Fish Buns a Sri Lankan Breakfast...

Breakfast in Sri Lanka when going to school was very different. One of my favorite was fish buns. We would not make these at home of course. Because you can buy them easily from the bakery. 

I had no idea how to make them being far away from home I do crave for these food that I grew up with. After a lot of thinking  learned to make these at home. 

What you need regular bread dough, potatoes, canned salmon, onions and any thing you like to have with bread. 

A little bit of work and fish buns at home. I will post the recipe soon... I get very excited when I make things at home being far away from home...

Quote of the day “make food from scratch when ever possible"

Enjoy!

Garden Rituals...

Every year I do grow something out of ordinary and sometime I have success and some years it is a total failure. Then I have my ritual planting combinations like impatience I do new colors contrasting combinations. 

This year I catch sight of a sublime shade of pink impatience. It was the building block for my container gardens. My huge plastic pots are getting old and I think every year this is the last year I am going to use them and then once again come spring I say to myself I can get one more year out of these. 

Let’s see what’s going to happen next year. The wonderful fact is the impatiences blooms and you hardly notice the sunburnt plastic terra cotta colored container. The beauty takes over that’s the hidden power of container gardening.

I will do another post in mid July and beginning of September to see progress of my container gardening rituals...

Quote of the day “spend more time in nature"

Enjoy!

Strawberry & Rhubarb Pie...

My neighbor has this wonderful rhubarb patch which is divine. I would love to grow some in my yard as well. I hope i have some luck with the little shoot she gave me this Spring. 

I would love to draw this beautiful plant may be after my drawing class I might give it a try. I personally think rhubarb is a aesthetically pleasing plant with a character. The stalks are beautiful with deep red and hint of green. The leaves are have beautiful veins. my neighbor shared a story when she was growing up she would use the rhubarb leaves to cover their heads from spring showers. I can totally picture that growing up in tropical climate. 

I wanted to incorporate this seasonal abundance into our meals. I started it off with my talent for baking. After browsing the web, the blogs, and cooking programs settled down with this lovely recipe from Emaril's. I wish I took some pictures of the rhubarb patch but I don’t have any. 

I did not had rolled oats but I did had some wonderful original Irish porridge from Ireland. I used it and did not felt a difference but I do have to admit the crust was a delight. 

It was so good with ice cream. I am so proud that I was able to use my strawberries in a really productive way before it all goes bad. I have few more recipes I need to get my hands on. 

I want to say this strawberry rhubarb pie is going to be a spring time favorite in our household! 

Quote of the day “spend 20 to 30 minutes preparing food"

Enjoy!

De- clutter, Order, and Role-modeling...

Since we have downsized our living space. I have a difficult time creating master bedroom/study room in our cozy little house. I do not know how I have a huge mess on my chest of drawers. I am totally responsible for  this since I have created it. 

It holds everything and anything you can possibly name that can go on a chest of drawers. Sometimes it disturbs me when I have to study. I guess I need an order in my environment to study. I kept postponing to clear out this space saying I am going to get to it tomorrow. Then some days I feel like that tomorrow never comes. 

I will be going to work this Fall while in school I need order and I need my room to be a functional space in every possible way. I have acquired so much stuff that I hardly use.

I took control and went through every little thing and cleaned the entire place. When I was done I was so happy that I have created and orderly space in my room. 

I tends to spend so much time creating order for kids and it was my turn. I felt If I did not create that space they are not going to internalize order into their life. It was in a way kind of role modeling. I am  very happy with the space that I have created for myself. 

Quote of the day “light a dark corner"

Enjoy!

How to establish a perennial garden on a budget...

This year I am establishing the west side of the garden. Continuations of purple and yellow with some white. We had some day lilies that have not bloom for ages. We also planted a fruit tree this year. Excuse the messiness in this area but we are working on this. I decided to move day lilies around and add some more perennials like 

4 Lamb’s Ear

4 Lupine

1 French Lavender

1 English Lavender

2 White Foxgloves

1 Salvia 

Herbs For a Container Garden mixture of mints

For all these I spend less than $43.00 not too bad considering herbs for the container garden as well. 

This herb garden is going to serve some cool drinks during this summer I will post as the plants mature. I love the variegated mint. It is so pretty see the off white and green blends together. 

This is part of the west side garden I have established last year this was test gardening as well. I planted them in dirt bags they seems to be happy. I love to see pansy’s in my yard any given day. This was a very in-expensive way add some color to your yard or to a tree trunk. I love my maple trees. I felt like I highlighted them. 

What do you plant in summer... 

Quote of the day “preserve nature”

Enjoy!

Summer School and Eating Healthy...

I am taking some fun classes this summer. I promised myself that I am going to do my best to eat healthy. Because sometimes during elevated stress can easily lead to eating fast food. 

In order to avoid the fast food chains from school I decided to pack a healthy lunch. I have used quinoa before with my daughter when introducing grains for her she was not too crazy about it but remember enjoying it. 

I found this great recipe here. It does needs some prep time but there are steps you can do ahead which makes it a fast way to assemble the salad.

I hope you will like it as much as I liked it was a new spin to the grains and smells great. I already got a comment at school when I was having it for lunch for the great aroma it has. 

This is a very refreshing salad to try during summer.I can see my self making another batch soon before my mint goes bad.

This is so good and incredibly refreshing for a summer dinner party!

Quote of the day “ be gentle with yourself but firm with your expectations”

Enjoy!

Raise Beds, Tomatoes, and other Edibles...

I did some experiments with root vegetables this spring. I planted carrots and beets. I was so eager to get my hands dirty this spring and could not wait to get out and work in the yard after the mild winter we had. Sounds funny for us who are North Easterners. 

This is how it all started last Fall. Finally my beets are growing along side to the carrots and green lettuce. However we have cottontails who likes to munch on sweet carrot leaves. I do have to admit it really smells like carrot. 

I know some of my eggplant and other got attacked by leaves that are falling from the old tree we have in our yard. I love the shade but seriously we need sun to grow our vegetable garden. 

I cannot wait to harvest the basil and tomatoes this summer and I really hope I can. I guess I am been very demanding from my garden or perhaps I need to grow with my garden. I like the second choice...

Quote of the day “accumulate wisdom with age"

Enjoy!

How to make Cabochons Jewelry at home...

I always wanted to make these beautiful ear studs at home and I finally did it. It is so much fun to make these and give them as gifts during summer for all your girlfriends. I wish I knew them when I was younger then I would make a set to all my friends at school. 

They are easy and fun to make. All you need is a good creative time, quiet time, and nice warm tea. I know I am just kidding but you can make them in a jiffy. 

I love the color pallet that I choose. They are not too bright, very subtle, and of course charming. 

Quote of the day “ give a gift anonymously”

Enjoy!

Roses are in bloom

My roses are in bloom finally. I did had a bug issue at the beginning of the growing season thanks to my neighbor she offered me an organic solution. I spared it and it is all gone the new growth looks healthy. 

This is lovely I love the rose garden that I have established last year. This is a very young garden and still growingI have planted couple of knockout roses and some regular roses as well. I cannot wait these plants to mature. I got these once again for a very low price at the end of the season last year. I have not shopped for plants much this year. I still have few in mind that I am looking.

Look at this one, this beauty is hiding among the leaves. I love this shade of pink not too bright and not too light I wish I can remember the correct name of the shade. I will be bringing theme inside once they started to bloom more.

Lovely! 

I still see the bug attack this plant went through. This is indeed a beautiful shade of pink. I cannot wait to see these in full bloom. I am considering to add a rose vine. That will add much drama to this corner of the yard. I am thinking. I am leaning towards a lattice  to be installed in a section of the yard so I can train the vine to go on it. 

Quote of the day " read how to books"

Enjoy!

Dipped or Painted...

I wanted try out the modern dipped look or otherwise painted in two colors. I turned to Nicolette's room for inspiration. We had this basket from one of her showers. I used to put toys in it, clothing, and finally I used it to put books after reading. However this has gone through many jobs but still a survivor in our household.

I am currently using it store what ever on her bed goes to this basket at the end of the until we find the right place. We love cleaning up her room with this new two tone basket. It works well with all the furniture in her room and its finally coming together.

I really had fun creating this space for and little Nicolette loves to hang in her room by herself in the afternoons. Few more touch - ups and I am done for a while.

Quote of the day "Enhance your environment"

Enjoy!

Exploring the M- manual

Yes, I am venturing away from the AM- Automatic setting to manual setting. It is fun I am afraid that I might not go back to the AM. I love the quality of the pictures I will be playing a lot with my camera during this summer.

This is my first going manual ha... ha... no point and shooting any more but takes times. If I want to do them in a hurry I will defiantly go for the AM shooting.

Pretty good clarity. I have a lot to learn but I am enjoying this new found mechanism. My foxgloves looks pretty amazing.  I wanted to get more like up close in your face pictures.

Love the look...

Quote of the day "listen to that hunch"

Enjoy!

Simple Pleasures

I always like to cut flower from the garden to bring inside. I do not have much but I bring them as much as I can during summer. So far I have done some arrangements.

This was growing in my yard all over the back corner. I decided to bring them inside they are really pretty and have already developed seed pods. I like the seed pods as well they add some whimsical to the arrangement. 

I used an empty jelly jar Nicolette love to see flowers in her room. Soon I am going to bring some more to my room. As soon as I get rid of the clutter. 

Quote of the Day “ look for possibilities not limits”

Enjoy!