Category: homesteading

homesteading, in the kitchen, Seasons

Summer Journal: Strawberries

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Some people (I’m looking at you, elsie marley) can take a camera when they go strawberry picking and somehow get fun pictures of their kids picking/eating strawberries without (I assume) making a mess of the camera with their own strawberry-covered fingers. I know this is a skill I don’t have, so I didn’t bother with the camera. You’ll just have to imagine: A day that was forecast for rain and then didn’t… A field of strawberry plants, just to the right of the teeny tiny Christmas trees… Caitlyn and her friend actually filling their buckets, instead of bringing us 4 …

homesteading, in the kitchen

Pantry Inspection

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Once the farmers’ market starts up around here, it’s time to review the pantry. What’s left of the things I put up last summer? What did we run out of and what are we still eating? Do the storage goals for this year need to be adjusted? Will I be able to defrost the chest freezer before it’s time to start putting new things in it? I seem to recall that in previous years, this process usually produced a surprise or two. Dried carrots aren’t good for much more than soup, for instance, and that only grudgingly. Bing cherries are …

Caitlyn, in the kitchen, Seasons

Easter Treats

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Last week, I found Betz White’s photo tutorial for some super-cute, adorably tiny Easter baskets made from 3 oz. Dixie cups. Naturally, I decided that I needed to make these for Easter. And put homemade candy in them. Never mind that I came up with this plan about a week before Easter. Clearly, it’s a very sensible plan. We painted our cups (instead of using markers like Betz) and I glittered some of them. Someday I’d like to upgrade the paint in our craft supplies from the washable Crayola stuff to something that doesn’t feel like chalk when it’s dry. …

homesteading, in the kitchen

Elsewhere…

 

There was a spell a few years back where I got into cheese-making. There were several batches of mozzarella, mascarpone and cream cheese, and a gouda, a Monterey Jack , and a traditional cheddar. Equipment was acquired, including a small fridge that is supposed to pretend it’s a cave. I didn’t make cheese at all last year. I still make yogurt once or twice a month, but that’s about it. It’s not that cheese is difficult to make, exactly, but it is time-consuming. The hard cheeses didn’t quite come out the way I wanted, probably due to cheese’s sensitivity to …

in the kitchen, Seasons, sewing

Making the Tradition Mine

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I sort of fell off the Internet there for the second part of December. Wanna know why? After last year’s first attempt was deemed a success by my candy-making grandfather, and with his candy-making tools in hand (omg! marble slab ftw!), I picked up the family Christmas candy tradition. I’ve always thought that someone should carry on Grandpa’s candy making; if it’s me, I get to claim the extras. I guess there’s an ulterior motive for everything. Grandpa made caramels for years. I remember there were a few years when I was a teenager (I think) when he made all …