Outdoor Week: Orange Cakes

I really enjoy campfire food. Tinfoil dinners are one of my favorite things about camping. I'm so excited to have a fire pit in our backyard this summer. Now I can have real smores (not microwaved) whenever I want. The kids and I are also going to make plenty of orange cakes.

What you need:
Yellow Cake Mix (and all the ingredients to make the cake.)
1 Medium-Large Orange for each person
Heavy Duty Tin Foil

• Cut and save the top off each orange. About a half inch from the top.

• Hollow out each orange with a spoon. This is kind of like cleaning out a pumpkin before you carve it. You won't be using the fruit in this recipe so eat it now, save it for later or throw it away.



I had a super cute helper!

• Make the cake mix following the instructions on the back.




She was so proud of herself for using the hand mixer. I hope she doesn't get any ideas!


• Fill each hollow orange "cup" about 3/4 full.

• Put the lid back on top and double wrap in tinfoil. (Write your name on the foil with a Sharpie.)
• Place directly in the campfire and let them cook. After 15-20 minutes check to see if the cake is done. You can rotate them once or twice to help them cook evenly.
• CAREFULLY, remove the cakes from the fire with tongs.



The orange cakes weren't being very photogenic, but the few that I didn't burn tasted great!

• Eat right out of the orange with a spoon, you don't need a plate or bowl!

The flavor of the orange naturally seeps into the cake. They are delicious.

Have you ever made these? What's your favorite flavor combination? Orange with chocolate cake? Orange with lemon cake? I bet if you found a large lemon you could do this with a lemon cake too! Maybe a grapefruit and white cake. The possibilities could be endless!

Outdoor Week: Household Hint

This isn't my Flower Bed, but it makes me smile. I found the picture here.

If you haven't started getting flower beds and gardens ready for planting, now is the time. I was in a gardening class/lecture several years ago that gave these suggestions for soil preparation and fertilization:

Soil

• Peat Moss-Helps retain moisture and adds organic matter.
• Vermiculite-Lightens soil for better root growth.
• Compost-Adds small amounts of fertilizer and organic matter.
• Sand-Roots like it because it's coarse. Sand is great for carrots.
• Gypsum-Good for clay soils.
• Manure-Usually contains weed seeds, but adds a little fertilizer.

Fertilizer

• Manure has little nutrient value.
• Lawns need a fertilizer high in Nitrogen like 20-5-5.
• Gardens need Phosphorus ltry a  16-16-8 mix.
• Phosphorus helps with flower development
• Nitrogen helps with vegetative growth
• Potassium is used for good root development.

Outdoor Week: Photo Tips

As I was thinking about outdoor week I thought of two things; camping and photography.  For a long time now I have wanted to be a photographer, but I only have a simple point and shoot camera.  One day I will have an awesome camera, I promise.  I absolutely LOVE pictures of nature.  I love being outside and enjoying this beautiful earth that we have been given.  I thought I would share some of my tips for taking good pictures outside.

Oahu, Hawaii

The first thing you have to remember is your camera.  This may seem obvious but you have no idea how many times I have been without my camera and the perfect picture comes along.  I have a small camera that I keep in my purse at all times.  It is just a point and shoot but I think it works pretty well.  All of the pictures in this post were taken with the same point and shoot camera.  The next thing you have to remember is an extra set of batteries.  Yet again, many times with a dead camera!! So frustrating.  



Hawaii/My backyard

All of the pictures above were taken using the my macro setting on my camera.  This setting is great when you want to get up close and personal with your subject.  I really like to use the macro setting when I am taking pictures of plants and flowers.  I am amazed at the detail I can accomplish with just my simple camera.



Maui, Hawaii

Another thing I love to get pictures of are sunsets.  Both of the sunset pictures above were taken in Hawaii.  Now the lovely location might have something to do with the outcome of the pictures, but I think they turned out incredible!  I love scoping out new locations to take sunset pictures.  Don't you just love that tree silhouette?  The sun shining through turned out amazing.  The next tip is to take as many pictures as you can.  Thank goodness for digital, right?!  The more you take the better chance you have of getting a really good picture.



Clockwise from left; Moab, UT; Oceanside, CA; Bear Lake, UT; My backyard (cute puppies!)

 Even though nature scenes are my favorite to photograph.  You definitely have to document your vacations with pictures of you and the people you are with.  My husband always complains that all of our vacation pictures are of just him,  I told him that is because he never takes pictures, it is just me!  The next tip is to learn how to work your timer on your camera.  This helps so much when there is just the two of us.

I found a few places online that have some awesome tips for taking pictures.  Martha Stewart has five simple tips that are good to keep in mind.  Photo.net has 10 tips to improve your vacation photos when using a point and shoot camera.  Both of these sites are awesome! 

Do you have any tips you would like to share?  We would love to hear them.

Outdoor Week: Front Porch Flower Box

I love flowers and wanted to somehow bring them up on my porch. After pondering this for a few days the perfect idea came to me. I wanted the flowers to be elevated and I came up with putting a flower box on a end table or nightstand. I went to my favorite thrift store, Salvation Army, and found exactly what I wanted (that doesn't happen much). The best part, is that this end table was just $2. You can always find great end tables when you go to the thrift store. There is always a handful at any given time.

I had to do some research before I made my front porch flower box and thought I would share with you what I learned.

First I painted my table. Erica has a great tutorial on this.



I had my husband make me some boxes with some left over wood from the playhouse we are building. Any box will do. You don't have to have holes in the bottom (continue reading to find out why).

My husband nailed some small pieces of wood to the bottom of the box so that water won't get trapped between the table and the box.


You will need a water sealer inside your box. I used Flood Wood Sealer I purchased from Home Depot or should I say my little guy did. I had some great helping hands on this project.

For the outside of the box we primed, painted and then topped it off with the water sealer.



If you don't have holes in the bottom of your box you can use a layer of gravel. This helps hold the water so that the dirt doesn't get to wet and is unable to dry out. I ended up putting 2 inches of gravel at the bottom of my box.

Fill the rest of the box with dirt.



Something that my husband learned in one of his botany classes is that you want to break up the roots on your plants when you take them out of your purchased plastic container. They roots are so tight that it helps if you separate them. I used my hand and just loosen them up. My husband likes to scrape a knife across the roots to beak them up.



Plant your flowers and your box is ready to enjoy!

Happy summer to everyone!