What are you working on?? Part 2

We pretty much do the same, but we throw in cinnamon stick while cooking with a squeeze of lemon juice. Ground cinnamon while do fine too, but add it with the sugar after blending. We sometimes add a dash of clove or allspice or nutmeg for a flavor change. We add sugar or honey to taste as each apple is so different but some need none at all. I add any sugar/honey and spices after we get them blended or mashed to the consistency that we want, but we continue cooking it for a couple of minutes more to incorporate the flavors. I like the red color from the skins and figure they are good for you. Off to the pottery. I wish I had an apple. Patti

I like orange zest added too.
I bake apples with Splends,touch of butter and cinnamon.
I add orange juice or frozen concentrate from the can plus water. Low calorie and diabetic legal.

JoAnn do you follow a carbohydrate consistent diet? Just learned about it in place of the old diabetic diets. If you keep your carbs the same amount for each meal, your blood sugar stays more stable throughout the day. The amt of carbs are calculated for each individual, and BG is tested before meal and 2 hours later and should not raise more than 40 points. Don't know how late I am in learning this.

I was just reading that too Deb, got it on a pamphlet with my new metor.

I didn't know you were diabetic Celeste. Learned about it from our dietician at work.

I'm not Deb... I need to watch my self and have always tested my sugar since I was a kid. My Dad was a brittle diabetic, my brother is and my oldest DD has gestation diabeties. I used to have really low blood sugar and BP but with age it has gone up to a 'normal' range. I don't see stars half as much as more! LOL

I used to say "to heckl" with the diet. I love food and like all aspects of eating.
I also found,to my dismay, the older I get the less forgiving my body is and the more atroceous the side effects of uncontroled sugars are.
This summer was the absolute worst.
I was driving with my sister, to Maine. Two 6 hour days. The anticipation and excitement was too much and IBS kicked in.
The trip home was a nightmare as my cousin is a wonderful cook and I let my sugars go any where they wanted to.
The result was attacks of IBS on the Mass Pike where the sighns for "service areas " are few and far between.
I wont go into the routine next to the car with viewers going past at 80mph.(good thing).
I vowed to straighten myself out and went on the WeightWatchers diet. The carbs that have the fewest points are all greens and the fiber I need to manage the other problem.
The carbs with higher points are starches and anything made with white flour.
I stay away from those. Sugar is under controle and I am happy with this routine.
Sorry to explore this here but some of the information is helpful to anyone dealing with the disease.
I only see my doc every 6 months now. Good thing as fees are riseing.

My Mom needs to be on a diabetic diet, though she only has to check her blood sugar once a week.....I was told agave syrup doesn't spike blood sugar, so I'll add some of that if I'm making the applesauce for her.....I like the idea of orange zest, I add it to a lot of things. I read in today's paper they had to remove a seal from the Charles River before today's race!

What next Dolphins?

finished another stone bird bath today.

hubby in the head of the charles patti that is great.

Where's mine?????

grab a rock on a hike and start chiseling

I don't like birds that much.

For making applesauce, or for removing skin and seeds from any pulp, I highly recommend the Victorio Strainer. I bought one back in the 70's and it has saved me endless hours of work. Ladle cooked fruit into hopper, turn handle, out comes seeds/skin on one side, edible goodies on the other side. Great for tomato sauce, apple sauce, berry jams, etc.

Making your own stone bird bath? Wow, that sounds like a lot of work!

This message was edited Oct 23, 2010 6:31 PM

Hello, everyone! Looks like you've all been busy. Wish I could say the same, though I did finally manage to get out there today and get some work done, which I haven't done in many weeks, due to asthma, and then a lingering cold. I weeded one of my beds, then mowed part of the back yard. I used the clippings/leaves to mulch the bed I weeded. I have to clean up the patio area that the bed surrounds, and will do that tomorrow. Will also do more weeding and mowing tomorrow. I got a couple of allysums planted that I had bought way back in the spring. Also planted a styrax bush to replace a peiris that I had transplanted in the spring that died.

Pat, thanks for the link to that crabapple comparison chart. I bookedmarked it for future reference.

JoAnne, that's a cheap price on pumpkins! And I thought Walmart had good prices. You can't beat yours. Too bad I'm so far away. Very cool ceramic water features. I miss doing ceramics. For awhile now I have wanted to do some ceramic mosaics for stepping stones for my gardens. Maybe I can find some time to do that this winter.

Patti, you've been busy, busy, busy. Your finished redo project looks fantastic! Your full greenhouse looks good, too.

Nice new bed extension, Jen. Have you ever thought of trying to do an espalier along the fence.

Thom, sounds like you've been a busy man. Glad to hear your hours at work are more reasonable now, though your paychecks must have been nice and fat. Extra money is always nice, especially in this economy. Congrats on getting the new kitties. They're adorable. I don't think 4 is too many. I wonder how many is too many? Maybe more than 6? Where does one draw the line, especially when one loves cats? Or dogs? I would say having no more than what one can afford to feed and pay for vet care. Oh, and one can definitely never, ever have too many plants. Of course, there's always my case, where I have more gardens than I have time to really care for (i.e. weeding, staking, spraying, etc.). People who don't care much for gardening will never understand our obsession with plants. Were any of the plants in the destroyed beds able to be saved to be re-planted? Or did you find new homes for them if not? I agree, the new look is too stylized, for my taste, too.

Granite, your countertops sound great. I'd love to see them. Nice to hear you have a new kitten, too. I would never know that the so called granite counter tops are not real granite but something else, and don't come from where they say they come from. That stinks that they can't be honest about it. Seems like that would be illegal. Only a geology major would know that.

Bill, are we gonna see pics of the new compost bin? Ours is definitely a freeform one.

I've had some luck with wintersowing. My problem is that I sowed so much and didn't have room in the gardens to put them all in, and didn't have time, either, cause I was doing so many other projects. Many, therefore, died on me, but this year I did manage to get some in the gardens and they worked out quite well. A foxglove from sowing 2 years ago bloomed beautifully this year, and I have lots of seedlings from it. Will move them around next spring to different spots. I love the foxgloves. Did really well with Summer Berries yarrow, too, and a white malva. Will probably have some to share at my next RU.

For those who are diabetic here or just watching their carbs, has anyone tried any of the Stevia sweeteners? I use Truvia, and I just love it. Very low carbs and great for diabetics. Comes from the Stevia plant, and you can get it in powdered form or liquid. Not an artificial sweetener, and very low calorie, too.

Karen

I've been reading a little about the Stevia sweetener, but never spent enough time learning about it.

I guess I'll put that at the top of my "Winter reading list."

(Say "hi" to cutie Patches...I miss my late pooch, wish they had longer life spans, *sigh*)

We did a temporary fix on our side yard today, just got some top soil spread it out and seeded it. We have soooo much to do in and around the house(the deck, remodelling our family room after Christmas) that the rock garden will just have to wait for now.

I use Truvia, I actually have a Stevia plant have to see how to convert it to a sweetener(does it have to be dried? can I just pull off a leaf and stick it in my coffee, ya know stuff like that)

I'm going to stick to the packaged sweetener until I learn more...I would love to grow my own organic sweetener (one less thing to worry about).

For years stevia for some reason or another they (the government) labelled it a dietary supplement it couldn't be sold in regular stores, you could only find it in organic/health food stores. I find the ones sold in the grocery stores not as sweet as the pure stevia where you only need 1/8 tsp if that for your coffee.

When I want orange juice, I want orange juice (not frozen with bla bla in it) I want butter I want butter - not, I cant belive its not butter, I want milk, I dont want skimmed or 2%, bacon - I cook it, not that stuff you can buy pre-cooked. I want somethng sweet, I want the real thing.

Not big on stuff that is man-made to eat. An orange you can go pick it off a tree and eat it. At this point I dont dare to look whats in my beer!

Same here Sherrie.

I've got bulbs to plant and did not want to plant this late but things happen! Luckily for me we are headed into some warmer weather next week. Good thing it's a small order or i'd be cussing myself out right now.

Lily Bulbs
*Anatasia 6 bulbs
*Brazilia 5 bulbs
Electric 5 bulbs
Patricia's Pride 5 bulbs
Freya 10 bulbs
*Nippon 2 bulbs

Hyacinths:
City of Haarlem 5 bulbs
Miss Saigon 5 bublbs
Firelights 3 bulbs
*Pink Frosting (Fondant) 7 bulbs


Tulips:
*Don Quichottte 5 bulbs
*Wirsoa 10 bulbs

*Mixed Crocus 60 bulbs
* Mixed Duo Daffs
http://www.dutchbulbs.com/store/daffodils/13603

Ones marked with * are going on Sophie's grave, you'll notice almost all are pink or have pink in them. Since Sophie's eye's were a pinkinsh color and her favorite blanket was a pink scooby-doo blanket...Brian wanted a pink flower garden for her. BTW, she was buried in the pink scooby-doo blanket and WILL have pink flowers in the spring in her honer. ^_^

Sorry about Sophie Celest.What a great adventure for her via your posts from the time she was found.
Nice choices for bulbs. I really hope you take some long shots of the bulbs in bloom.

Pixie,

For anyone new to this DG/Northeast forum, we should make it clear that beautiful Sophie was a rabbit, not a human.

Ohhh yes a Rabbit and well loved.
Photoshopped for the fantasy story book started waaaaaay back.

LOL B.A.!! So true, didn't even think of that!!!!!!!
SOPHIA aka SOPHIE WAS A BEAUTIFUL PURE WHITE RABBIT W/PINK EYES.

Thanks Ge, she brought us great joy in the years we had her, we were blessed.
I knew you'd like the lilies :))

She was a mess when Brian found her!!!!

This message was edited Oct 24, 2010 7:42 AM

Awww, how could anyone not love-love-love that photo!

Cleaned up here and sleeping next to a 6oz. can of pieapple juice. Blurry, but for size comparison I love this picture.

Yes, Pixie, blessed indeed!

Sophie would make a great children's book.

aaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwww... Celeste!!!!

I remember that photo.

Sweet pics of Sophie, and I remember her story, I followed it avidly. Nice choices for her burial spot. Now you'll need some stuff that'll bloom in June/July. I'm assuming the lilies will bloom in August or late July.

Boston, I will say "hi" to sweet Patches for you. She is sleeping on my bed right now.

Sherrie, stevia is the real thing, not an artificial sweetener. Just a different sweetener from regular table sugar, which is made from the sugar cane. Apparently it has less carbs than sugar cane sugar, so is okay for diabetics to use, or for those who want less carbs in their diet. Actually the white table sugar with the tiny granules is processed. The natural sugar, which is bigger granules and more tan in color, is closer to the real thing.

Karen

Celeste love the idea of the pink flowers for Sophie's grave


'Sugar in the Raw' is what they call the brown natural sugar

That's right, Jen, I couldn't think of what it was called.

Oh, Celeste, I just thought of something for Sophie's grave. How about some pink Sheffield mums for the fall? That would look really nice. I don't know if there are any autumn crocus that are pink, but that would be another nice thing to have.

Karen

Thanks Karen for the idea's...I have a pink blooming Hardy Chrysanthemum called
'Clara Curtis' that will work!! I'll divided it next spring...don't dare to right now.

Great!

I'm starting a new thread

Lets go to the new thread:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1137099/