https://www.monaclough.com/new-events daily 0.75 2017-07-25 https://www.monaclough.com/blog daily 0.75 2023-06-05 https://www.monaclough.com/blog/2023/6/5/garden-planting monthly 0.5 2023-06-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59776544bebafbc2147f6522/01a2218f-e7aa-4954-92f1-7cd77796b5d5/ED8C9EAE-2A5D-44AE-8CE1-082FE3231607.jpg Blog - Garden Planting - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.monaclough.com/blog/2023/2/8/garden-planning-1 monthly 0.5 2023-06-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59776544bebafbc2147f6522/03985248-bb91-4f0a-800e-f7f3787475c1/Seedbox.JPEG Blog - Garden Planning - Make it stand out Seed Organization I store my seeds in these clear storage boxes I got from Michaels. It’s a system I adopted on the advice of Jessica Sowards from Roots and Refuge. She probably also recommended I put my seeds in little baggies or something, advice I did not heed, which is why in many cases I have random seeds floating around. So please learn from my mistakes: Put your seeds in smaller envelopes or baggies first, or at least do SOMETHING to make sure they don’t escape from their packets. But overall I love this system. https://www.monaclough.com/blog/2023/1/29/the-girls-are-five monthly 0.5 2023-02-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59776544bebafbc2147f6522/f5c54c08-9c42-462e-b4a2-c5b6ad0ef4d4/fresh-cantaloupe-cake-blueberries.jpg Blog - The Girls Are Five: The year of the Cantaloupe Cake and Buttercream Flowers - The Original From Eclectic Lamb Justice chose this Cantaloupe Cake from Eclectic Lamb. If you want something super-pretty and made entirely of fruit, this is it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59776544bebafbc2147f6522/665ac05b-2e4c-45c3-ae03-33d101e7e58b/mc+cantelope+cake.jpg Blog - The Girls Are Five: The year of the Cantaloupe Cake and Buttercream Flowers - My Version My version is not QUITE as pretty as the original, but hey, mine was a group project. However, it really was SUPER easy, mostly. You can just look at the photo and follow your nose. I blended some powdered sugar with Greek yogurt and cream cheese to make the frosting that I used as a base. And the frosting turned out great as long as you kept it cold. As it warmed up, it basically reverted back to its yogurt texture, which made it still delicious but also way too slippery to hold on to the Cantaloupe Cake. My favorite thing about it was that it’s literally ALL fruit except for that so I was perfectly fine letting them eat the whole thing. I also mixed in some raspberries. NONE of this fruit is in season right now so its taste was just so-so. But I can’t wait to make this in the summer time with seasonal fruits. ALSO, I think this cake will do much better when it doesn’t have to sit next to the CHOCOLATE CAKE AND FROSTING COVERED deliciousness which was Saoirse’s flower cake. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59776544bebafbc2147f6522/65293ec6-465f-4134-8506-eb858ed48b67/mcflowercaked.jpg Blog - The Girls Are Five: The year of the Cantaloupe Cake and Buttercream Flowers - My Version While I could replicate the look of ZERO of these flowers, I think it still turned out pretty well. I just couldn’t get the buttercream to do any of the things the original creator did. I’m not sure if it was because I was using the wrong tips, or what, but clearly, mine does not look like the original. HOWEVER, I still really enjoyed the process and discovering that yes, I can make some frosting flowers that look pretty good and it’s not that hard. Best of all, my cake did NOT cost a ton of money AND part of our tradition is that the girls get to decorate their own cakes. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59776544bebafbc2147f6522/582efde2-07ec-4326-8381-30923c171c0f/IMG_1404-550x413.jpg Blog - The Girls Are Five: The year of the Cantaloupe Cake and Buttercream Flowers - Original From How to Cook That Saoirse chose this Flower Cake from How to Cook That. For the flower cake I used what has become my go-to cake lately, and it’s the Chocolate Cake recipe that’s literally on the back of the Swan’s Cake Flour box. I haven’t tested this cake using regular flour. I’ve only made it using Swan’s Down Cake Flour. But I can tell you every time I’ve made this Simple Chocolate Cake recipe using this flour I’ve gotten MASS compliments. 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