Check this out!

First – the post for my Chocolate Chunk Cheesecake Bars from earlier in the day is here .

But – I wanted to tell you about something pretty cool.   I was kind of an impromptufc2c guest, along with the real guest, Kathy Purdy, on Jenn Fowler and Lynnae McCoy’s Monday evening  Blogtalk Radio Show, “Frugal Coast to Coast”  I normally have to listen to the broadcast laster, but last night, I happened to be around to hear it live, and Jenn invited me to join them.  It was really fun and you can listen in if you like.  There was a lot of  pretty good information about gardening on a budget, as well as plenty of general info.  Try not to notice that I actually misspelled the address of my own blog the first time Jenn asked me. 
I got it right the second time :)

Go have a listen:   

Frugal Coast to Coast Frugal Gardening

Jenn and Lynnae host Frugal Coast to Coast every Monday evening from 8 – 10:00PM, and you can always find tons of great info about living on a budget. And, if you visit Jenn’s blog, she is having a really nice garden-related giveaway, as wel as promoting a great project that will get more fresh produce to Food Pantries.

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Chocolate Chunk Cheesecake Bars

Chocolate and Cheesecake – there is no way to go wrong in combining these two flavors. They play so nicely together. The chunks of bittersweet chocolate in these are just sublime though and really bring the combination to another level. We better hurry – these have to cool off before you can eat them!

Melt
4 ounces butter
Stir in
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup baking cocoa
Then mix in
1 egg1Mix in
2/3 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teapsoon salt2Spread in a greased 10 in square baking dish. An 8 inch pan will work if that is what you have – they will just be a little thicker and that is not such a bad thing.3Then for the topping, beat together
8 ounces softened cream cheese
2 room temperature large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoon all purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
4Fold in
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped5Spread the cheesecake mixture evenly over the chocolate crust.6Bake at 350º for about 35 minutes, until the cheesecake layer is set, puffed a bit and showing a little touch of browning across the top. If you used an 8 inch pan, this will take a few minutes longer.7Cool completely before cutting into 2 inch squares.9Break one open and dive right in! The bittersweet chocolate stays gooey and melty in there for a couple days at room temperature. They probably won’t be around any longer than that, but if they are, best get them in fridge at that point.81Sorry – I have to run. It’s time for breakfast!

Posted in recipes | Tagged , , | 21 Comments

In Defense of Dandelions

I know some people hate them. They work diligently to keep them out of their lawn. But out here in the country, that isn’t possible, because there are just too many of them growing everywhere.dande1And besides they are kind of pretty.dande2The more, the merrier, I say.dande3Of course in another week when all of these – which are in the field across the road from us – turn to “blowies”, I will probably be singing a different tune!

pick

 

 

Another post you might like:  A Boy and His Dandelions

Posted in photos, Seasons | 25 Comments

I just can’t help myself

You know – I was going to do a recipe today.
It’s a really good one too.
Chocolate Chunk Cheesecake Bars.
But I can’t. And I’ll tell you why.

There’s thisgrosbeak

And thisnarci

And theseforgetmenots

This guygoldf

And don’t forget thislilac1

Do you blame me? We can always do the Chocolate Chunk Cheesecake Bars next week, right?

Posted in photos, Seasons | Tagged , , | 22 Comments

A New Kind of Giveaway

I like giving stuff away. It makes me happy. Something that doesn’t make me happy lately is that I have just about zero time to respond to comments. I love connecting with my readers and feel badly about not getting back here everyday to respond to everyone. But, I want to show my appreciation; so – here is what we are going to do. Each month I am going to choose one photo to give away to a commenter. Completely random and anyone in the US and Canada can win. [my family just snivels waaay too much when I exclude them from a giveaway] May Comment GiveawayEvery time you comment, you get another entry. [the only exception to that would be if someone puts in 10 gratuitous comments a day just for the entries – trust me, the winner is going to be a genuine commenter] Every comment, on any post, during the entire month of May means another entry. This giveaway will run through May 31st, with the winner, along with the prize for June, being anounced June 1st.

To get started, for the winning commenter during the month of May, is this one to the right. It’s an 8×8 print of some hostas just coming up in my back garden last May. Matted in black with a mahogany frame [total size is about 12×12] – shipped straight from the lab I’ve been using. They do really nice work and ship very quickly. [If you are impatient, this same item is for sale, for $65.00, shipping included.]

So comment away! I can hardly wait to see who wins!

Posted in giveaways, photos | 32 Comments