If you are planning on growing water lilies in your back yard pond make sure the pond is situated in place where it receives at least five or six hours of sunlight a day.
To add a special touch to a pasta dish take a star shaped cookie cutter and press it into the flesh of slices of red or green pepper. Then place the stars on the plate of pasta to add visual interest.
If you want to attract frogs and toads to your pond then make sure it has a sizeable shallow area that is not any deeper than six inches deep. Fill this area with lots of rocks for them to hide under so they feel camouflaged and safe.
Stuff small red tomatoes with pesto or olive paste to make an interesting garnish for hot or cold pasta dishes. Small red tomatoes stuffed with blue cheese and nuts are a nice compliment for a salad made of watercress and field greens.
If you are trying to keep ornamental fish outdoors during the winter but find that they don't seem to be surviving the season the culprit is your pond liner. It is simply not deep enough to allow the Koi fish to find a place to hibernate for the winter.
Before planning to host Koi in your pond make sure it is big enough and large enough to support the ecosystem of these delicate fish. Koi need lots of room to thrive in so it is recommended that the pond be at least five feet deep and be able to contain at least 1000 gallons or water.
If you live in a rural area that is populated by a lot of small wild animals then avoid using the kind of pond liner that is like a plastic sheet. This type of liner is placed over a hole in the ground that you have dug yourself. The result is often a slippery slope into the pond and animals drown.
Almost any cake or pudding looks great garnished with dark or white chocolate curls. Simply use a paring knife to slice the curls off of a chunk of chocolate that has been cooled in the fridge in a while.
This game is good if the mother already knows the name of the baby. Fill a bag with a full set of scrabble tiles (or tiles from two games if you have a lot of guests.) Pass the bag around and have each guest withdraw one tile.
The "joke" behind this game is that the Dad is not the real dad. Cut out pictures of movie stars and rock stars and tape them to some corkboard. Then have the mother choose which celebrity she would have most rather had father her child. The guests are then provided with darts to throw at the celebrity fathers.
