Sewing Machine Needles

http://www.feathersflights.com/

For more info go to
http://www.superiorthreads.com/education/using-the-right-needle/

Think of your sewing machine as a power tool with thread....

Key Lime Cake

18 1⁄4 oz package lemon cake mix

3 oz package instant mix lemon pudding

3⁄4 cup water

1⁄2 cup vegetable oil

4 egg

5 tbsp key lime juice

1 1⁄2 cup powdered sugar

3 tbsp key lime juice Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease  one 9x13 inch cake pan or one 10 inch bundt pan. In a large bowl stir together; lemon cake mix, lemon instant pudding,  water, oil, eggs, and 5 tablespoons key lime juice, mixing well.  Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 45 minutes. Pour key lime glaze over cake while still warm. To Make Glaze: Mix together the confectioner's sugar and 3 tablespoons of the key lime juice (or more if necessary), spoon glaze over warm cake. http://www.toprecipes24h.com/

How to regrow food from scraps

Don't toss those old potatoes or celery scraps. Put them to work and grow a kitchen garden from leftover bits and pieces.

Lettuce, cabbage and bok choy

Instead of discarding the base of these leafy plants, put them in a bowl of 

shallow water for the leaves to regrow. Place the bowl in a location with

 ample sunlight and occasionally mist the leaves with water. After a few days, 

roots and new leaves will appear and you can transplant your leafy veggie into

 soil.

Bean sprouts

Have some extra mung beans or wheat berries? Simply soak 

a few tablespoons of them in a jar or container overnight. The

 next day, drain the water and rinse the beans and then put them

 back in the container and cover it with a towel. Rinse the beans 

the next day and recover. Beans will likely sprout in just a day or two, 

but keep rinsing and recovering the beans until sprouts have reached

 the desired size.

 

Avocado

Wash the seed and use a few toothpicks to suspend it (broad end

 down) over a container of water. The water should cover about an 

inch of the seed. Place the container in a warm place out of direct

 sunlight and add water as needed. Roots and stem will sprout in

 two to six weeks, and when the stem reaches 6 inches in length, 

cut it back to about 3 inches. When the roots are thick and the stem

 has leaves, plant it in soil, leaving the seed half exposed. Keep the 

water moist and make sure the plant gets plenty of sunlight. When 

the stem is 12 inches high, cut it back to 6 inches to encourage

 new shoots to grow. 

Ginger

Take a section of the ginger root and plant it in soil where it will 

get indirect sunlight. It grows well both indoors and outdoors. 

When you need ginger for a recipe, simply pull it up, harvest some

 of the root and then replant it.

 

Green onions

Stick the white root base into a cup of water and place it somewhere

 it’ll get plenty of sunlight. Change out the water every few days, 

and as the onions grow, simply trim off what you need and let the 

plant regrow again.

 

Celery

Cut off the base of the celery and place it in a saucer or shallow 

bowl of warm water in the sun. It may take about a week for leaves

 to thicken and grow in the middle of the base, but once they start, 

you can transfer the celery to soil.

Garlic

If you have extra garlic cloves lying around, plant them in soil in full 

sun. When a tiny stalk sprouts from the bulb, cut it off and give the

 garlic several weeks to fatten up.

 

Potatoes

When your potatoes start to grow eyes, cut them into 2-inch pieces

 that contain eyes. Let them sit out overnight so the exposed sections

 can dry out, and then plant them in soil about 4 inches deep, eyes facing up.

Sweet potatoes

Cut the potato in half, poke toothpicks midway into the halves and res

t them in a container of shallow water, cut portion facing down. Within

 a few days, roots will begin to grow from the bottom while stems will 

appear at the top. Once the sprouts have reached 4 to 5 inches in

 length, twist them off and set them in a shallow bowl of water. Slips will 

begin growing from the roots in just a couple of days, and once the roots

 have reached an inch long, plant them in soil.

 

Pineapple

Twist the top off the fruit and peel back the bottom leaves of the base. 

Once several layers of the base are exposed, cut off the tip to get ride 

of the excess fruit. Poke a few toothpicks into the pineapple top and use

 them to suspend the fruit in a container of water. Keep the container in

 a sunny area, and change the water out every few days, keeping it

 filled to just above the peeled base of the top. Roots will appear in

 about a week, and once they’re fully formed, transfer the plant to soil. 

Keep the plant inside unless you live in a warm climate.

http://www.mnn.com/

Read more: http://www.mnn.com/your-home/organic-farming-gardening/stories/how-to-regrow-food-from-scraps#ixzz35aWLNHB6

5 Awesome Dog Facts -- Thought Glass #4

One of my completed cross stitch projects

Beetroot and Chocolate cupcakes

I baked these cup cup cakes for my nieces birthday. 

Ingredients:

• 75g cocoa 
• 175g plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 225g caster sugar
• 3 free range eggs
• 100ml stout 
• 225g grated beetroot 
• 100ml olive oil
• 
  
• 1.     Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6. Line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper cases.
  2.     Sift the cocoa powder, flour, baking powder and sugar into a bowl.
  3.     Blend the eggs, beetroot, stout and oil in a food processor until smooth.
  4.     Stir the beetroot into the flour mixture until just combined (do not overmix).
  5.     Spoon the mixture into the muffin cases and cook in the oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the cupcakes have risen and the tops are springy to the touch. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
        
  7.     100g cream cheese
  8.     100g unsalted butter
  9.     the seeds of a vanilla pod
• 450g icing sugar