Prepping Fruit for Smoothies

Anytime is smoothie time but the summer is the best time to take advantage of available abundant fruit (unless you live in the tropics where fresh fruit is available all year). If I want to make smoothies with fruit, I need to plan ahead. I like to use frozen fruit in my smoothies (instead of just ice). If I freeze it myself, I can put it into single serving size bags and I’ve chosen the quality of the fruit.

Apples

I can usually find fresh apples most of the year, but before harvest season in September or October, the apples have been stored someplace in a climate-controlled setting. Most other fruit we buy here in Pennsylvania from October to June has been grown somewhere else and shipped to our stores. When local fruit shows up at farmer’s markets and the grocery store, I know it’s time to start chopping!

Anytime I buy a bag of apples and we aren’t eating them fast enough, I take the time to chop them up in small pieces, put them in a snack-size zip bag and get them into the freezer.

This quart bag held 4 bags of diced apples. I can easily break off half the bag if I want to mix it with other fruit.

Blueberries

Every year the Kiwana’s in our area have a blueberry sale. The blueberries come from New Jersey (or maybe Maine?) and are very clean and delicious. A 10-lb box this year was $38 and I bought only one box…I still have blueberries in the freezer from last year. I wash them right away and put them into 1-quart zip bags. Once they are frozen, I can pour them out of the bag like marbles right into my blender or into a measuring cup if I need them to bake muffins, etc.

Bananas

I especially like bananas in my smoothies, and freezing them in slices makes it really easy. Bananas don’t keep very long on my counter top and always go bad before I can get to them.

When they are abundant in the store and I have time, I buy about 20 bananas…all about the same ripeness. Then I turn on my music and start chopping!

Since we compost the peals, I’ve learned to remove the stickers. Even when the peals decompose and turn to good dirt the stickers NEVER decompose!

Each snack bag holds exactly 10 slices, which is about 1/2 a banana. Perfect!

Ready for the freezer! I don’t even have label them…they look like banana slices when frozen!

Nectarines

I just took three nectarines that were not going to last on my counter and chopped them up.

These are ready for a smoothie…and I can use just half a bag if I like!

Making Smoothies

My smoothies start with about 8oz of Almond or Coconut milk. You could use regular milk or water. My choices for Protein Powder include:

Or a whey-based protein powder:

This brand is called “Clean Simple Eats.” Very tasty!

It even comes in many flavors! I haven’t tried them yet…but the vanilla is delicious!

Milk goes in the blender first. Then a scoop of protein powder.

Then about 1 cup of frozen fruit.

Fruit goes on top of milk and powder.

About one minute in the blender and I have my “smoothie milk shake” for breakfast!

Prepping fruit for smoothies doesn’t take long but it sure makes my morning much easier to get going! Don’t let any fruit go to waste…get it in the freezer ready for smoothies! Enjoy!

Please email me directly if you have questions or comments: maryjkisner@gmail.com

From a Collection to a Collage: Profile of an Artist updated

(This post is an update of one I wrote 5 years ago, now updated with new information.)

Today I’d like to tell you about a very talented and artistic friend of mine: Toni Duchi. She also happens to be my connection to Nittany Greyhounds and has been a friend for over 35 years.

While she has many creative talents, I think her current endeavors in making mixed media pieces have produced some stunning pieces. I call them collages, which is…an artistic composition of materials and objects pasted over a surface. Let me share an example of one she made specifically for me.

In 2019, Bert and I drove across the country to visit Ted’s family in California. We planned our trip to go through many National Parks along the way. As we traveled, I tried to NOT collect tacky t-shirts that I would never wear again. Instead, I picked up some books about the parks we were visiting and a few postcards that did the views justice. I did take a lot of pictures, but nothing was as good as the professionally done ones that got chosen to be on a postcard. At gift shops there were some tiny medallions representing each park, and even some polished rocks from the Petrified Forest. I wasn’t sure what I would do with these things, but they fit in my suitcase!

Books

Postcards

Rocks and Shells

When I got home, I had a pile of stuff (called a collection) that was fun to look at, but eventually ended up sitting on a shelf.

Making a Collage with a Collection

Finally, I begged for help. Toni told me to choose a section of the country/trip that had special meaning to me. It was obvious most of the stuff I had saved was from the Southwest; the landscape was so different from what I saw here in Pennsylvania.

I picked out an assortment of items from postcards, medallions, rocks, fossils and a Native American symbol (the metal hand below):

My Collection

I handed this stuff over and had no idea what she would create with it. Several weeks later, this is what she brought me!

My Collage of the Southwest

This shadow box collage is 12 ½ inches by 7 ½ inches. It beautifully represents my memories of the Southwest. The postcards became the background and the three-dimensional pieces built up the scene. She added a few pieces of driftwood she had to pull it all together. Amazing!!! This now sits on my desk and I’m reminded everyday of the places we visited. The guide books are nearby if I want to read more. I still have more postcards and rocks leftover of the many other places we visited, but this collage pulls together a whole host of memories.

With all the various projects I enjoy doing, designing scenes like this is NOT one of my talents. Thank you, Toni!

A Second Request for Toni

Soon after Toni made the collage of the Southwest, I had another design dilemma that she helped me with. I was working on a new wall hanging for my living room. It will be a sampler quilt wall hanging using new colors for the room…silver and burgundy. Here are the blocks laid out on the floor to show the colors:

I showed these blocks to Toni and asked if she’d make me something to go on the wall by the front door. Using her talents with polymer clay, she made me a framed collage made of individual tiles in silver and burgundy. Here are some pictures!

This piece is 16 ½” by 20 ½”.

Here’s a close-up of the saying and the tiles:

Amazing! I will treasure this picture forever! Thank you, friend!

If you’d like to see more of Toni’s work, come see us at the Art in the Orchard Festival at Way Fruit Farm, July 9-11, 2026. We’ll be sharing a booth again! Here’s a picture of how she displays her wonderful art:

Come to the festival and meet Toni! You may find something you’d like! Please email me directly if you have questions or comments: maryjkisner@gmail.com

Garden Update June 9, 2026

Now that all the plants and seeds are in the ground, it’s time to show you where the garden stands today! I’ll try to follow the same sequence throughout the summer so you can compare the pictures (if you’d like to!)

Here is the third planting of radishes. We still have a few to eat from the first picking. I think these are the round radishes.

Here is the second planting of radishes near the lettuce beds. These are the long radishes. They look funny because more than half of each radish grows above ground! I’m picking the lettuce as we use it and started the second row two weeks ago.

Along the patio, Bert planted the petunias. He started the seeds more than a month ago in pots but they really struggled to get going. Hopefully, they will be red, white and blue flowers…but might not get there by the 4th of July!

He put a few extra in a separate pot on the patio.

Just yesterday I ran to Walmart and picked up 3 small pots of Spearmint. I’m hoping we get a nice big flowering pot of mint with flowers the bees like.

The Sugar Snap Peas are going nuts…just in time for the deer to wander by and munch a few right off the top! GRRRR…

The Asparagus just keeps on doing its thing. Somehow the deer don’t bother it at all!

The new bed off to the side of the wood pile is now planted with giant pumpkins! We’ll keep a watch out for any wandering groundhogs…last year they took bites out of many of the pumpkins before they even turned orange.

Up in the garden on the hill, the tomatoes are looking good.

Beside the tomatoes I planted two rows of beans…one green and one yellow. I can just see the first bean popping up.

The third section will remain empty for a few weeks and then I’ll plant more beans there.

The next section has three rows of carrots. We often have trouble getting the carrots to start because the ground is too cold. Hopefully, by waiting an extra week the ground is warmer.

The last section has cucumber plants. I think they are supposed to be bush cucumbers, but I imagine they’ll make vines anyway.

Finally, the Echinacea is going nuts! Yay! In the last picture you can see a close up of the flowers beginning!

So, that’s what’s happening in our backyard! I suspect as the summer continues, we’ll have something to say about bugs, blight and wandering deer…just for fun!

If you have comments or questions, please email me directly at maryjkisner@gmail.com. Or you can comment on my Facebook page.

Enjoy your summer!

Getting Ready for the July 9 to 11, 2026 Festival

I’m looking forward to selling my beaded bracelets at the Art in the Orchard Festival, July 9-11. The festival is held on the ground of the Way Fruit Farm in Stormstown PA. They are located on Rt. 550 on the north outskirts of State College. I will be in a booth with two other artist. Luckily, we each have our specialty and I will be grateful to have some friends to talk with over the three days of the festival.

I’d like to share what I’ve been making with you but don’t plan to try to sell the bracelets online…yet. The hardest part is figuring out how to set up an actual ‘store front’ to handle the sales. At the moment, all sales will be in CASH at the festival in July. After the festival, I’ll see if there is enough interest to consider selling them online.

I now have a collection of 33 Specialty bracelets with a detailed description of each of the stone beads in the bracelet. Each come in three sizes. You can see that list below. When I say they are Bracelets with Intention, that means I have made the bracelet with intention…my thoughts are focused on the strengths of the individual beads and how they might be helpful in supporting the topic of the bracelet. When you wear the bracelet and consider the strengths of the individual beads, you reinforce the intention of the bracelet.

This disclaimer is on every bracelet package I make:

About your Gemstone Bracelet:

Each of the beads in your bracelet have meaning and together support each other for your well-being. They are described in the insert with your bracelet. You can wear the bracelet or carry it in your pocket. Each time you see it or handle it remember its intention as described on the tag, such as bringing you joy or lowering your stress level. Reminder: This bracelet is not a medical device. Its purpose is to help you focus and send positive energy to your mind and body. I have made your bracelet with love and the best of intentions for your well-being. Mary Kisner

Here is a list of the Specialty Bracelets:

For the festival, I also have an assortment of bracelets that have just one kind of bead, like amethyst or carnelian. While each stone bead has meaning by itself, I know I sometimes like to choose a specific color to match an outfit. Those bracelets are not listed in the catalog because I’m always making something new, however I have about 75 bracelets in three sizes that showcase a specific stone.

Designing my booth has always been difficult for me. My ability to string beads and design bracelets doesn’t seem to carry over to designing a big space. Last year my booth was pretty straight forward…and boring. This year I enticed Bert to make me a kind of rack with clips that could display my bracelets…which in turn required me to redesign my packaging! Luckily, I started that in January and as I make new bracelets, the packaging all matches! The bracelet is visible, and inside the folded label the individual beads are described.

Here is a picture of my booth last year (boring, I know!):

This year, (still under design!) my booth might look like this…I did get a second sign and will expand to a second table:

My problem is I like to keep the bracelets in their packaging but on display they attract attention. The new packaging allows folks to see the bracelet without opening it. I think I’ll hang a few loose, but keep most in their individual bags so folks can paw through the packaged items easily. Once they see something they like, they can open the package to try it on. I also have ‘tester’ bracelets so they know what size they are looking for.

So…that’s how my preparations are going for the Art in the Orchard Festival at Way Fruit Farm, July 9-11, 2026. I’d love to see you there!

For questions and comments, please email me directly at maryjkisner@gmail.com.

Garden Update May 26, 2026

The sun is shining today…finally! It’s been cool, cloudy and wet for a few days. Hopefully, the next week will be a little warmer for the new plants!

Here’s what’s happening around the Kisner homestead. I pulled all the radishes last week and replanted more today. They were delicious!

Today I replanted the four spaces with just one kind of radish, called Fabuloso. They were big, round and not too spicy. I put 12 seeds in each bin…one in each hole. No seed goes to waste!

The lettuce is looking good and I’ll start adding some to my salads. I started more seeds in the middle section and they are popping. On the left is another planting of the long radishes, called Fire and Ice. They seem to love the cool wet weather!

At the edge of the patio we have these planters waiting for flowers.

Bert started petunias in pots but they struggled to get going. Finally, we are seeing some success! They will be red, white and blue and hopefully look great by the 4th of July!

In the first fenced garden off the patio we have our Sugar Snap Peas. They are getting the hang of reaching out to the fence (and each other!). I’m ready for some fresh peas as a snack!

The second fenced bed has Asparagus. The tall stuff was planted last year and we left it alone. It was still struggling this year so Bert ordered 10 new crowns. He planted them all around the bed so soon we should see some evidence that they will grow! Maybe next year we’ll have a meal of asparagus!

This fenced area by the woodpile will be our experimental plot for pumpkins. Who knows if they’ll grow and if we can keep the groundhogs away! The plants are still in pots under grow lights, but seeing how big the leaves are, they should be in the ground soon.

Luckily, Bert got the rain barrels set up before all the rain this weekend. They are both full now and the water will be pumped up to the bigger storage tank in the garden on the hill.

Bert got the tomatoes planted last week (right before that big wind and rainstorm). They seemed to survive just fine.

Here’s the view from the other end of the garden. The Echinacea is looking good!

And of course, the Echinacea deserves a picture all by themselves!

So, that’s what’s happening in our garden today. Stay tuned. If you have comments or questions, remember to email me directly at maryjkisner@gmail.com. Since I also share my posts on Facebook, you can always comment there. Thanks!

Watching a Bear at our Bird Feeder

We often have an assortment of animals visiting our bird feeders, especially at night. We expect to see several deer, rabbits and skunks most any evening. We seldom see bears make it to our back yard! Around 8 pm this evening I got a text from a neighbor who can see our back yard saying, “There’s a big bear at your bird feeder!” OMG!

Bert was not home so I grabbed my phone and hustled to the garage door, turning out the house lights as I moved from the office to the garage. A very large bear was calmly sitting under the bird feeder just slurping up the seeds. Must be snack time!

I sent this picture to Bert, who was nearby at a local club meeting. I opened the door and yelled at the visitor, but he didn’t seem annoyed by my shouts. I waved to the neighbors who were sitting on their front porch watching the whole adventure. By the time Bert got home 20 minutes later the bear had just casually wandered over the hill. The bird feeder was not damaged so it will live another day. Whew, such excitement! I think I’ll be careful when I step outside in the late evening. That’s just a little too close for comfort! Happy Spring!

Please email me directly if you have comments at maryjkisner@gmail.com.

Making Rice Krispies Squares for a Bake Sale

While it has been many years since I made Rice Krispies squares for my kids, I’ve noticed that this treat has been popular at various bake sales. I’ve also seen these treats packaged for lunch boxes in the cookie/snack aisle at the store and even sold at the local Sheetz convenience store! After making several batches lately for our local bake sale, I thought I’d share a few tips to make the process easier if you’d like to do it yourself.

Supplies

You will need (1) a 9″ x 13″ cake pan for one batch, sprayed with oil; (2) a large spoon to mix the Rice Krispies into the melted marshmallows; (3) a sturdy silicone spatula that is strong enough to press the mixture into the cake pan; (4) a table knife to cut the Rice Krispies apart when cool.

Ingredients

You will need only three ingredients: 6 cups of Rice Krispies, 5 1/2 cup small marshmallows, and 3 Tablespoons of butter.

Luckily, the recipe is on every box of Rice Krispies!

And the marshmallows are sold right across the aisle in the baking section!

And butter:

Making the Rice Krispies Squares

I measured out the Rice Krispies and the marshmallows:

I melted the 3 Tablespoons of butter in a large pot on medium low.

When the butter was almost melted, I dumped in the marshmallows:

When the marshmallows were almost all melted, I dumped in the Rice Krispies and mixed it up.

It didn’t need to be smooth, just so most of the Rice Krispies had some sticky marshmallow on them.

Then, using the sturdy silicone spatula (sprayed with oil) scoop out the mixture into the cake pan.

Use the spatula to press the mixture into all the corners and continue to flatten the mixture. I had to use both hands on the spatula to get it pretty flat and even across the whole pan.

At this point, let the pan sit for an hour or so, just to make sure it’s completely cool.

REMINDER: Soak your pan with hot soapy water until the bits of Rice Krispies can be loosened from the pan. I think melted marshmallows could be a great glue substitute!

The final step is to cut them apart into squares. I can never cut them straight so they are all the same size, so I asked Bert for help. Remember, he’s an engineer so of course it took a little planning to finish the batch! (smile) However, I ended up with 6 beautiful squares from each 9″ x 13″ pan. I now have 24 big Rice Krispies Squares to sell at the Memorial Day Bake Sale!

So, don’t be afraid to make Rice Krispies Squares for a bake sale…or for your family! The sturdy, oiled silicone spatula was key to easily spreading out the sticky pile of Rice Krispies and marshmallows!

Please email me directly if you have comments or questions: maryjkisner@gmail.com.

Garden Update May 10, 2026

Just a quick overview of how things are growing around here! We’re being cautiously optimistic because we could still have a killing frost. Luckily, Bert can move the tomatoes and hanging baskets inside if that’s expected!

The Radishes are looking good!

Can you see the red radish peeking out?

The lettuce is enjoying the sunshine! Almost time to start another row of seeds in the next bay.

The Sugar Snap peas are sending out tiny tendrils, looking for a place to latch on. Hopefully, we can guide them to the fences on either side of the rows.

The Asparagus keeps trying. We’ve ordered more crowns/roots to fill this bed.

The Super Sauce tomatoes are spending some time in the sun each day to get stronger stems and roots.

We even have a few tiny flowers!

Up on the hill, you can see the forsythia is starting to make a hedge along our property line. Love them!

The fenced garden has been rototilled and is ready for tomatoes, green beans and carrots. I may use a section for some herbs like basil, parsley and chives. In the first bay, I think the Lavender is dead! No green shoots at all. I think Bert will remove them so I have room for the herbs. The Echinacea at the other end is growing like crazy!

Echinacea

So, little by little we inch towards the safe time to plant temperature-sensitive plants. Even with beans and carrot seeds we have learned the hard way…it’s always risky to put some seeds in ground too early. They don’t like the cool damp soil. We might as well just wait!

If you have comments or questions, please email me directly at maryjkisner@gmail.com.

Exploring a Yard Sale for Bracelet Display Ideas

This past weekend the Ladies Auxiliary to the Boalsburg Fire Company held our semi-annual fund raiser…an indoor flea market-type yard sale and bake sale. Once I’ve spent two weeks baking various items and getting everything packaged and priced, the actual sale day is kind of fun. We see many of our friends and neighbors who come by to support our efforts and open our doors to many folks from around the area.

Along with all the baking I’ve been doing, I’ve been ramping up production of bracelets to get ready for the summer festival in July. In the back of my mind, I was thinking about a large stuffed animal that I could use to decorate my booth and drape a few bracelets on…something to attract attention. What a perfect opportunity to explore the many stuffed animals for sale. It became a kind of game to see which animals could show off the bracelets that I happen to be wearing that day. I also was a great way to get to know the vendors a little better. So, while our kitchen food and bake sale was going on and we had a little down time, I wandered around testing to see which stuffed animals could best showcase some bracelets.

Here’s the basic look at the Fire Hall:

Here are some of the baked goods for sale…just getting started. We managed to spread out to two tables!

Looking for Display Ideas

I just wanted to show you how much fun I had looking for display ideas. Almost every table had some kind of stuffed animal, but one vendor covered two tables with children’s toys and many were stuffed animals! Such fun!

Here are some pictures. Only a few of the animals were large enough to be a display piece but that didn’t slow me down!

How could I resist Miss Piggy and Kermit!!

Basically, shown below, these were the friends I came home with. Who knows where they may appear in my display!

I also ordered a stuffed moose from Amazon. That should arrive tomorrow! I thought I could hang bracelets on the antlers! We’ll see!

So, if you plan to come to the Art in the Orchard Festival at Way Fruit Farm in Stormstown outside State College, July 9-11, 2026, you’ll see what I decided to use in my display! Enjoy!

Garden Update April 26, 2026

Not a whole lot to show you with our garden at this time! We’ve had a few freezing nights over the last week or two, and the local fruit growers were worried about all the tree blossoms that were at risk. Bert is already cutting the grass, but we’ve still had to stoke the wood stove in the basement to keep the electric heat from coming on!

My radishes and lettuce that I planted two weeks ago (on a warm sunny day!) are doing fine. With the radishes, I make a point to put just one seed in each hole so I don’t have to thin the plants. If one doesn’t sprout, I don’t worry about it. The lettuce seeds are so VERY tiny that I can never put one seed at a time in the ground. At least I space out the holes so I’ll have to thin just a few tiny plants.

Radishes

Lettuce

We planted Sugar Snap peas in the beds with fences by the patio. They finally came up enough so I could actually take a picture of them.

And then, there is my poor Asparagus! Last summer we transplanted roots from our daughter’s garden. A few stalks came up but we left them alone. I was so sure we’d have at least one meal this spring. It’s hard to tell, but there were 3 large roots spaced out in this bed!

Asparagus

Not much happening in the fenced garden on the hill…

…but the Echinacea at the far end is bursting with energy!

Luckily, Bert has the Tomato plants safe in the shop under grow lights for another month!

He just started Petunia seeds today…they’ll be red, white and blue…and we’ll plant them in the boxes on the patio.

Nothing too exciting…yet! I’m certainly glad some of the local farmers use greenhouses and tunnels to protect their plants. Pennsylvania weather in April and May is certainly unpredictable!

If you have comments or questions, please contact me directly at maryjkisner@gmail.com.