Sweet Potato Vine

This pot is home to my early spring salad garden. It also has become a late summer/fall container for more ornamental plants.

While cleaning the pantry the other day, I discovered a sweet potato that had begun to sprout. It had little bitty vines already forming. I hauled it out to the deck with a little shovel and planted it in the salad garden container. I also stuck the remainder or the onion bulbs in there. Maybe I'll have a late crop of green onions? Within days, the sweet potato started growing. In this picture it had been growing about 10 days. Who knew it would sprout out so quickly? I think I will enjoy its beauty until frost hits. Wonder if I'll harvest sweet potatoes?

Steamed Eggs

Steaming has become one of my favorite was to cook eggs. It quick, its easy and tasty!

I developed this way to cook eggs quite by accident. I was making sunny side eggs one day and let the pan get too hot. I immediately poured a bit of water in the pan to cool it. I saw the steam rise and wondered what would happen if I placed a lid on the pan so I gave it a try. The result was a nicely cooked egg that reminded me of a poached egg.

The method I have developed starts with spraying the pan with cooking spray. I break eggs into the pan - its really easy to cook multiple eggs at one time utilizing this method. I season the eggs with salt and pepper. When the pan heats, I pour water in the pan until the bottom is covered by about a quarter inch of water. I place a lid on the pan - I prefer a clear lid so I can watch the cooking progress. When the eggs are done, they easily lift out of the pan and onto the plate.

Add a sliced tomato and piece of perfect toast and you have a delicious meal. Of course, serving with bacon or sausage will be a heartier breakfast. I also use a spicier seasoning when I'm in the mood for some kick. Cook these to a "hard" level and they would easily dice to top a salad. The variations are endless!

Pillows from Reclaimed Materials

Need new throw pillows? Look no further than your closet! After I purged clothing that I no longer wear from the closet, I started thinking of ways to recycle them rather than toss them out.

First, I cut them into pieces for a quilt. I'll let you know how this works out!

I had a few sweaters which would not be good in a quilt. I started looking around. I had a old red pillow in the couch that doesn't work in my current color scheme. So I covered it - its the green one in the picture. I simply cut the sweater to fit the pillow. I sewed around three sides of the pillow cover making sure to back stitch at each end. I cut diagonally across the corners to ensure a smoother corner when the cover was turned to the right side. I put the pillow inside. If the cover is too large, this is a good time to make it smaller. I closed the fourth side by hand using a blind stitch. I used a double thread so it would be stronger.

I prepared the cover for the brown pillow as I did for the green one. Since I didn't have another pillow, I stuffed it with all the scraps from the clothes I used for the quilt. I stuffed it fairly solidly so it wouldn't be so lumpy. Again, I closed the fourth side by blind stitching.

I spent absolutely no money and have two new throw pillows to add to the coziness of my eclectic home!