Homegrown & Homemade
Basil: the quintessential smell of summer around here! If only there was a way to preserve it… Oh, but there is! And I’m not talking about basil-scented soap and basil hand lotion. I can’t quite decide if these products are a good way to get a basil fix, or completely weird?! While I agree that there are quite a few foods that fall under both the …
Do you ever notice how certain dishes always taste better when somebody else makes them? Chicken salad was one of those things for me. That is, until I really thought about what it was that I liked about other peoples’ chicken salads, and set out to finally nail down the perfect recipe. What I came up with was this: Sweet Apple Chicken Salad! It’s perfect, and it …
Little Henny was one of our original chickens, she was on the homestead for three years with us. The name “Henny” is because we had five Buff Orpingtons who I couldn’t tell apart at first, so they were all called “Hennys.” As they got older and developed personalities they got additional descriptors… Little Henny was the smallest of the bunch. We’re wildly creative. Little Henny had a …
My parents planted a Christmas tree farm when I was just a young girl, so I grew up learning to make holiday decorations to sell for extra spending money at the tree farm. As a 16-year-old, I was a Christmas craft extraordinaire! And also a really big geek, but that’s a story for a different day. Evergreen Kissing Balls, wreaths, garland… I can make it all! But probably my …
This is autumn in a crockpot. You know how I know that? Because it’s autumn… and I went right outside and harvested the sage from my herb garden. We picked the apples from our tree and the onions from our garden just a couple weeks ago! And because when I walked into the house and was hit with the smell of herby, apple-y, slow-braised meat, …
If there’s anything I’m a connoisseur of, it’s likely caramels. It’s my favorite flavor of anything and everything, anywhere. I will without a doubt always order the caramel-flavored whatever it is. A couple of years ago, I discovered that I could make caramel… and I got really good at it. I make the best salted caramel sauce, the best salted caramel buttercream frosting, and the best …
Living in the country on an old property with a big barn comes with a few inherent resources- like cats. People drop their unwanted pets outside of town, and cats seem to come and go, using our big vacant barn as shelter and a smorgasbord of rodents. I knew this was going to be hard for me. And I’ve held strong! I’ve been so good! …
It doesn’t happen often, but when I get the sniffles I turn into a big whiney baby. I’m useless. No pushing through and carrying on with the day here, nope. I’m in bed, on the couch, taking it easy- and almost always with a pile of used tissues on the floor… yes mom, I still do that! You tried hard to break the habit, but …
For some reason I keep picturing a group of big burly men- wearing red flannel shirts and dark denim jeans held up by suspenders, and all sporting the type of beard that birds try to nest in… returning from a day filled with chopping wood in the dense and misty old-growth forrest, they sit around a crackling fire eating spit-roasted pork and drinking out of …
Did you know that almost every time I make this Tomato Basil Frittata (which is pretty often), Karl goes around saying “frIIiiTTtaTTa” in his best Italian accent (which is pretty bad). Must be the scent of fresh basil getting to his head. During the winter when we were eating only preserved eggs, this frittata was all we ever had- because it is so good that we …
