Spring Is Here, So That Means Gardening Has Begun!

Hi, guys! Hope all is well.  The weather here has been beautiful lately.  This past weekend I was finally able to get into my garden and start working on it.  This winter was very hard here with Hurricane Sandy and the blizzard Nemo.  I LOVE spring, but the one thing I don't like about spring is:

DANDELIONS!

I was a very busy beaver pulling them from my lawn.  The Grandpa's Weeder is a great tool that I discovered while watching QVC one day.  It sure saves my back!! (No affiliation with them, just love the tool!!)

My lilacs and bleeding hearts are starting to bloom and seeing them made me so happy!

With the pretty weather here, I am able to hang laundry outside!  It may sound like a little thing, but I look forward to it all winter!  

After all the outdoor work, I decided that it would be great to start the season off with a barbecue with my hubby!  We made our favorite grilled flank steak!

It was a great start to our spring and so productive.  I am looking forward to getting my veggies and herbs for the garden on Mother's Day weekend.  

Hope your spring is filled with beauty and maybe a barbecue or two!

Just want to give a shout out to my brother Sean today as he celebrates his birthday!  He is a great brother and has helped me so much putting this blog together.

Until next time!

Grill or Be Grilled

Hi, guys!  Hope all is well.  We are having a major heat wave here, with temperatures in the upper 90s.  If you know me personally, you know I hate the heat.  All my new blogging friends have just learned something new about me!  I am hoping the weather breaks soon.  Nothing worse for me than trudging into the city on the subway in this heat.  The platforms are brutal and everything always seems to go wrong with the trains.  My commute today ended up extended from the usual 2 hours each way to 2.5 hours each way.  UGH!

Anyway, I thought I would pop in to tell you I haven't posted any new cards the last few days as my stamp room is out of commission while we get the new one ready.  I am hoping to be "in" my new room on the weekend and will share some new cards then.   In the meantime, I thought I would share a cookbook that I highly recommend to all those of you who love meat and are probably grilling right now!  The name of the book is "Steaks, Ribs, Chops" by Better Homes and Gardens.  I received this book many years ago from my sister when I first started cooking (okay, MANY years ago!).  I have been making some great recipes from there and highly recommend it.   Here is a picture of the grilled flank steak that I have been making using it.

The recipe calls for London Broil, but my husband and I prefer Flank or Skirt (if on sale!).   The key really is the fresh herbs in the marinade, if you ask me.  The basil, thyme, parsley and lots of garlic make it a winner.  Now that our herb garden is starting to grow, I see many marinated steaks being cooked on the grill this summer.  I have no affiliation with Better Homes and Gardens (or the Beef Council), just thought some of you may enjoy it.

Have a great day!

A 1st Birthday Card, Campfire Potatoes and Bourbon Glazed Pork Chops

Hi, guys!  Hope your weekend is going well.  The weather here is so beautiful this weekend.  We were able to spend time today having a barbecue and relaxing in our garden.  It was such a wonderful way to relax before work begins tomorrow!

By the subject of my post, you can see I want to share a few things with you today.  The first is another birthday card for my friend's daughter Victoria who is turning 1. You will remember I shared one I made for her parents last week.  After seeing that card at work on Friday, I had a request from another friend to make one for Victoria for her.   So I wanted it to be cute and fun but look different than the other one.  I think I was successful!

Supplies:
Stamps: Stampin' Up
Paper: Stampin' Up
Ink: Distress ink (can't keep my hands off that for some reason!), Memento Black, Copics
Misc.: Scalloped Marvy Punch

I was mentioning before the great day my husband and I had barbecuing in the garden.  I thought I would share a few pictures and recipes.   The first up is Campfire Potatoes.  These are so easy to make and are delicious!  I used to camp with my late husband and we would make these at each camping trip.  My young nephews had them for their first time when we took them camping.

You take a large cleaned potato, cut slits into the potato and stuff in thin slices of onion.  Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle on salt and pepper.  Wrap them in tin foil (I use two layers of foil).

Please directly on the coals of your grill.  Close grill and cook.  Depending on the size of your potatoes, they will take 1 hr to 1 hr and half. Turn them half way through cooking.   If you are at camp, you can do the same thing with a campfire.  Put the wrapped potatoes in the fire.  Make sure the fire is NOT blazing anymore.   This is what you will have when they are done.

I love these!  I love to make them while we are eating our dinner and I will have them for the next morning (fried up as home fries with eggs).

The other yummy thing I thought I would share with you was our main dish tonight.  It was Bourbon Glazed Pork Chops.  I adapted this from a recipe I found on www.allrecipes.com.
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/pork-tenderloin-in-bourbon/detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=pork%20tenderloin%20in%20bourbon&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Home%20Page

The recipe called for pork tenderloin, but I used very thick boneless pork chops instead.  They were on sale and looked great.  They came out delicious.  I would highly recommend you give them a try.  We used Maker's Mark bourbon as it is what we have on hand here.

I know this isn't a cooking blog, but thought with the summer bbq season upon us, you may like to give these a try.

I will be sharing my submissions for the design team of The Inkpad NYC this week sometime.  I have been having a blast trying new stamps and other supplies.  I can't wait to share them with you.

Have a great week!  Until next time!