Project Curb Appeal

Curb appeal is very important.  You don't want folks to drive by and think "what a dump."  Sadly, when we first moved in, we had some big challenges with how our house looked. When our house first went on the market, it was really, really bad.  How bad you ask?  This bad...

I know you're thinking, really, Katie, stop being dramatic, really that's not too bad...  So I give you this...

Notice how you can't even see the damn house through the mess that is the front yard.  And yes, I did just steel these images from google maps using my snipping tools.

When we bought it, it didn't look  much different, except that the house was painted yellow and the driveway was paved.  I know what you're thinking, we must be crazy and we are.

So we've done a ton of work, and as of a couple week ago, this is what our yard looked like...

Yes, these are the same pictures from when the driver crashed into our yard, but they were the only ones I could find.  But you can see the improvements- we added that lovely fence and have mulched in the front, so that it doesn't look so desolate.

Last Monday brought some BIG changes and our yard now looks like this...

Notice the lack of ugly scrub pines?  I am so happy with this.  We still have a long way to go in achieving curb appeal nirvana, but we're getting closer!

Stuffed Mushrooms

It's no secret that I love a good 'shroom and these babies are fabulous!  We decided that they taste like creamed spinach with sausage.  Yum.  So without further ado...

Start with some nice big portobellos, give em a good clean and scrap the gills out of the inside

Brown and crumble some spicy italian sausage

Defrost a package of spinach

Add sour cream and cream cheese to the spinach and mix it up good

Then add the sausage

And some Parmesan

Mix it well and then fill them mushrooms up and sprinkle some bread crumbs on top

Stick em in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes and enjoy!

Ingredients
4 portobello mushrooms, washed and gills removed
1 lb. hot italian sausage
10 oz. frozen spinach, defrosted
4 oz. low fat cream cheese
1/2 cup of low fat sour cream
1/2 cup of parmesan cheese
1/2 cup of bread crumbs

Directions
Preheat over to 350 degrees

Brown and crumble sausage.

Meanwhile, add cream cheese and sour cream to spinach and mix well.  Once the sausage is cooked, add to the spinach mixture and mix well.  Add the parmesan cheese and mix well.  Fill the mushrooms with the spinach mixture and top with bread crumbs.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the mushrooms are cooked and the bread crumbs are slightly brown.

How Does Your Garden Grow? Part 1

I have a confession to make.  I am a total and utter failure at growing vegetables.  Every spring, I have such high hopes for my vegetable garden.  And somehow, I always end up disappointed.  Take last year for instance.  I planted 8 tomato plants.  Guess how many homegrown tomatoes I enjoyed?  Zero.  Yes, that's right, not a single one.  Damn blossom end root.  And what about those big, beautiful, heavily flowering squash plants I lovingly tended last year?  Not a single one actually grew a squash.  In all fairness, that one has more to do with a lack of honeybees and pollination than failure on my part.  But still, utter disappointment.  So this year, I am taking a break from vegetable growing (luckily, we have lovely farmers markets, so we'll have access to lots of fresh produce) and embracing flowering growing!

We have several garden areas planned including the pergola, a hummingbird garden, a cutting garden and window baskets.  As to not over do, this post will focus on dressing up the pergola.

The pergola that Seth and I built last spring and were married under last September, will be hosting...

Key Lime Cup and Saucer Vine

Each leg of the pergola will also get a big pot that will hold...

White Angelonia Serena

And

Petunia Dolcissima Flambe

I just love that name.  It sounds so fancy!

But I just love the combination of cool green and flashy pink.  I am very excited about this!

What garden plans do you have for this summer?