Spongebob for my nephew

My nephew's birthday was June 29th, but all my baking supplies were in storage so I couldn't do his cake. He told us that his birthday was going to continue until he got his cake. This cake was a little less than a month late, but better late than never.

The flavor he wanted was the same as last year, banana strawberry, and I wanted to try a different recipe so I used Dorie Greenspan's Lots of Ways Banana Cake. I boiled some strawberry jam with a little water and spooned it over the cake. The icing was strawberry flavored, so he was able to have both flavors.

My girlfriend ate the scraps and said the cake was good, hopefully my nephew did too.

Happy 5th Quantay!

The garden

My parents are from Alabama and have grown up around gardens, on a much larger scale I might say, so it comes as no surprise when my father started a garden. This year, the garden included some items I started at home from seeds. As you can tell I am excited since I have never done anything like that.

I always thought that you needed a yard to grow anything since that's all I saw growing up. Wrong! There is this wonderful book called Grow Great Grub by Gayla Trail of www.yougrowgirl.com that shows how to grow fruits, vegetables, plants..... in small spaces. After hearing about this book I knew that I could do this. My mother said, "I didn't know you had a green thumb." Read on!

Before all this, though, the story goes back a little further. Back in middle school...the 80's...I, for some odd reason, decided that my science project was going to involve acetaminophen and a pothos. I wanted to know the affect Tylenol would have on the plant so of course one plant was fed the drug along with water and the other was just plain water.

I am in my 30's and my parents still have those plants and they are growing, growing, growing. Needless to say, I had to remind my mother of these plants and the crazy idea I had for a science project.

Most of the photos are from my father's crop and one is of my tomato plants, while the sage is my nephew's. It feels good to grow your own food without all the "extras" the grocery stores have.

Oh, yeah, I am already planning more for next year since I know it can be done.

OKRA AND CUKE
THE GARDEN

CORN STALK

SUMMER SQUASH

CANTELOPE

MY FATHER'S TOMATO

BELL PEPPER

MY TOMATO PLANT

MY NEPHEW'S SAGE

OKRA FLOWER

Even though I can't get in the kitchen like I used to

I still try to take my camera with me everywhere just in case I get to catch something. Enjoy!

Mt. Trashmore in Virginia Beach

Leaves from a tree in Downtown Portsmouth

Mt. Trashmore Virginia Beach

My niece in Norfolk

My nephew in Chesapeake

This time last year was the beginning of my blog journey. My purpose was to get me to try more recipes, meet others in the blogosphere, and better my writing. I tried more recipes indeed, I have met others, but not on a level of being life long friends(at least not yet), but my writing is still mediocre. I try to add more content than I did in the beginning, but it still remains blahhh.

I guess that means I am just not a writer, I am a talker. I express myself more when talking and with my body language. Sometimes you can change who you are and sometimes, no matter how hard you try, you just can't. This is one defeat I will take and understand it just isn't meant to be.

I wish I could have come with photos, but my situation is still the same and time is not evident in my life right now. Understand this one thing, when I do get back in the swing of things, I won't know how to stop. I have been going through cooking, baking, decorating, sewing, and photography withdrawals and it needs to be rectified as soon as possible.....ASAP!

Lack of posting

In one month my life change for what I believe is the better. My family and I had to move from a place we've lived for 8 1/2 years because the landlord wanted to sell it. I had some Heaven sent landlords so I was not upset at all. I am currently still looking for a place, but thank GOD for family.

My oldest daughter graduates in a month, so you know that is a busy situation. I started a new job, which has kept me pretty busy. So, needless to say, time is not on my side right now. I had to let Tuesdays With Dorie and The Daring Kitchen go due to less time and not having kitchen space/ cooking utensils. I am hoping that when my Blogiversary comes up I do have something to post.

I guess I need to find a recipe that doesn't require much, so I can put something up.

Thanks for bearing with me.