The birthday Ice Cream Bar

For a recent family birthday, we chose to forgo the traditional birthday cake and do an Ice Cream Bar, instead.

I had vanilla ice cream in the freezer, leftover from Easter (see tip below for keeping your ice cream from developing ice crystals after opening). So, that was the initiator of the Ice Cream Bar idea.

I made caramel syrup and hot fudge sauce. I brought out the mint syrup and cherry preserves (both made last summer). I chopped some peanuts. And one daughter contributed some Oreo cookies that were given to her for her birthday (she could never in her life eat a whole package of Oreos by herself!). And that was the Ice Cream Bar.

• Vanilla Bean Ice cream
• Hot Fudge Topping
• Caramel Sauce,
• Cherry Preserves
• Mint Syrup
• Chopped Nuts
• Oreo Cookies

We all made our own sundaes, customizing to our individual preference. I think mine was more hot fudge than anything else! But I always find it interesting how each of us will customize our items so uniquely.

*to keep your ice cream from developing ice crystals, after opening the carton -- place a sheet of plastic wrap directly on the ice cream, inside the container. Press out any air pockets under the wrap. Put the lid on, as usual. The ice cream will keep for many months without change to the surface texture or flavor.

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I'd love to have a "real" greenhouse . . .

. . . but for now, I work with what I've got.

We still have a few more weeks of cool, overnight temperatures, here in the PNW. Too cool for plants like tomato to be out in the garden without a cover.

On the deck and in the garden, I use gallon milk jugs, with the bottoms cut out, over single tomato plants.

For my basil starts, I use plastic clamshells that lettuce came in this past winter.

And in the garden, I use these row covers over a long stretch of small plants.

I planted out my tomato seedlings on the deck, around the first of April, which is about a month earlier than is recommended for our area. They're doing well, under their covers. And I hope to be slicing into a fresh tomato in July this year, which would be about 6 weeks earlier than planting into the bare ground in the garden, around the 6th of May.

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