Seeds: Saving and Soaking

This year I planted some flower seeds that were saved from my grandma's garden and some rattlesnake bean seeds I saved from my garden. This is what they look like now...

I also tried soaking all of my seeds in water for 24 hours before planting them (a tip I read about here) and I really think it helped them germinate and grow faster. Will definitely do this again next year (and will try saving even more seeds from my garden).

High Crown Muffins

King Arthur Flour has a recipe for basic muffins that I'm experimenting with (I really like my recipe for banana and pumpkin muffins, but was looking for a basic recipe where I could use things like berries, apples, peaches, etc.). The above picture is a batch I made with chopped apples and cinnamon.

There's a tip in the KAF recipe for getting high crowns (vs. flat tops) on your muffins like you see in bakeries. You start with your oven at 500°F and then drop the temperature to 400°F as soon as you put the muffin batter in the oven. It works!

Birthday Treasure Box

I have 24 nieces and nephews, can you believe that? Shopping for individual and thoughtful birthday gifts could be really time consuming, so this year I decided to fill a wooden "treasure box" with inexpensive small gifts and treats and let the younger kids (up to about age 10 or 11) choose five things out of the box for their birthday. The older kids get gift cards they can use to buy something they'd like or put towards a bigger item. So far the kids seem to really enjoy this so maybe it will become a tradition.

Here are some of the things I have in the box, have had in the box, or think would be fun to put in the box:

$1 coins * small notebooks * unique pens and pencils
hair barrettes and clips * candy and gum * bubbles
matchbox cars * foreign coins * stickers
mini puzzles * fingernail polish * disposable cameras
$2 bills * art supplies * magnets
lipgloss * sidewalk chalk * yo-yos
cool rocks and shells * small travel games or cards
costume jewelry * glow sticks * small flashlights
post-it notes * bookmarks * garden seeds
pencil toppers * patterned or colored shoelaces
magic towels (the ones you soak in water to expand)
Pez machines * shark teeth * small books
pocket mirrors * finger puppets * rubber stamps
fun band-aids * Japanese erasers * silly putty

I would love to add more handmade items (I need to search Etsy to see if I can find items around this price range). If you have ideas to add, please comment!