Author: Lucero De La Tierra

Firstly, I'm a mom and wife. Professionally, IT consulting is my job and blogging is the outlet for my passions. I write about things that affect the everyday life of a stay-at-home parent or any parent for that matter such as parenting, relationships, discipline, the media, product reviews, giveaways, social media, food, cooking, gardening and anything else that might come my way.

Refresh Your Garden Design | May Dreams Gardens

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And the winner of the Fiskars loppers and hoe is “BooksandGarden”.  I’ve notified her by email so she can claim her prizes. Many thanks to the hostess of the virtual book party, Rebecca Sweet , for arranging all the prizes and blogger guests. I was honored to be included. I am truly enjoying Rebecca’s new book, Refresh Your Garden Design with Color, Texture, & Form .  It is inspiring me to finish out the areas of the garden that I haven’t quite gotten around to planting yet.   I long for the day when I can take a visitor around my garden and not have to say, “I still need to add plants to this border”. This book is helping me to see how I can do that. In fact… I am so smitten with this book that I’ve decided to do my own giveaway — one copy of Refresh Your Garden with Color, Texture, & Form .  If you’d like to win a copy of this book, just leave a comment by Wednesday, November 13, 2013 at 11:13 pm EST and include a link or disguised email address so I can reach you.  Winner will be chosen by random drawing. I’ll have Amazon ship the book directly to you, so you’ll have to give me an address if you are the winner.  Open to residents of the U.S., 18 and over, etc. P.S. –  Rebecca is one of the nicest people you will ever meet and she will protest that I didn’t need to do this, but we’ll just not pay attention to her. She’s in California, I’m in Indiana.  We aren’t likely to see each other in person for quite some time. Besides, I want to Garden It Forward !

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Skip Thawing Veggies in Pasta & Rice Dishes

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When you’re cooking a pasta recipe that calls for frozen peas, there’s no need to cook the peas before adding them to the pasta. Many frozen vegetables and fruits, like peas, don’t need to be thawed before they can be used in recipes. The same goes for berries, corn, bell pepper strips, broccoli, florets, and cauliflower florets. These can be thrown right into hot woks, skillets, and pots. frozen mixed veggies Try this Kitchen Shortcut with Creamy Shrimp and Pea Pasta .

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MyRecipes.com Cake of the Week: Beeramisu

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Tiramisu might not technically be considered “cake”, but ladyfingers are made of spongecake, so I’m going to count it. If you haven’t tasted tiramisu, you’ve probably at least heard of it. It’s a popular coffee flavored Italian dessert that’s made of layers of coffee-soaked ladyfingers, mascarpone cheese and cocoa powder. It’s believed tiramisu originated between 1967 and 1969 in Treviso, Italy, but there is some debate about who actually created it first. I’m just glad someone came up with it! Countless variations of tiramisu exist in the world of recipes, cookbooks, magazines and food blogs, but today I want to share a recipe that you possibly haven’t seen before. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you… Beeramisu . beeramisu-su-1886179-x As you might expect, this tiramisu is extremely close to the original. It has the ladyfingers, mascarpone cheese and cocoa powder, but this recipe calls for dipping the ladyfingers in a stout beer and mixing some Kahlua with the mascarpone cheese. Are you a fan of Beeramisu yet? Beeramisu definitely sounds more manly than tiramisu, at least to me. I think this spin-off on a classic Italian dessert would not only be a fun choice for any occasion, it would also be excellent for tailgating or a game-viewing get-together with friends and family. I typically think of bringing quick, easy and easily-transportable desserts and snacks to tailgates, and tiramisu is just that. You can buy ladyfingers at most grocery stores, so there isn’t any baking involved. Just layer it up in a loaf cake pan, pop it in the freezer, and whenever you’re ready to go, so is your fancy Italian dessert. Here are a few more variations of tiramisu: Tiramisu Layer Cake Tiramisù Layer Cake Recipe Tiramisu Tiramisu Recipe Brownie Tiramisu Brownie Tiramisù Recipe

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