thoughts on soapmaking

Thoughts on Soapmaking

When writing the soap making section of Homegrown and Handmade, I decided to look at some articles and do some online searches and see what others have written about making soap. To be completely honest, I was a little nervous … Read More

spiced pear butter

Spiced Pear Butter

When we moved to our homestead, we planted lots of trees that yielded fruit we were not in the habit of eating. In fact, in 2007, we planted four pear trees, even though I had probably not eaten four whole … Read More

Reusable canning lids

Like a lot of people, I was skeptical when I first read about Tattler reusable canning lids, but I’m quickly turning into a convert. We’ve used them now for pickles and pizza sauce, and they seem to be holding up … Read More

Homegrown Tamale Pie

Homegrown Tamale Pie

For about 20 years, we’ve been making a tamale pie out of the cookbook, Tofu Cookery, but recently it occurred to me that this time of year we could make our own version of this recipe using produce straight from … Read More

Zucchini here, there, everywhere

Zucchini here, there, everywhere

  Patty pan, lemon squash, golden zucchini, and scalloped squash Although we are not drowning in zucchini and summer squash this year — the picture is from last year — I know a lot of people have been blessed with … Read More

Goat Cheese and Cucumber Spread

Goat Cheese and Cucumber Spread

We picked our first cucumbers of the season a few weeks ago, and I immediately remembered this excellent sandwich spread that I discovered last fall towards the end of the cucumber harvest. We’ve already had it six or seven times. … Read More

Extreme Bread Pudding

I’ve been searching for a good bread pudding recipe for my whole life, and I finally figured it out myself. My husband and I took his mother out to eat for Mother’s Day. I like to go to locally owned … Read More

Coop de Hill

Richard’s Coop de Hill sits behind his vegetable garden, near his bee hives. If you want a chicken coop that sits in one place like Grandma’s did (as opposed to the movable coop in my last post), you might be … Read More

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