There are few meals more comforting than a pot of homemade chicken and dumplings simmering on the stove. This is the kind of food that fills the kitchen with warmth, feeds a family well, and turns an ordinary day into something special. This chicken and dumplings recipe is simple, hearty, and made from scratch using …
I have a thing for bags and sacks. Anytime my kids start a new activity I start asking “Do you need a bag for…art, dance, scouts, drama and now….crochet?” A couple of our homeschool co-op moms agreed to teach crocheting as a class this year. Oh, I wish I could sit in on that class! But since …
Strip quilts are so easy and fun to make and are perfect for a quick win or for teaching children how to quilt. Using fat quarters instead of fabric yardage makes this project even easier. A couple of months ago I had the opportunity to get some official Little House on the Prairie® fabric from …
Josiah has been gone for almost two months…how can that be? Almost daily, Esther asks if it’s been almost four months yet. Apparently time doesn’t fly as quickly when you are six as when you are….much older than six. We’ve been Skyping with Josiah on the weekends and it’s been really fun. We’re all curious …
Every fall I make “supplies” for the cold and flu season, and one of those supplies is a cold sore (or fever blister) remedy. This cold sore remedy is super quick and easy to make; in fact might have each of these essential oils for cold sores in your cabinet already. Yep, they are that …
We don’t really ever finish gardening here. We have slow months and busy months but since we garden year round, we never take a complete gardening break. Even so, I’m learning the importance of closing out one gardening season and begin another by not using our entire garden for each season. Now, the spring and early summer it’s …
Many years ago, I canned about 30 quarts of pear chutney. I had never tried pear chutney, in fact I had never even heard the word “chutney” before that day. But our pear tree was producing a bumper crop that year and I decided it would be fun to try something new. {ahem} No one liked it…not …
While most of our organic gardening friends in the National Organic Harvest 2015 project are bringing in the vast majority of their harvest right now, we’re not. Our big harvest time is June and July and then we wait a few months and start planting the fall garden. Right now we are harvesting peppers, basil, …
Did you know that September is National Organic Harvesting Month? Well, it is! We’re celebrating by teaming up with seven other bloggers in a month long promotion. Each week we’ll cover a different theme and the last week we’ll have a couple of super cool giveaways. If you’re on social media you can follow #organicharvest15. I …
This baked French toast casserole is the easiest way to feed a crowd for breakfast or brunch — prep it the night before, bake it in the morning, and enjoy a golden, custardy dish with no fuss. With just a few simple ingredients that you probably already have in your kitchen, you can create an …
The time to start planning the fall garden is when it’s still summer. The time to plant your fall garden will depend on your climate. Some of us will start planting our fall garden in July and some of us won’t plant our fall garden until October. If you plan well and plant frost tolerant …
Can I tell you something embarrassing? For years I just left the potato bag on the floor by the stove. Ten pounds of potatoes in a plastic grocery bag, sitting right there where everyone could see it. Not exactly the kitchen aesthetic I was going for. The problem is that potatoes, onions, and garlic all …
We kicked off July 4th weekend by going blueberry picking . Yes, we have blueberry bushes but they are not producing. Last year fire ants got into the pots and destroyed the roots. We bought new plants but they are still young. Normally, we would just go without but because of all the rain we …
Of all this things I’ve grown, I think I’m most excited about growing pineapples. I’m not really sure why but I am. There’s something wonderful about planting the top of a pineapple and in a couple of years have fruit. This photo is from August 2011. About 4 months after I planted a pineapple top …
Preserving tomatoes is a summer tradition in many homes. But preserving tomatoes can be more than spaghetti sauce and salsa. There are so many ways of preserving tomatoes and really, you need to do what is best for your family. Because I’m pretty simple, I mainly can tomatoes with onions and garlic and dehydrate tomatoes …
Fruit crisp, or fruit crumble, makes a delightful dessert or breakfast. In this four ingredient fruit crisp recipe I’ll show you how to use whatever fruit you have on hand – fresh, frozen, dehydrated, or canned. For years we picked peaches for my Mother’s Day gift. We didn’t always go on Mother’s Day, but that …
Note: Once a week I share a popular post from the archives. This post was originally published in June 2014. When my big kids were little we used to get matching flag shirts every year. I loved matching shirts. In fact, my children would match anytime we left the house. People thought it was cute. It was …
It seems to be feast or famine with cucumbers at our little homestead. Some years I just cannot get them to produce at all and other years I’m wondering what in the world we’re going to do with them all. We’re in a feasting year this year. Normally that would be a good thing but …
One of our goals this year was to add more herbs to our garden for both culinary and medicinal uses. Many times those uses overlap. The thing with herbs is that they do not grow year round outside (even in zone 9) and they are not always ready at the same time complimentary vegetables are …
Summer is the perfect time for salad. They’re relatively quick and easy, make the most of homegrown and local produce, and can be done (usually) without turning on the oven. Salads, however; are so much more than raw vegetables served over greens. I’m a little territorial when it comes to our little space on the …