The Mint Needle

Oh November.... I should really be doing a post about pumpkins or squash, but this blueberry cake came out so freakin' good!!!  Take it from me, this is the BEST cake batter ever! And I'm definitely not a cake girl The Recipe for Blueberry Cake: 3/4 cup butter 2 cups sugar 3 eggs 2 cups flour 1 cup sour milk 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 1/2 cups of blueberries (fresh or wilted) Start by preheating your oven to 350. Combine the butter and sugar till it is fluffy and whipped. I actually used salted margarine and am wondering if that's why this cake is not too sweet, even though it calls for quite a bit of sugar.  Add 1 egg in at a time. Add the the 2 cups of flour and sour milk. If you do not have sour milk, place 1 tablespoon of lemon juice into your cup and add the milk till you get to your 1 cup measurement. Add the baking soda. I baked the cake in a 9 x 13 glass pan. I sprayed it with non-stick spray and added...

Mushroom hunting has interested me ever since I spotted a smurf's like, little, red, rounded mushroom in the park! Add a ring of mushrooms on our lawn and a giant puffball .... that's all it took. One of the very first posts I ever did on this blog was about the  giant puffball ! Little did we know, we could've delighted in some fun and unusual cuisine. For starters, there are some basics everyone should know.  Hence, the parts of a mushroom from top to bottom. They are the cap, gills, ring, stem, & volva (the sac it emerged out of if visible). Next, let's say you find an awesome mushroom and aren't too sure if it's edible. Create a spore print for proper identification! All you have to do is remove the cap from the stem. Get a white sheet of paper. Place the gills part against the paper. Do not press. Place a drop or a couple of drops of water on the cap depending on its size. Cover it with a glass. You can leave it covered 3-18 hours. When y...

Before I get started on this rock/apron thing, I gotta give you all an update on the this bar soap shampoo I've been using.  One word... Awesome! It takes a little of getting used to. At first, you feel kinda odd, like you're doing the wrong thing in the shower, rubbing a bar soap against your hair, but I've seen the results and it's so worth it. My hair is shinier, silkier and surprise... not as frizzy! Another thing, having natural curls, I notice they are more defined. If you decide to try the hair bar for yourself, there's only one bit of advice I suggest. Start by lathering your ends first and then work towards the scalp. You really don't need to put the bar against your head because it is essentially soap and soap spreads. Moving on... I've been missing my sewing time dearly. If you follow on Instagram, you may have noticed, I'm just m-i-a. But there was one day, one day when..... I realized I was all caught up with laundry, the girls were in sch...

Hello friends! There's so much to tell you about and so much to show you! For starters, I hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful month of September. It's hard to believe that autumn is right around the corner, yet here we are. The nights are getting cooler and the daylight is getting shorter. A part of me is admiring the change. What better way to celebrate the end of summer than with a big bash? The Country Living Fair in Ohio Village was the perfect place! It was the one stop shop experience this weekend, getting us ready for everything that screams fall. From apple fritters to candy corn pillows, there was so much to see. Having made our way to the last couple of festivals, it's nice to see the changes each event brings. This year, there were more vendors that came out to join in on the fun! New shops, new products, and new tools for the country life! It was a true win for everyone!  Aside from watching natural fabric dyeing techniques on the main stage, ...

  The heat is still in full swing, here in Ohio, surprisingly. On occasion, we'll have a cool night but they seem so far and few between with the immense humidity that's in the air. Yes, our family is looking forward to sweater weather. I can't wait to open our windows and feel a fresh breeze run through. The air conditioning running constantly has made our air feel stagnant and kinda just blah!  The girls have returned to school which is bittersweet. The hubs is just finishing up on our home project that was only supposed to take one month. (It ended up taking 3!!!) But the new staircase looks so beautiful! I have been tinkering about the yard, grabbing bundles of herbs to dry for winter. And... our freezer is looking quite lavish with all the garden grown veggies we'll get to enjoy after frost. One of the most pleasant things that have happened so far is that I've learned about how important this extremely annoying weed was. Every year... for the...