Garden update

It's been about a month since I posted anything about my little plot of garden. Everything is MUCH bigger now and we have even eaten some of the Pak Choi. (It's Pak Choi here...not Boc Choy). Here are the pictures!

This is what the garden looks like from the back porch. (Looking down)

Pak Choi, Lettuce and Cabbage

Cabbage in black and white...

Tomatoes...that have gotten BIG! They have been tied once and need it again!

Tomato blooms...

The cucumbers are finally climbing. There are a few baby cucumbers on there...but many have fallen off. I don't know why...and I don't like it!

Remember that row of tiny little beans that had just come up? Well...a month later they are climbing their fence....

and have gone OVER the top! It will be fun to see how tall they will get!

My newest addition...Eggplant.

This is another new thing...it's pumpkin! We have been getting slices of these huge pumpkins at market (they are yummy) and we throw the seeds out in our scrap pile. Well...a few weeks ago I found them growing! So now I have pumpkin plants too! I can't wait to see how big the pumpkins will grow!

One of our little Mandarin Oranges!

That is the one month update on the garden! I have had fun working in it. I did have help from my Nathan, Miles and Silas brothers! They put the stakes in and hung the bean fence and the cucumber fence. I'm so glad I have such helpful brothers! Silas has been a big help too! He has helped me fertilize the plants every two weeks. Tomorrow I am hoping to add a few more plants! Oh...and if you were wondering about the pepper plants...they are a sad story! They were too wet where we had them...so Nathan and I moved them and they still are not growing! I don't think they want to get their picture taken anymore! =)

Mom has been prettying up under the lime tree. It looks really nice!

I don't know what the name of this plant is but it's one of my favorites!

And this picture has nothing to do with plants or gardens....but I thought you might enjoy seeing something we see almost every week!

God's creation is so beautiful! Have a blessed day!

Toco

Saturday, we joined the Singh family for an all day outing. We left early and enjoyed a beautiful 3 hour drive to the North East tip of the island. It was so beautiful driving through the mountains and then along the coast! At Toco, at the tip of the island, there is a lighthouse(which I failed to get a picture of) and a beautiful outlook area. Here are some pictures of our lovely day...

A very cool broken down bench! Wouldn't it look good with some lovely vines and flowers around it?

The little path we walked down to get to the point.

Out on the point! So very beautiful!

The rocks on the point were so neat. Most had these red/pink stripes running through them.

This is the view from where we had our picnic lunch! Lunch always tastes better with a view like that!

After lunch all the kids went exploring down the side of the cliff. It was so fun to climb down to the edge of the water. We found some very beautiful rocks and a couple of pieces of driftwood!

These are Almonds. There are two kinds that grow here. This tree also had red/orange bark! It was so pretty and unique.

We all came home sunburnt and tired but it was a very wonderful day enjoying God's beautiful creation!

Homemade Noodles

I have always liked to make noodles. I played around a tiny bit with it when we lived in Arkansas, but not very much. So I did some research on the handy thing called the internet and found a new recipe and some new techniques. Then on Monday and Tuesday of this week I gave it a try! I had so much fun making these! And they tasted good too!

Here is what I did and the recipe that I used:

2 1/2 cups flour

a good pinch of salt

1/2 cup milk

2 eggs, well beaten

1 TBS butter

Mix together flour and salt. Make well in flour and add milk, egg and butter. Mix until you can knead it. Turn it out onto cabinet (or where you will be kneading it).

Dough will be very crumbly but keep kneading it and it will get smooth.

It will take about 5 min to form into a nice ball. You may have to add a bit of water/more milk...tiny bits at a time.

Now, it's waiting time! Put dough in a clean bowl and cover with a cloth for at least 30 min. I let mine go an hour and it worked great!

Then (now that waiting time is over), divide dough into four parts and leave 3 in the bowl covered with the towel.

Coat one slightly flattened piece in flour.

Then start rolling. It will take a good bit of work (mostly patience) to get it very thin. I got mine as thin as I could.

Hold the piece up to the light every so often to check for thicker parts. (They will be darker). You will not have to add much flour as you roll if your dough is the right consistency. Use your best judgement on this.

After that piece is rolled to your satisfaction, place it on a towel and let it dry a bit as you roll out another one.

Once the second one is rolled out, trade it out for the first one. Dust the first one with flour and roll up into a log.

Now. with a very sharp knife, cut it in slices of desired width.

Carefully unroll the slices....

and hang to dry. I used a clean plastic hanger. You can use a professional pasta rack (if you have one) or a broom stick (clean of course!) propped on two chairs...or anything else you deem worthy of drying your pasta.

Once you have hung all that, roll into a log and cut the second one. Then, start all over with the two pieces that are left. Warning: this part can take a good hour or so. (But it's worth the yummy results!)

Once it is all rolled, cut, and hung, let dry until it is hard...about 4 hours.

Then place in bag and freeze until ready to use. You can also use it fresh without letting it dry completely. One batch makes about 1lb of dry pasta.

I hope you have as much fun making this as I did! I will be making more, as we all liked it very well! My next try-out will be flavored pasta!

Questions? Comments? Let me know!

Have fun!

Happy New Year!!!!

Happy 2011!

I'm not much of a "New Year's Resolution" type person.

But I have been thinking that there is one resolution that a Christian should make EVERY day...not just the goal of a new year. The resolution should be this...to live every day for God and to make sure that your life reflects it in all you do.

Live by these words of our Saviour and you will have a wonderful year in 2011!

Luke 9:23 "And he said to them all, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me"