flower that starts with p

I can't remember the name of this flower. It was a long night last night. I'm pretty sure that it starts with p. Either way, they were one of Adam's picks for the garden, and I think they're lovely. See the pink blush in the background? That's the quince tree, through the dining room window, and the picnic table is next to it. We had our first picnics of the season last week, and I'm looking forward to many more.

The veggie beds are all planted, yay! Phillip helped yesterday. Carrots, beets, lots of peas (my fave!), onions, lettuce, a few beans, squash, and a couple of watermelon seeds to humour P. I hope that all of the seeds that P and I used are still viable. Some were leftovers, so I'm not sure about them. We'll see, and I'll post pictures after they sprout! Sunflowers and a tomato plant or two will be fit in, too. My favourite time of year.

another dream kitchen

Along with this kitchen, and this one, I am completely in love with this kitchen. Aren't the lights and stools great? And I do believe that's a fireplace peeking in on the left. Sigh!

From Elle Decor May 2010, via The City Sage.

'yarden' goodies and two-headed tulips

Phillip sometimes calls our yard / garden the 'yarden'. I think that is a perfect name. Things are still a bit wild out there, but beautiful.
Okay, has anyone ever seen this before? Two headed tulips! Last fall, P and I bought some bulbs at the grocery store, and there was one box of double tulips. Maybe somewhere in the process of getting double the petals, some ended up with double the blooms? From 5 bulbs, I am going to have 11 blooms - some of the bulbs shot up two entire stems, while others just branch off at the top, like this one. For $1.50 - a steal of a deal.
From the same discount bulb day, the muscari that P chose. They smell fantastic, which I didn't know until Adam brought some inside.
And daffodils that have been hanging on forever! They are so sweet and cheery.
And guess what? I made soap on the weekend! It's unscented baby soap, for us to use and to give away as gifts. I'm pondering some changes to how I do the soap thing when I get back into the groove, which is fun to think about. But for right now, my specialty is making milk and growing a fat baby. He's so very, very sweet.

I hope that you're having a lovely week!

tasty toes, yogourt, and granola recipe

Is is just me, or are baby toes meant to be nibbled? I can't believe that these little feet are over 5 weeks old already. Wild! Check out the little sausage chubs. Mmmmmm.
Speaking of 'Mmmmm', my yogourt turned out perfectly!
I more or less followed the instructions over at J Casa Handmade, (one of my favourite blogs for awhile now, incidentally) with a few minor changes. I highly recommend reading the comments on that post - there are some helpful suggestions. I used an instant read thermometer and brought the temperature down to about 108 before adding the yogourt starter. I accidentally boiled the milk (funnily enough, it was because I was updating my facebook status to say that I was making yogourt, and by the time I got back to the kitchen, it was boiling. Oops! It didn't seem to make any difference.) I popped it into my enameled cast iron lidded pot, and tucked it into the oven overnight with the light on to keep it toasty, and in the morning, it was beautifully yogourty. I strained it in cheesecloth to get it nice and thick, and it was only after I had dumped a bunch of whey down the sink that I read that it was whey, and it's apparently great to use in place of water in bread or other dough. Who knew? That's totally what I'm going to do with it next time. Also, next time I won't strain it for quite as long, and might add a bit of honey before the bacteria growth part takes place. And there will definitely be a next time - it is delicious.
Maple syrup, homemade granola, and homemade yogourt? I don't think you can top that. Speaking of homemade granola, I've accidentally created the most delicious granola, ever. Here's the very vague 'recipe':

Nutty Granola (you know, because I'm nutty)

a bunch of old fashioned oats
a bunch of raw almonds
a bunch of pecan pieces
brown rice syrup
cooking oil of your choice (I used sunflower because Adam can eat it)
sweetened dried cranberries

Try to make sure that you have a nice balance of nuts to oats - I like mine really nutty. Which is bizarre, because in just about any other context, I will definitely choose the non-nut option. I think it's the fattiness of the pecans that make this combo so incredible. The only brown rice syrup I've been able to find around here is organic Knudsen's, at our health food store. It makes the granola clump together well, and of course, adds sweetness.

Mix together oats, almonds, and pecans. Add enough oil so that you don't see the oat powder. Add in a good gob of brown rice syrup, and mix really well. Bake on cookie sheets at 325 for 30-45 minutes or so, depending on how much is on your pan, stirring every now and then, until it's done. After it's cooled, add in a hefty helping of cranberries, and mix well. Store in an airtight container and enjoy!

I hope that you're having a perfect weekend.