When I walked over to a friend's house early this week, she had brown paper bags of popcorn on the counter.  "Look at this!" she exclaimed, and told me all about it.  Now I'm excited to share it with you!

You don't need the overpriced, often chemically-laden bags of microwave popcorn; only a brown paper bag (lunch-sized), plain popcorn kernels, and toppings of your choice.

Put 1/4 to 1/3 cup of popcorn in a bag, and fold it over once. The original instructions, on Allrecipes.com, said to staple it once.  While I was surprised to find the metal caused no problem, I also found it wasn't necessary.  So I just fold the top over.  The original also said to add oil to the popcorn before cooking.  It works just as well without, and the oil soaks mostly into the bag, not into the popcorn.

Stand it upright, then microwave on high power until there are about 2 seconds between pops. On my microwave, that's right at 2 minutes.  My neighbors' takes 2 1/2 minutes.  Plan on between 2-3 minutes. 

Do not walk away during this time! There are reports of bags catching fire- so don't let it cook too long!

The bag will fall over during the last bit of cooking.  That's fine.

Top off your popcorn with a drizzle of melted butter and some salt, close the bag, and shake to coat.  I prefer 1-2 teaspoons of butter for a bagful, but use whatever you like.  It's easier to shake if you used the 1/4 cup of kernels.

You could also use butter spray, or olive oil, or coconut oil, Parmesan, cinnamon/sugar, Seasoned Salt, Ranch dressing mix powder, or cheese powder and a bit of cayenene and mustard powder.  The sky's the limit.

Enjoy!

One of the goals last year was to learn what "volunteer" foods there were in my yard, and learn to use them.  Most people call these foods 'weeds', but that's just because they normally don't get used.  The definition of a weed is just a plant in the wrong place. 

One unexpected side effect of this project was that I do a little less weeding, and a little more harvesting!  Below are some of the 'free food' plants in my yard.

Should you want to try this at home, here are a few common-sense guidelines:

1) Eat it only after you're SURE what it is and if it's edible.  Look at different photos of the plant, or have someone who knows come check it with you. I prefer to identify it from two sources, to be sure.

2) Eat only the parts you know are edible.  Just because the leaves are edible doesn't mean the seeds are.  Remember the potato plant: the tubers (roots) are great, but the tops are poisonous.

3) Try a little bit first, wait a while to see if you react to it. Even if it's edible, you could be allergic to it. 

4) Notice where it's growing, think about if that's a problem.  Plants growing alongside busy roads will most likely have picked up extra chemicals, externally as well as internally. 

With all that out of the way, for additional information on the plants, try the database at Plants For A Future   and the identification handbook Common Plants of the Yard and Garden.  My new favorite book is Wild Edible Plants; From Dirt to Plate, where the author, John Kallas, not only tells you what is edible, but how  to prepare it.

Shepherds' Purse
Capsella bursa-pastoris (L.)

My daughters love to nibble on the heart-shaped seed pods.  Leaves are good raw or cooked, but definitely best before the plant starts to get tall.  That's all I've done with the plant, though Plants For A Future lists a lot more possibilities.

Common Mallow, "Cheeseweed", "Cheeseplant"
Malva neglecta

 Scientific names can be hilarious!  Take this one, for instance, or Tribulus terrestris(puncture vine).  Anyway, I digress...

 My children like the “cheesies” (round, button-shaped seeds) so much that one son transplanted some INTO his garden.  All parts of this plant are edible- root, stems, leaves, and fruits (cheesies).   They are pleasantly flavored, and can be used like okra to thicken things.  The section on mallow, alone, in John Kallas' Wild Edible Plants is worth the price of the book!

Or, how to make storage space out of 'no space'.

This is what the batter using a whole egg looks like.

This is the same batter with only 1/2 egg in it.

The brownie after cooking: see that small shiny spot close to the center?  It's still a little doughy, but will finish cooking as it sits.

Simple, quick, and a nice size to use almost anywhere.

An old gardening neighbor, years ago, told me, "Make sure you have a place to sit on every side of your house, to enjoy your yard and nature."  This is a cheap and quick way to help with that.

Upside-down, so you can see how it's assembled.  The 2x2's are the white boards here, sitting flush inside against the legs.  Use two screws to connect the 2x2's to the legs.  Then use four screws to go through the bottom of the 2x2's into the seat boards. 
This way, you have no screws showing on top. 
The 1x6's are connected to the bench by screwing them to the sides of the legs, 2 screws each side of a leg.  This makes a huge difference in the stability of the bench.

For a similar bench, see here or here.  If this isn't what you want, try 'the mega-guide to free garden bench plans'.  Some of the links don't work anymore, but it still has a lot to offer.