4-29 The weekend Edition

I decided my (square)head needs some visual interest and played around with head bands this weekend. 
Recent recipes. I'm  a working on a cornmeal pizza crust. Last week's rendition was 50% flour and 50% cornmeal. (excellent) this week I went 90% cornmeal  with less success. Lots of taste and texture but it did not react with enough stretch (gluten). I'm still stuck on kale and using it in green smoothies. I'm finding Swiss Chard bitter but on pizza the taste blends with the other ingredients so that's going to be the place to hide it. 

Second up was Banana muffins with no added sugar and very little oil. Easy peasy. Super ripe bananas are sweet enough, add a few pecans and you get even more sweet. I reduced the oil from 1/2 Cup to just 2 Tbs and used coconut oil which gives more great flavor. Plus at $9.00 for a 14 oz jar you only want to use 2TBS per recipe. 
Saturday afternoon I went with some friends to SUP (Stand Up Paddle) on Town Lake. I got stitches on Friday so I was not allowed in the water but I enjoyed taking photos for them and people watching there on the dock in the sun. People watching in Austin is a valid pastime. Icing on the cake; after SUP we headed to Austin Java at 12th & Lamar  http://www.austinjava.com/our_menu.php  and we couldn't figure out why there was so much foot traffic in the area until we saw a Peter Pan, Tinkerbell, Girl with a hoola hoop and a few dozen kids who were a toss up between Homeless or UT students. It was Eeyores Birthday Party 2 blocks over in Peas Park and the freaks were out in full force. http://www.eeyores.org/

***Gotta Love Austin*** 

Sunday
I'm not buying any more plants but those I have are all multiplying. I have a few that are so easy to propagate. You can literally break off a piece and stick it in dirt and a new one starts growing. No root starter, no plant food, no fuss. 
If you're wondering what grows in the Texas heat...

Asperagus fern does well and can stand full sun. Bostern Fern only lives  in the shade

All types of Salvia do well, they are native and deer resistant. I'm partial to the blues and purples

 The Ice Plant is one of my all time favorites. Mine is hot pink although this photo looks purple.  The other two pictured here are also creepers that thrive in full sun and take over any spot you give them. the one on the bottom left gets teensy pink buds at the tips.

Suprisingly the purple Shamrock does well in full sun but it is a bit delicate when you split the clumps for new plants. The Bulbine on the right thrives in full sun, also grows in clumps and is easy to break and spread. 

 Happy cat, Six,  loves sleeping outside on the deck

 The bluebonnets have gone to seed so I stopped down the street and collected some pods.  I can plant them in October and they will come up next Spring. 

Did you know you can start your own lemongrass from the bulbs at the grocery store? It was news to me but as you can see it is working! You just stick it in some water and watch it sprout. What could be easier?