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     April 22nd is Earth Day.  Since this time of year is when gardens are being planted around the country, depending on your weather, and we are all looking forward to those fresh tasting fruits and veggies, we thought that in honor of Earth Day, we would talk about our garden faves! Because, a great was to help the earth is to plant some plants that produce food and cultivate and use them. So here is today's Friday Fave question: 

What is your favorite garden produce that you can hardly wait to taste this year?

     One of my goals this year is to put in a garden.  Here in Phoenix, that should have happened already, and it hasn't.  Luckily, except for the couple of extremely hot months in the middle of the summer, we can grow all year here.  So, it looks like it will be a Fall garden for me this year! 
      When I do have a Spring/Summer garden in, I love so much of the produce, that it is hard for me to choose my favorite, but Maddy and I chose the same thing this time.  Tomatoes!  Nothing tastes better than fresh tomatoes picked ripe from the vine.  The flavor is just overwhelming every year when I bite into that first tomato. 

     The tomato in that picture came from my garden a couple of years ago and got turned into some delicious salsa! Fresh salsa is best with homegrown tomatoes! Click that link for the best recipe! 

      Lindsey says that she loves homegrown corn on the cob! Just like tomatoes, fresh corn on the cob is so sweet, tender and delicious.  And, if you missed my recipe for grilled corn with cilantro lime butter, you have to try it.  It is full of flavor and the taste just bursts in your mouth. 

     Alicia really enjoys gardening.  Even when she was a college student, she would plant tomatoes in her rented house's flowerbeds and in her apartments she had success with Topsy Turvy Tomatoes hanging from her porch.  When I asked her what her garden fave is she answered that she loves her herb garden.  It is so great to be cooking and to be able to go out and snip some fresh basil or rosemary when you need it and to get that wonderful fresh herb taste.  Now that she lives in the Bay area, the weather is much different from Phoenix, but she is figuring it out.  She has just planted a couple of grow boxes behind her house with a nice variety of herbs and vegetables. 

       One last favorite is strawberries! I love picking bright red berries that are fully ripe.  They are so sweet and delicious.  Eating strawberries from the grocery store just doesn't cut it after eating the vine ripened ones.  And then, using them for Strawberry Shortcake or for making Strawberry Jam is just the icing on the cake.

     If you are ready to get planting this year, we have found a few helps for you! Take a look! 

​     If you have limited space, these Topsy Turvy tomatoes are a great idea! 

     If you want to put in your own herb garden, here is a great assortment of non-GMO seeds! Non-GMO is great because after you start growing, you can begin to collect your own seeds to plant in following years. 

     Do you need a place to plant?  There are some attractive grow boxes available at a great price. 

    What are your favorite things to harvest from your garden?  Do you plant one? Is there something that you have had great success with? Let us know in the comments. 
​    Have a great weekend! Have a Happy Earth Day! 

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 The weather is warming up (it is here at least) and warm weather means it is strawberry season! I love strawberries and every time they're on sale I have to buy them! Well, as you may recall, the last time strawberries were on sale I stocked up and my mom and I showed youhow to can your own strawberry jam. Well, this time around I was in the mood for a sweet treat, so I made strawberry shortcake!

Strawberry shortcake has got to be one of the easiest, lightest, and freshest desserts out there! The great thing about this recipe is that if you take the first four ingredients I list for the cake you can make your own homemade Bisquick mix and make a huge batch! Then you can make strawberry shortcake all the time. If you use a batch of the mix, use two cups to make this strawberry shortcake. Since it is a Bisquick type mix, the shortcake itself is more of a sweet biscuit. It's light and sweet, and lets you focus on the flavor of the sweet strawberries and cream!

This is a quick and easy strawberry shortcake recipe, and its the perfect ending to any summer meal!

Just as a quick and final side note, as you may recall, we have partnered with Uber! You can click on our links to start the process of becoming a driver partner with Uber. It's a great way to make some extra cash on the side.

Well, as a woman, you may have some apprehensions about driving with Uber but a girl's gotta hustle too! Uber's safety features are designed to help you feel more secure in your decision to drive. 

Here are a few highlights that should help give you added peace of mind while you're doing that weekend hustling.

Share Your Trip
In case you're ever feeling unsafe or if you just want to let your friends know where you are, you can activate the "Share My Trip" feature within the Uber Driver-Partner app. Just go to your settings and with a tap of a button, invite people from your contacts list to see where you are on the road. They won't see any details about the rider on your trip but they can keep an eye on where you are.

Turn this on when you're about to finish your last trip of the day and head over to a girls' date! This is a doubly good feature since your gals will know you're on your way and can confirm when you get there.

Riders Must Share Details
Before a user starts taking rides with Uber, they must create an account using their phone number, name and electronic payment. Riders are not anonymous and Uber keeps records in the case you need to report anything related to the rider. Obviously these details are not shared between riders and you but there's an added layer of protection if you do need to get in touch with a rider. Also, Uber anonymizes phone numbers so that riders won't have your personal number and vice versa.

Round the Clock Support
Uber has response teams on call 24/7 for any incidents that need support. Whether a rider forgot their wallet in the back of your car or left a bit of a mess, you can contact Uber support for help with next steps to get it resolved. You will always have access to help when you need it from their support team!

Please keep in mind there are a few requirements to be eligible to drive with Uber! Driver requirements include, but are not limited to:
- Be at least 21 years of age
- Have at least one year of licensed driving experience in the U.S. (Three years if you are under 23 years old)
- Have a valid U.S. driver's license
- Use an eligible 4-door vehicle
- You can get started HERE on the sign up process!

Simply Sweet Strawberry Shortcake

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Alicia here to continue my culinary adventure through France. 

This week I chose Flammekueche, which I have made before, and loved! Flammekueche is from the Alsace region on the Eastern Border of France by the Rhine river. The region has a long and storied history. Many wars have been fought over the region and it has been conquered or just annexed by France and Germany. Alsace even has it's own dialect (language) that is being promoted recently to be learned in schools. Alsace is part of France now, but the region still has German influences in its culture. 

And that's why Flammekueche sounds German, but is a French food. I figure this fusion food is perfect since we have both French and German ancestors (remember we did German food in January).

Flammekueche is a thin crust onion and bacon tarte with a cream base. But in France it's more refereed to as a pizza. And also it's really delicious!!! Full disclosure, I have made this before. Last year Adrian and I did a very similar experiment, and I made Falmmekueche. I haven't stopped thinking about it since. I don't know why I didn't make it again until now. It's actually very fast and easy. It's one of the reasons I love it. I think there's a perception that French food is fussy and difficult, but not all of it is! And this is one of those recipes that can be a regular in your menu line-up!

Last time I think I used ricotta cheese to make the cream. But this time I saw some other recipes that lightened the recipe up by using greek yogurt for the cream base. If you were in France you would probably use something likebreakfast cream, but that is not very common here in America. I decided I would just get a single serving size of 2%  plain Greek yogurt, so I didn't have to have a whole carton of Greek yogurt. It was about 6oz of yogurt and 2 heaping TBS of natural sour cream. 

​This recipe calls for nutmeg and you do not want to skip it. It is so delicious! And it compliments the strong flavor of the onion so well. 

I also used store bought thin crust dough because we were having a really busy day, but usually I use our crust recipe (and I like ours better). But store bought works in a pinch. I accidentally over-baked it the first time around in the oven, but even though the crust was more brown than I would have liked, it still came out quite tasty!

Flammekueche ( Alsatian Pizza)

I hope you'll give this a try.

​And if you want to try out more French recipes, take a look at this awesome class put on by Panna! Panna is like Netflix for cooking videos by Michelin-starred Chefs, and they've just started a new class on French cooking! You can buy just the class (10 lessons) for $60 or sign up for the site for $5.99/month. There's also an option to join for life at $200. They have a free trial period, so you can sign up and if you don't like it, you can cancel your subscription. But I think you'll like it!