Southern

04.27.

Galvanized Bucket Planters

I love Galvanized Buckets, don’t you? They are perfect for so many uses and they just scream “Southern” to me.

The first thing that comes to mind when I think of them are Bobbing for Apples. In fact, when I went to the hardware store to buy them, that is exactly what the old man said to me. “Somebody’s gonna be bobbin for some apples, aren’t they?” he said.

“Actually…………… no,” I replied.

“Whatcha gonna use em for?”

“Well, I’m gonna make some holes in them and make em into planters.” (Yup! My grammar is just as good as his)

Then he said…….

“Alright now. Don’tcha be plantin any of dat there MARIJUANA, now!”

WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?

“Ummmmm, NO SIR! Don’t you worry about that, now!” (Yes, this is a true story and it happened yesterday! LOL!)

So, like I said folks.

I bought a couple of the galvanized buckets.

Flipped them over and made my “Brawny Man” poke some holes in the bottom for drainage. We used a nail and hammer.

They weren’t big enough, so I made him go back and make them bigger. 🙂

Then, I poured some drainage rocks into the bottom of the buckets.

About 2 or 3 inches high.

I filled it up with the same type of soil that I put in my vegetable beds and planted some herbs and a regular annual in them. (From back and going clockwise: Rosemary, Chocolate Mint, Annual, and Sweet Mint)

Em, my chocolate lover is very happy with me and cannot wait to help me with recipes using the chocolate mint.

I’m so happy with the way they turned out.

I did the same thing to the second one, except I planted some diffent things in there. You can’t really see it from the pic, but starting in the back and moving clockwise again is: Onion Chives, Citronella Plant (also known as a Mosquito Plant), Annual, and another Citronella Plant. The worst thing ever in the summer is trying to work in your vegetable garden and getting eaten up by Mosquitos. Let’s hope this helps a little. If it does, you might just see these EVERYWHERE in my backyard!

Since the Vegetable Bed post, which you can see here, we made another bed and used it for our Cucumbers. We also made it big enough to allow me to plant some more herbs in there as well. I planted Flat Leaf Parsley, Oregano, Sweet Basil, German Thyme, Dill, and one Okra Plant (I ran out of room in the other bed).

I am SOOOOO happy with the way everything turned out!

I personally think it is Beautiful and I cannot wait to do updated posts as the vegetables get bigger. We already have small clusters of tomatoes and I am proud to announce………..

NOT ONE SINGLE MARIJUANA PLANT in sight. 😉

HAPPY SATURDAY Y’ALL!

Go play in your yard!

XOXO,

ESTHER

Tags: Annual, Bobbing for Apples, Brawny Man, Drainage Rocks, Galvanized Buckets, Hardware Store, Herbs, Marijuana Plant, Mint, Rosemary, Southern, Vegetables

11.13.

Mom’s Southern Stewed Apples

The other day was Em’s 7th Birthday!

I cannot believe enough time has passed to be able to say that.

I always try to make everyone’s favorite dinner for their birthday. My mom has always done that and it always made me feel so special. I have tried to continue this tradition with my own family.

One of her favorite things is my Mom’s Stewed Apples. She can eat enough to make her sick…… and I don’t blame her. I have to hold back myself.

They are SOOOOO good!

First, take some Granny Smith Apples. (I use the whole bag because I like to make a lot)

Peel, core, and slice. ( I use a peeler first, then put them under this handy little baby made by Pampered Chef)

I fill them up in the pot first to see how high they go. Then I put them into a seperate bowl while I ……..

Melted half a stick of butter in the saucepan,

Added some Cinnamon,

And for whatever reason, felt there wasn’t enough butter, so I added another half stick of butter. Yes, there is now 1 whole stick of butter in the recipe and YES! I’m SORRY! : D

Then I added a 1/2 cup of sugar and mixed until it was dissolved.

Add the apple slices.

Toss the apples until they are completely coated in the cinnamon/sugar mixture and allow to simmer for 45 minutes.

This is what they looked like after 20 minutes.

And this is what they looked like after 45 minutes. Softened and DELICIOUS!

Complete YUMMINESS!

Recipe: Mom’s Southern Stewed Apples

Inredients:

– 1 Bag Granny Smith Apples, peeled, cored, and sliced

– 1 stick Unsalted Butter

– 3 Tablespoons Cinnamon

– 1/2 Cup Granulated Sugar

Directions:

– In a medium saucepan, melt butter on medium heat.

– Add cinnamon and sugar and mix well.

– Add apples and stir, mixing well in cinnamon/butter/sugar mixture. *Bowl will be very full, so be careful mixing.

– Allow to simmer on medium low, stirring occasionally for 45-50 minutes, or until apples are soft and tender.

*Make sure you stir occasionally! If not, sugar/butter mixture may burn.

Tags: Butter, Cinnamon, Favorite dinner, Granny Smith Apples, Mom's Stewed Apples, Pampered Chef, Recipe, Southern, Sugar, Tradition, Yumminess

09.25.

Sweet Tea and Lemon Soap Bar

I thought we would finish up “Sweet Tea Week” with one of my FAVORITE things.

SOAP!

I know what you are thinking, SOAP? And to answer your question……. yes, soap!

I started making my own facial/body soap about 6 months ago. I was on my Anniversary trip which we like to call our “Staycation”. Instead of going on a trip away from home, my parents came to my home and kept the little ones, while the hubby and I took our camper and just parked it at the beach 10 minutes away. I guess I just couldn’t leave them for that long and go out of town. (I’m working on this) Maybe next year?

Oh well, while I was there, I ran out of my regular facewash. I don’t know about you, but I cannot use the same facewash for too long. It will work for me at first, but after about 2, maybe 3 months, something happens and it no longer works for my face. I start to break out really bad and I have to move onto the next thing.

SO!

I went to the store and bought an Aveeno product because in my head, Aveeno was great for sensitive skin, like my own. After washing my face a few times, I started to notice my skin was getting a little dry. Then, the next morning, I woke up to complete HORROR! I had all these little itchy red bumps on my face. I have a rosey complexion anyway, so anything that is red on me, becomes blotchy and irritated looking. I grabbed the bottle of facewash and only then noticed that it said Salicylic Acid as one of the MAIN INGREDIENTS! It was clearly stated on the front, which I clearly ignored when purchasing it.

Let me tell you, all of this didnt go away for the rest of the trip. I, of course, felt like the Prettiest girl in the world with my skin looking like I had some contagious disease!

I was pretty much done at this point with store bought facial cleansers. I told myself that as soon as I got home, I was going to research and start making my own. I basically had nothing to lose. I ended up finding out that Glycerin, which is a moisturizing element that is produced during the soap making process with Lye, is often taken out of regular soap and added to things like lotion. This is the reason that lotion is so moisturizing in the first place! Soap companies end up getting more for their money by being able to produce more products. Don’t get me wrong, their is still plenty of soap that contains Glycerin, but I wanted the main thing in my soap to be Glycerin because it is both gentle and moisturizing for the skin.

Which brings me to this recipe. It is a lot of fun. You don’t have to do sweet tea if you dont want to. I just did because it was fun and I was finishing up Sweet Tea Week. I have done Lavender, Lemon, Peppermint. The possibilites are endless.

Here is what I did: