with the way it bubbles up around the berries. I happened to have a 10" pie plate so that's what I used, or use any similar sized baking dish.

I think you'll like this if you try it folks, 

we sure did:@)

Strawberry Chocolate Chip Cake-adapted from Martha Stewart
1 1/2 C A/P flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
6 Tblsp butter
1 C sugar, plus two for sprinkling over the berries before baking-optional
1 egg
1/2 C milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 C chocolate chips, plus more for sprinkling on top
1 quart strawberries, washed, hulled and cut in half-you may not use all of them

1. Mix butter and sugar until light and fluffy. 
2. Add egg and mix well, add milk and vanilla, mix well.
3. Add flour, baking powder and salt, mix until just combined. Ideally the dry ingredients would be sifted first.
4. Stir chocolate chips into batter. 
5. Pour batter into a well greased 10" pie plate or baking dish. 
6. Arrange strawberries, cut side down, all over the top. Sprinkle with extra chocolate chips, let them fall between the berries.
7. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes then turn the oven down to 325 and bake an additional 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. 
8. Cool and serve with a sprinkle of powdered sugar, whipped cream or ice cream if desired.

Eat well and Have a Happy Day:@)

Barbie Crafts from Recycled Objects -Dog Bath, Mug & Soup Pot

If there's a Barbie in your life chances are your girl also has a pet or two... We can either spend $20+ on a Mattel branded dog bath play set or make our own from a recycled yogurt container:@) These are the type of crafts I like best, recycling trash into something fun that sparks imagination and doll play. I used a single serving Greek yogurt from Walmart and the container is a little deep. Solution, add something to the bottom that won't float. I had some glass pebbles from an old fish bowl and they worked great! They also added a little of that blue color we associate with water, a drop of food coloring works too. My bubbles are literally from a bottle of bubbles. 

Tube of toothpaste headed to the trash? I washed a toothpaste lid, filled it with hot glue, worked the glue on top to give it a bit of a 'whipped cream' swirl or dollop... And wa-la! We have a mug for Barbie. Whether your doll likes fancy coffee or hot chocolate, this is a fun little craft for doll play and pictures. And the beauty of the swirl... You can keep hitting the glue with the tip of the hot glue gun to reshape it. I added a little brown and white acrylic paint to complete the look. 

And lastly, the easiest idea, the little scoops that come in Oxy type laundry cleaners are the perfect size for Barbie soup pots... Wash well, and they can be spray painted to look like Le Creuset if desired (which I did do here).

♻Let's recycle creatively and 

Have a Happy Day:@)

Strawberry Jam with Jello -Four Ingredients, Easy

If you do any canning I'm sure you've noticed that pectin has gotten... A little expensive. And since we're kinda smitten with Jello here at Pig In Mud, I thought I'd whip up some Strawberry Jam with Jello. Super easy, four ingredients, cooked up and dishes done in less than one hour-gotta love it! I had some crushed strawberries in the freezer from the garden last year, and decided to use raspberry Jello. Yep, that's a robustly flavorful combination:@) The recipe as written will make 2 1/2 cups of jam. There's some wiggle room with the sugar, 1. I chose sugar free Jello, 2. Start with the lesser amount, let it dissolve, carefully taste, add more sugar if desired. This will thicken more once placed in the refrigerator.

In addition to PB&J's, it's always nice to place a small bowl of jam on charcuterie boards to top cheese and meats…

Very tasty:@)

Other Jello Jams: Amish Rhubarb with Cherry Jello  -  Zucchini with Peach Jello  -  Rhubarb Jam with Strawberry Jello  -  Blueberry with Pineapple Jello  -  My Jello Pinterest Board - My Jam/Jelly Pinterest Board

Strawberry Jam with Jello-adapted from The Country Cook

7 oz frozen strawberries

3 oz Jello flavor of choice, regular or sugar free

1 1/2 - 1 3/4 C sugar

1 Tblsp fresh lemon juice

1. Add berries, Jello, sugar and lemon juice to pan.
2. Slowly cook over medium heat until berries thaw, stir occasionally.
3. Mash berries if they aren't already crushed.
4. Heat over medium until it comes to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes.
5. Remove from heat, spoon off foam.
6. Pour into sterilized Ball jars.
7. Add lids, screw on bands.
8. *I turned mine upside down for 15 minutes, then turned them upright. The lids sealed and pinged:@)
9. *Alternately, store in fridge or freezer.

Let's try something new and

Have a Happy Day:@)

New Items -Dollar Tree Alert!

Popping in to share a few things that caught my eye over the weekend at Dollar Tree... Parchment Paper Liners for Air Fryers. A great idea to help with clean-up if you cook fish or chicken breasts in your air fryer. As with everything, some packs had 20, some 15... Shrinkflation...

Dollar Tree canning lids, I can only say, I've used them and so far, no complaints. I've tried both hot water bath canning, and by turning the jars upside down for 15 minutes, the jars sealed fine. Just sharing my personal experience with the little bit of canning I do these days...

Do you, or does someone in your group, grill with charcoal? DT has some Kingsford Herb Flavor Booster Briquettes. They would be fun to play with on a lazy Saturday or Sunday... And maybe a little something extra to add to the Father's Day gift.

And finally, it's not often we talk house cleaning here a PIM, but I'm smitten with these little Chiffon Dusters. They easily scoot around bookcases and into corners, and would probably work well for car dashboards too. They are written up to be washable, as of this writing I haven't tried that yet.

Grab it when you see it, and

Have a Happy Day:@)

Early Season Gardening... Raised Bed is Planted!

Let the games begin... The raised bed is planted and I'm looking forward to seeing how everything grows this year:@) New: My rosemary was struggling so I removed it from the anchor bed and planted way too many coleus, and at the last minute decided I liked the look of the strawberry pot. So yea... Chives are blooming, and while it's hard to see, the last addition to the little herb box is a pink lavender to the left of the thyme. I can't wait to see that bloom! It's written up as a tidy 12"-ish plant...

Tomatoes and cucumbers finish up the row. After living with the raised bed kits for a few years now, my best tip: While your garden will be shorter, I highly recommend using all of the center slats between -all- of the boxes. It will help keep the boxes square and from bowing, and look neater. I really wish I understood that before I got started.

The short end: My peppers get the prime spot, with (what we believe is) the jalapeno in the first box. We had a little labeling incident... Has that ever happened to you??? Strawberry patch in the background.

Purple lavender looks great, even after I had to move it last year. The sign from Aldi just makes me chuckle:@) And the huge cement planter in the background was a trash day rescue. It will bake in the sun so I loaded it up with portulaca, can't wait for that riot of color! And if the strawberry runners happen to hop in there, well, I won't be upset with that either...

The second raised bed I added at end of season: This has zucchini in the far two boxes. The plan... The one on the end can sprawl into the yard. This year's experiment: I'm going to try training the middle one to grow vertically with a pole support. We'll see how that plays out:@) The closest box is loaded with zinnia seeds of all sizes, they have already sprouted.

And Barbie pops in to remind everyone that no matter the size of your garden... Always add a little whimsy to make you smile:@)

My inspiration:

Two little 1" mushrooms grew in the raised bed:@)

Remember the almost 10" mushroom that grew in the yard? HERE

I'll leave you with the long view:

Have a great weekend🌞

Inspirational Friday

 

Have a great weekend:@)

Giardiniera Pickled Onion Deviled Eggs

On today's episode of Frugal Living, Squeeze that Penny Until it Squeals...

I thoroughly enjoy Giardiniera and even have a couple pickle forks I hang on the jars for easily fishing the veggies out for a snack. But I never know what to do with the mini onions... And I'm not a member of the martini crowd:@) So in an effort to use them, I diced them up and made some Giardiniera Pickled Onion Deviled Eggs. Nothing ground breaking here, simply mix up some deviled eggs and stir in some minced pickled onion. But I will say, the pickled onion adds a great briny bite, and it's good stuff folks. 

My best tip: Don't add any salt to your mixture until after you mix in the onions. Then adjust to taste.

The pickle forks I hang on jars:

📌My Pinterest Boards here.

Giardiniera Pickled Onion Deviled Eggs

1. Mix up your favorite deviled egg recipe but omit the salt. 
2. Stir in some finely minced pickled onions that were blotted with a paper towel. Maybe one onion per egg, or more, you know your crowd... 
3. Taste, adjust salt if needed and fill egg whites.
4. Garnish with dusting of freshly cracked black pepper and sliced giardiniera vegetables if desired.

Eat well and Have a Happy Day:@)