Spring Time Fav’s ~ Gardening & Easter Eggs!

Happy Weekend All! I am glad to hear for the most part you all dig the concept of “Photo Fridays”. It was fun to just put the pictures up and then hear that you all can imagine the commentary.

We kicked off our weekend on Friday by taking a little trip to the SEED BANK! This place is SO COOL.

They have almost 2,000 different types of seeds, including ORGANIC seeds and rare varieties. I LOVE companies that support GMO FREE!!!

The Seed Bank is actually located in an old historical BANK in Petaluma, Ca. I LOVE the play on words…I was almost waiting for them to open up the VAULT for the rarest seeds of all

It’s BEAUTIFUL inside ~ I LOVE the architecture.

There are so many seeds and varieties that it can be a bit overwhelming.

Especially when they have an entire shelf dedicated just to tomatoes. I “almost” wanted to buy those Hill Billy tomatoes for FUN …I can see myself shouting ‘”yeehawww!” when a tomato showed up LOL.

This was all herbs ~ you can even buy/grow Stevia – crazy, cool!

It was hard to narrow down my choices, but, I picked things that I thought would be fun. I LOVED the purple artichokes and green beans. All of their seeds can be harvested and replanted next year and their Heirloom seeds have been around for over 50 years. Everyone that works there has such cool knowledge, it totally made me want to be an organic farmer by the time we left.

Fast forward to Saturday morning ~ we headed out to Starbuck’s where I got a grande ff decaf latte with a caramel drizzle on the foam (makes it marshmallow tasting top!)

We ran into Target for a couple of things and I couldn’t resist getting these mini $1 container plants I totally had gardening on the mind.

Then, we were off to Home Depot to pick out our garden. I learned a COOL LESSON ~ go in the mornings because the “Plant Guy” delivers everything then. We were able to pick out what we wanted off his truck – AWESOME!

One last stop at Trader Joe’s for one of my yearly Basil Plant!

I LOVE that Home Depot is supporting being EARTH FRIENDLY with their Green Going, recyclable containers. You simply cut the plastic off, cut a whole in the bottom of the container and plant your plant WITH the container. The container dissolves in your soil – AWESOME!

The Husband helped me map out where to plant what.

We planted our seedlings and none of the seeds from the Seed Bank ~ maybe we will do those later:

* Sugar Snap Peas

* Yellow Bell Peppers

* Red Bell Peppers

* Crook Neck Squash

* Zucchinis

* Burpless Cucumbers

* Japanese Cucumbers

* Mr. Stripey Heirloom Tomato (The Husband picked out these 18 oz tiger striped tomatoes!)

* Lemon Thyme that really smells like lemon and thyme

* Rosemary

* Sweet 100 Cherry Tomatoes (in the big container)

I think I will also plant my window sill herb garden for cilantro, parsley, oregano and chives because I LOVE using fresh herbs.

All watered and ready to GROW. I hope at some point we can add fresh lettuce and chard maybe too.

After feeling accomplished with our FIRST GARDEN EVER, we headed off to The Joy of Eating for lunch. The Husband and I shared this side salad with Italian Dressing.

Then, I had what I think might’ve been the BEST SANDWICH I”VE EVER HAD IN MY LIFE. A sunrise sandwich ~ Bacon, lettuce, tomato, AVOCADO, and melted provolone on their homemade sweet bread.

I ate all of the sandwich and about 1/3 of the fries.

After lunch, our kitchen turned into a bakery as I whipped up a TON of cupcakes. Homemade Vanilla Cupcakes with Vanilla Butter Cream Frosting & sprinkles (recipe coming soon).

Then, I worked on testing out two types of Healthy Tiramisu Cupcakes. I am making a healthy version for my friends birthday next week but I NEED to try them out first to make sure I get it right.

FIRST ~ one without Mascarpone Cheese filling and with a homemade vanilla cupcake. It wasn’t bad, but, I think you need the fluffy whipped filling.

SECOND ~ Definitely prettier! This one has a Mascarpone Whipped Cream Cheese filling with a cream cheese frosting but I used TJ’s Vanilla Bean Cake Mix (lightened up).

THE VERDICT ~ I NEED to still work on it. I think I have come to the conclusion that the homemade vanilla cupcake is the best with the filling and a lighter frosting. So, my quest is to be continued! When I get the right recipe, I will share it….for now, does anyone want some of these cupcakes??? I NEED to get rid of them LOL.

Dinner was FAST and simple ~ Homemade FRESH Tomato & Basil Soup (recipe coming soon, but, it was a spin on the Homemade Tomato Basil Soup I made before).