If you've been following my blog for more than 6 months, you'll remember how proud and excited I was when I planted my terrariums. For those behind the times, here's the original post.
Unfortunately, a few of the plants didn't make it more than a couple months, okay one month... This is how I felt:
I put all of my faith in watering them, figuring if water couldn't save them, what could?
Brilliant plan, as you can see.
After letting the dead plants sit for a good month (okay, two), I got around to replanting them last weekend.
Once again, I put a layer of rocks (left overs and reused from the Dollar Tree) in the bottom for drainage.
And here they all are in their new, happy (I hope) homes.
As you can see, I saved a couple dinosaurs from the first terrarium planting, but a tiger stalked and ate the rest. Poor tiny dinos.
I bought the patterned blue vase and the large clear vase from a local thrift store, the bowl vase on sale at Michael's during the first terrarium planting, and the light blue and salmon pots half off at Joann Fabrics last weekend.
A lovely shot of our Christmas fireplace, Christmas tree, and a grumbly pup who just wants to go for a walk.
Words on Wednesday will be back next week. Today, I'm continuing to share my holiday baked goods with you.
I won't lie, I love my dog. (As I write this, she's having an intense, barking dream on her new bed.) I completely spoil her. 4 out of 5 Target trips I come home with a new toy for her, which means we have about 40 dog toys lying around. (She's not the kind of dog who rips up her toys, so they last a lot longer than most.)
As most of our friends are just as crazy about their pups, I opted to bake up a couple varieties of dog treats, along with the human treats I've been whipping up. Here's today's recipe:
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
1 cup natural peanut butter
1 cup skim milk
1/2 cup chopped peanut, walnuts, or pecans (optional)
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease cookie sheet.
Mix peanut butter and milk until smooth. Add the nuts, if using (I was lazy and didn't feel like chopping peanuts). Add the flours and baking powder and mix until it forms a ball.
Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. Roll out into 1/4-inch thickness and cut with a bone-shaped cookie cutter (or any other cookie cutter you have handy, like holiday-themed cookie cutters) or scoop tablespoon-size balls onto the sheet and flatten with your palm. Place 2 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets. Bake until lightly browned, about 20 minutes. Set aside to cool.
Store in an airtight contained in the refrigerator up to 3 weeks. Bring to room temperature before serving.
Yields approximately 36-48 cookies. I doubled the recipe, so I have a LOT of cookies in my fridge waiting to be handed out.
It was very difficult to get a picture of Shadow with the treat in front of her nose without her eating it up right away. She only has so much self-control and she really liked these treats.
Tomorrow: A break from the recipes to show you how my terrariums progressed (I'll give you a hint, not well) and what I did to revamp 'em.
I am thisclose to being done with the third quarter (out of five) of my Master of Library and Information Science! Very exciting, but even more exciting is the holiday baking that is about to take over my kitchen. Cookies, cupcakes, bars, and dog treats are all on my to-do list. (Too bad I don't have a fancy Kitchenaid Stand Mixer....yet...) Tomorrow, I will be hitting up the store for all my baking needs, so today I'm sharing the starting line-up for Christmas 2011.
Dog Treats
Shadow rolls with a pretty tight crew of pups, so a few homemade treats with a nice Christmas bow will be perfect gifts.
1. Cinnamon Bites
2. Peanut Butter Cookies
3. Puppy Power Treats
All three recipes come from Throw Me a Bone by Cooper Gillespie with Sally Sampson. It was an impulse buy over a year ago that I just found sitting with the rest of my recipe books. This will be my first venture into homemade dog treats and I'm pretty excited.
Human Treats
1. Peppermint Bark
2. Graham Bars
3. Candy Cane Cookies
4. Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies
5. Sugar Cookies
6. Pinwheels
7. Gingerbread Softies
8. Plain, old Chocolate Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting (Because I'm a fatty, and have been craving them for weeks.)
Our lovely (fake) Christmas tree.
Here's hoping I can:
1. actually whip all of these up
2. not gain 30 pounds in the process.
Enjoy your week, INM readers. Keep an eye out for recipe posts with pictures and a new Words on Wednesday.
Why does this not happen to me every morning, afternoon, evening, and night?
Currently, my dog hates me because she's spending her time either in a Cone of Shame and Sadness or with a sock taped to her foot.
She's not speaking to me at the moment.
That's what she gets for stomping on a fire ant hill and gnawing her foot to the point of infection. On a serious note, she will survive and has been spoiled with rawhide (as evidenced by the above photograph).
I started graduate school about 6 weeks ago, so I must apologize for being MIA. Apparently, grad school requires a lot of reading and assignments. Who'da thunk it!?
In my spare time, I have been exploring procrastinating on various websites, my current favorite being the always popular Stumble Upon. It is here, and in pretty much every show and movie that I've watched, that my husband and I have come to the rather obvious conclusion that I am very easily swayed by images of food. If people are drinking a beer on the show we're watching, I immediately crave a beer. If Stumple Upon links me to a website that smacks me in the face with a glorious feast, I want to cook it (most often bake, but let me feel like I'm well-rounded in the kitchen).
Tonight, instead of baking, I am going to procrastinate writing the million Discussion Board posts that I have for this week, I've decided to link up to a few of the goodies I'm dying to bake lately:
Centsational Girl just posted a delicious looking Raspberry Rhubard Crumble. This site is usually one of my go tos for home diy fun, but she popped this gem on me today, and I was beyond excited.
Can you say swoon? I feel like I'm 12 again and trying to choose which American Girl Doll I want. Luckily, unlike choosing an American Girl Doll (we all know whichever one you chose represents you for life. Hellooo, Samantha!), I can't go wrong with any of the above.
If you simply want to drool on your keyboard whilst at work, visit FoodGawker. There are another million and one things on this site that I want to make.
P.S. I did make Cinnamon Pull-Apart Bread this weekend. I love giving in to temptation. It wasn't as pretty as Joy's and probably not nearly as gooey and soft, but I enjoyed it. Maybe a little too much, but that's what the gym is for.
Oh, and here's a beast video for you since this post lacked fun pictures of the food. But, really, click on the links. You won't be sorry.
I consider myself a pretty typical pet owner. I love my beasts. I think just about everything they do is adorable and sweet and lovely and brilliant. Well, except for what the cat does. He's cute, but seriously lacking in the intelligence department. I talk about them to my friends like they're my children. I talk to them like they're licensed therapists. I woke up this morning as big spoon to my dog and little spoon to my cat. All pretty typical pet owner habits, I'd say.
Now, I'd like to shamelessly link up to my dearest husband's Youtube page. What does this have to do with my beasts? Everything. Just go. Look. Do it. Soak in the adorable-ness. Now.
I have more videos to post to the Youtube page once I get around to it. The fights take on new venues and obstacles. Get excited. Do it. Now.
Finally, a big thank you to our good friends for letting us borrow their stylish yellow truck to bring our mound of leaves to the dump. Shadow really enjoyed the leafbox (similar to a sandbox, but way more awesome). AAAAND one more finally, thank you to my father who spent part of his Florida vacation raking the leaves in our backyard. Ask him about his raking system. He'd love to show you a little trick.
A friend and I were just discussing new music videos (something we do on a pretty regular basis) and we came across the new Jason Derulo song. I happen to seriously enjoy this song and turn it up much louder than necessary when I'm driving (just ask my husband). I hadn't seen the video until today. I posted it below for your viewing pleasure.
What I came to my blog to discuss today came up during our chat about this video. My friend asked me "Who brings their iPad to the club?" I thought it was an excellent query. This then got me thinking, if I were to own an iPad where else would I bring it besides out clubbin? Below I've listed a few of the options:
Toilet -Who doesn't already surf the web while using the facilities on their smart phone or laptop?
Opera - Quick translations!
Alligator hunting - The iPad is crucial to the sport of gator hunting. You never know when you'll need to read up on gator facts or play the gators a soothing tune to trick them into coming to the surface. And, if it comes to it, bash the gators' heads in with the iPad as they swarm your boat. (Just think how happy the people from Lake Placid would be if they had iPads to battle the giant gator!)
Operating heavy machinery - A woman needs her reading materials to help the time pass while operating the crane that's about to smash -- oh, wrong building...
Walking on the moon - AT&T 3G coverage makes it out there, right?
Serpentine, Shadow! Serpentine! I also got my degree at RISD for Drawing with a minor in Finger Painting, can't you tell?
I have created a list of things that have made me happy in the past few weeks. I thought I'd share not only this list, but my love of lists with the world.
My husband - He keeps me sane in an insane world.
My dog - Shadow is a cozy cuddler and a constant cache of cuteness. (I adore alliteration.)
Rain storms -A sudden deluge of cleansing water and a glorious concert of light and sound.
Skirts - Easy, breezy, free.
Dog toys - There is nothing more adorable than the full body wiggles that ensue when a new toy is gifted to Shadow.
Air conditioning - Too hot. Too humid.
Museums - Being surrounded by history reminds me that someone came before me and someone will always follow.
Those who know me know I love lists and organizing. It's very therapeutic to have a better idea of what's in your life or missing from your life in that moment. You can remind yourself of those things that make you smile or release tension by finally admitting to what's bothering you. To do lists help you remember what needs to get done so you can keep things in working order and help you prevent your life from imploding on you. When in doubt, make a list!
My husband, our good friend, and I went on a canoe trip down the Blackwater River yesterday. I was excited to go and to bring our puppy, Shadow, as well. If you know me, you know I don't do well in nature (nature being anything more than 15 feet from a house or paved road), so my husband was pretty excited that I even suggested we go canoeing.
The Blackwater River National Park holds the only white sand river in the whole United States and it's beautiful. The water is too cold for alligators, which would have been a large deterrent in my willingness to go. The river was rarely too deep to stand in and you could easily see to the bottom. Our friend enjoyed repeatedly telling me that there were tree snakes and snapping turtles, but as long as I could see danger a-coming, I knew I'd be okay.
Oh, and, J.Lo let me borrow her rifle.
This was Shadow's first foray into the wide world of boating. She didn't quite grasp the idea of weight distribution or oars. As I perched on our cooler full of Gatorade, Shadow hopped back and forth in utter rapture of every partially submerged tree stump or plunge of the bright red oar. She had me convinced we were going to flip every 5 minutes, which required a shriek that I'm sure my canoe buddies truly appreciated. Shadow also found it completely unacceptable that we did not stop at every single beach so that she could explore. Her whines could be heard for miles. When we did stop, she decided it was no longer time to listen to us, and sprinted from one end of the beach to the other.
Photo evidence of Shadow corraling.
I'd say that everyone had a pretty good time. The only sunburnt part of my is my poor scalp (someone remind me to sunscreen my head next time I put it back in braids before sitting in direct sunlight for 4 hours). If you're ever in the area of Blackwater and you've got a day to spend floating down the river, I highly suggest it! There's a rental company that offers canoes, tubes, and plenty of other water sport items to maximize your river enjoyment.
