Recipes

A good green bean harvest meant we could feast on dilly beans this year. This was our first season of pretty good success with beans. At least in our eyes. Success looks different to different people. Let me explain that last year we were only able to save 11 ounces of beans… carefully packed away…

Making bone broth from scratch was much easier than we ever imagined. We’ve been easing into homesteading with the mindset of using what we have on hand and trying new-to-us things as we are ready. We harvested a half-dozen of our first meat birds over the summer. I saved the bones after meals and simply…

Herbs have so many uses, you should grow some. Herbs can be used for so many ailments as well as for enjoyment, that’s especially true with Lemon Balm. Our herb garden started out small, with the herbs that were most familiar to us. As we began learning more about homesteading through taking classes, listening to…

“How to make wild violet jelly” or “Another weed not to kill in your yard”. Wild violets usher in spring. The dainty purple wild violet flowers carpet the grass and hint of warmth to come. These flowers come in various shades of purple that are so intriguing at a closer look. At your next opportunity,…

Dandelions begin growing here just before we are about to get serious with the spring garden. They take all of the built-up cabin-fever energy and beg to be picked before the lawn mower hits the ground. There is a large space on our property where we haven’t had much success with growing anything but green…

A peach buzz began to swirl. There was a buzz among the locals that a peach truck was scheduled to deliver in our small town. There is nothing like access to good foods that aren’t typical of your area. A friend called to let me know it was coming and we started thinking about all…

Here is a little spin on your classic cinnamon rolls. These cinnamon rolls truly ring of the holiday spirit. They have such a warm and inviting aroma. There are a few cinnamon roll recipes out there that are pretty good. All of the recipes are basically the same. For years, I would hand-knead the dough…

When life gives you chestnuts… you make chestnut jam. When you have more chestnut trees than you can easily count, and they produce an abundance of chestnuts, you find a way to use them, unless of course, you are only using them to feed the local deer and squirrels. Since we have enough nuts to…

Jalapeño Poppers, with or without the heat. When we lived in Arizona, we had access to heat, both in temperature and in foods (especially  jalapeños). We ate with friends who would joke about spicy foods- “That’s not spicy! That’s like toothpaste!” We’ve had deep fried jalapeno poppers with oozy yellow cheese from restaurants- this is…

Jalapeño jackpot makes a tasty Jalapeño Popper Cheese Ball At the end of the summer, our garden struck the jackpot with jalapenos. I preserved Cowboy Candy, prepared Make as you Go, Pico de Gallo, and made Jalapeño Poppers near the end. The Jalapeño Poppers got me to thinking about incorporating these flavors in a different…

As summer’s end brought inconsistent weather, autumn stepped in, and we began to bring in less and less tomatoes. This just about puts a damper on canning tomatoes. We had too many to have for just sandwiches, but not enough for major preserving… What can you do? Use the tomatoes for a refrigerator jar of…

A touch of Lavender adds a delightful touch. This is the first year that I’ve successfully been able to keep a lavender plant AND IT GREW! As my confidence bloomed with more and more purple buds, I started collecting the flowers to dry in order to use in baking. The first time I’d ever had food…

Fresh eggs long after the hens stop laying. People ask all of the time, what do you do with all those eggs? You can eat that many eggs? The truth is, we don’t get tons of eggs all year ‘round. We think we’ve found a way to continue to have fresh eggs in the winter.…

Call it “Candied Jalapeños”, “Jalapeño Candy” or “Cowboy Candy”, it’s just yummy! Our nephew’s family joined us for a gathering and brought a tray, a block of softened cream cheese, and a jar of sliced jalapeños in a sweet, clear syrup, and dumped it over the cream cheese. There were crackers and tortilla chips to…

There’s nothing like garden fresh tomato soup. After a couple sessions of canning tomatoes from our garden, and a few rounds of B.L.T. sandwiches, we needed another way to enjoy them and boy did we find the answer with this tomato soup recipe. Our dining room table has become the place to unload our rolled…

1st corn crop brings less than an ear-full but more than “needed”. We are celebrating, knowing that we can check off one more item from our Homegrown Thanksgiving Menu! Corn! This success will taste so much sweeter come Thanksgiving when you consider how much adversity we faced with our crop this year. Second time is…

There’s all kinds of ways to make squash… this recipe is delicious We only have one yellow squash plant and it’s really been producing! We are so thankful! From this one plant, we’ve been able to enjoy them sauteed, grilled, and fried. We’ve had squash casserole, summer squash pickles, and summer squash relish. Not all…

How to do boiling-water processing or water bath canning If you’ve never preserved fruits and vegetables by canning, this is a really easy way to get started. You just need a boiling-water canner, which is a large pot with a lid and a rack to help you manage those hot jars. You can also purchase…

Summer squash is plentiful, how ’bout some pickles? We have never had much luck growing squash. It seems we’d get in 3-5 and then the leaves of the plant would start looking diseased, shrivel, and die. Year after year. We could have said, “We just can’t grow squash,” or we could just keep trying to…

Bourbon lovers may consider this sacrilege, but it’s tasty. I type while sipping an unbelievably sweet drink so forgive if my storytelling goes astray, I ramble or my writing is a bit more fluid than normal. A few weeks ago Amy made the brilliant decision to try her hand at Honeysuckle Jelly (it’s really delightful).…

Honeysuckle jelly, a sweet summer treat You’ll know summer is on the way when the thick, aromatic perfume of the honeysuckles embrace you, sending a stream of warm memories rushing through your mind and sending a joyous smile to your face. The nostalgia of bright yellow honeysuckle vining around old fence posts, causing one to…

Mulberry Jam Our garden has taken a little bit of a backseat while the mulberry trees in our area are producing their tender, subtly sweet, red wine colored berries. There is nowhere to hide those bluish stains on chin and hands from nature’s delicious and natural dye…especially when denying that you’ve spoiled your supper. The…

Special Occasion or Impressively Easy Breakfast Recipe A buttery slice of bread on a pan with a perfect circle cut out in the center and a freshly cracked egg dropped into the circle. Season with a little salt and pepper- maybe some jam. Special occasion breakfast or an impressively easy breakfast, it’s perfect for those…

Sometimes you need a good meal. A meal that is simple, yet provides most of the basics all-in-one. Something not over-thought, but still packs a punch as memorable.     Growing up  in Michigan, my grandma would provide such a meal- one she was well-known for by family and friends. It truly brings back warm…

Recipe for Gluten-free Peanut Butter Cookies If there are no gluten-free sweets in the house, our kids gravitate to spoonfuls of peanut butter. I love this recipe for many reasons; it’s delicious, it’s simple and there’s a great backstory. One of our family’s favorite elderly neighbors shared his recipe with me after finding out I…

Recipe for Brown Sugar Meatloaf Meatloaf recipes vary from person-to-person. The meatloaf recipe I’m sharing with you is tried and true.  I love that it is wheat-free as well. It’s a dish everyone can enjoy. The secret ingredient is the brown sugar. That little touch of sweetness in this savory dish makes it especially nice.…

Cabin-fever hit our homestead. Amy packed all of the winter boots away in the closet. Seeds planted in our simple kitchen countertop greenhouse, have sprouted baby green growth. The chicks that have grown too big for our home, were moved outside. The signs of spring may have been pushed along by our wishful thinking… as…