Every year when the weather turns cool (the start of chapped lip season!) I make a new batch of homemade lip balm. It always ends up slightly different, but it’s always the best lip balm I’ve ever used. Homemade is best and nothing store-bought can even compare! My goal when I set out to make […]
Cucumber Lemonade Sweetened with Honey
This Cucumber Lemonade is summertime in a glass! It’s the perfect refreshment to cool down with after a long day spent in the garden or doing outdoor chores in the hot sun. Trust me, we have a lot of those around here! It’s incredibly refreshing. Even Karl likes it, and he doesn’t especially care for […]
Strawberry Basil Dressing Recipe
It’s one of my favorite times of the year on the homestead! We’ve worked hard all spring, and high summer finally brings the fruits of our labor. Fresh produce is starting to roll into the kitchen, and there is no shortage of herbs around. The garden is overflowing with basil just begging to be showcased! […]
Wild Rose {Old-Fashioned} Lard Soap
Making lard soap… is there anything more homestead-y than that? Karl’s grandma (a real-deal homesteader and farmer) tells a story about how when she was young, she would bring home the used tallow from the fryers at the local diner she worked at, and they would make big batches of tallow soap cooked in a […]
Apple Cider & Maple Glazed Ham Recipe
Ham doesn’t need much in my opinion… I mean, it is smoked pork, after all- it’s already delicious by definition. This maple glazed ham with a touch of apple cider is the perfect recipe for your holiday dinner, a special brunch, or even just a weeknight! This maple glazed ham is easy to make, and […]
How to Render Lard the BEST Way – And Why I WON’T Use a Slow Cooker
Eventually everything comes back into style, doesn’t it? I’m happy to see lard back in a positive light, and even happier to see old-fashioned skills, like learning how to render lard making a resurgence! While you can buy rendered lard that’s ready to cook with, making your own is often more affordable, plus it’s a […]
Smokey BBQ Brussels Sprouts Recipe + How to Cook the Perfect Sprout
These are really really good brussels sprouts… about as good as you can hope for a brussels sprout to be. They’re crispy, salty, full of flavor, golden brown, and delicious. We love all things Brassica (that’s the cabbage-broccoli-kale-brussels family) in this household, so it’s no surprise we’re a couple of brussels sprouts fans. And if […]
Maple Bourbon Wassail Recipe + How to Wassail an Orchard
Wassailing- you did what?! This is something I think is so cool. And something that also makes me feel like a huge dork, if I’m being perfectly honest. At least the Maple Bourbon Wassail recipe turned out AWESOME! There are two parts to this: the act of Wassailing, and the drink Wassail. Wassailing is a […]
First Aid & Health Aid for Homesteaders (and Everyone)
First aid on the homestead- are you prepared? If there’s anything I’ve learned from homesteading, it’s that nothing ever goes exactly how you want it to. And it comes with inherent danger- being out in the elements, long days, using dangerous equipment, and working with farm animals. Like the time we brought home our first […]
Homestead Quarterly – Fall 2017: Harvest All the Things!
Our Best Harvest Season Yet! It finally feels a little bit like we’ve arrived. For four years we’ve worked hard shaping our homestead into what we imagined- building orchards and gardens, planting trees, installing mushroom logs… it has been a lot of work with little reward so far, until this year. Things are finally starting […]