For those on my local holiday gift list, this Creamy Balsamic Dressing Recipe is a yummy gift that promotes healthy holiday eating! It's fabulous as a vegetable dip, yummy on pasta, and even better on salad. The only caveat*: the recipe calls for my homemade [...]
I do a lot of listening. What I hear....
Nigella Lawson... I listened to her velvety voice this morning. She was discussing her newest cookbook and simple recipes for the holidays on NPR. Oh, but she could [...]
It's that time again, huh? The holiday season. I am nearing the end of my fall quarter with tired fingers and a worn-out brain. I'm ready for the enchantment of the holidays---- more so than ever!
Once again, I'm attempting the impossible this [...]
My spinning wheel is enjoying some action. I am experimenting with spinning thick and thin yarn and plying with thread. When I haven't spent much time at my spinning wheel, I forget how peaceful it is. In just a few minutes, my hands move in' [...]
Way back when, I bought a natural facial scrub from one of those fancy skincare stores. It was touted as a "Japanese beauty secret." It consisted entirely of ground Adzuki beans. After moving far from that store, I ran out of the scrub and it slipped from my mind.
Swiffer Cover Sewing Pattern
Materials:
How to:
On a piece [...]
I still do more than just cook and bake around here. Sometimes.
That Swifty Swiffer cover in the new Mason-Dixon knitting book looks fabulous but I recently found that I needed a cover fast (I can't stand those' [...]
Though I haven't mentioned it for quite some time, I'm still packing lunches every day. In fact, I pack lunches for everyone here!
Over a year later, I still adore the Laptop Lunchbox system. My kids do, [...]
A little sweet, a little nutty, a little exotic tasting... These easy, no-bake snacks are great for adding to lunches; or wrap one up and slip it into your child's backpack for an afternoon pick-me-up. My kids love the taste of them and they are [...]
For all of you who wandered over here from Crafty Crow, welcome! Also, thank you for all the comments and emails about the Just Peachy Fruit Leather. I answered many of your questions in the comment section of that post [...]
Our aspen leaves are turning, our garden is slowly withering, and our chickens are finally laying! Yes!
Well, at least two of the three. Since they took their own sweet time in arriving at this very important (to us) stage, we had thought we would help them [...]My Mom's tomato patch is afire in red. As a result, an ever growing basket of tomatoes sits atop my kitchen countertop. Homegrown tomatoes: they're just as scrumptious as ever and I am hard at work trying to find dishes worthy of their flavor.
Of course, salsa [...]
Every year around this time (admittedly my birthday), my Mom and I spend time together. This year, we spent a quiet day together traveling miles to the east to pick apples. 200 lbs of apples!
The day was enchanting.
The surroundings of Eastern [...]
Perhaps you've read this before; nonetheless, it's a great reminder. My son copied it and gave it to me. Telling? Perhaps...
Slow Dance
Have you ever watched kids on a merry-go-round
or listened to the rain slapping the ground?
Ever followed a butterfly’s erratic flight
or gazed at the sun fading [...]
I experienced a little physical bump in the road recently, reminding me once again to be thankful for all the positive things in my life. Why is it so easy to forget? To forget to look at the fall sky and feel gratitude for the eyes [...]
When I chose to name our daughter, Grace, I wasn't considering the implications of the word. Rather, it felt right and we cherished the name.
Definition of Grace: A virtue coming from God.
Since then, our infant, Grace, grew into a beautiful child who in many ways impersonates the nature of the word.' [...]
Our days open and close ever more emphatically, hastily counting down the onset of another school year.
I find my kids peering off into space these days, pondering the upcoming year of school; pondering the new possibilities; melancholy over the impending changes.
I look at [...]
This summer, we embraced fimo. Or at least one of has, and with glee.
As he carefully nestles little pieces of clay upon one another and transforms the odd blocks into something quite charming, both his sister and I realized yesterday, "You're really good at this!"' [...]
It's beginning to feel like fall here. The warmly tarnished light and cool breezes touch off something in me. The circadian rhythm, perhaps? A knowledge of the changing seasons hearkening back to centuries past when this touching off of preparedness meant survival.
So, [...]
Today marks the official beginning of my summer break. I took my final exam this morning and I am certifiably free from studying, testing, reading, cramming and all other forms of academic stress inducement. Those last few days in class held moments of daydreaming about crafts, [...]
Clearly, the zucchini wizard waved their stripey green wands above our backyard garden and granted us a bountiful crop this year. Each morning produces another green wonder that seemingly appeared overnight. I twist it off and add it to the ever growing pile on my kitchen [...]
I didn't go away. I am taking summer college courses. Summer courses were invented to torture mothers in college. You see, summer courses cover the same information that a regular three-month course does but condenses it into three weeks. That and trying to find the time----' [...]
Our heat still lingers and the mere notion of turning on the oven in this scorcher makes me shudder. I wonder how long one can subsist on watermelon, popsicles, and iced tea? No, it hasn't quite come to that, but I dread adding any heat to the' [...]
It's always in our refrigerator: homemade mayonnaise. A smear of this garlicky spread will transport your ordinary veggie sandwich into something spectacular and lift roasted sweet potatoes to the next level. Try it as a dip for baked french fries! The bottom line is that homemade [...]
Mariel Hemingway's new book, Mariel's Kitchen, is a welcome addition to my cookbook collection. Like her previous book, Healthy Living from the Inside Out, this one if full of healthy recipes and good advice imbuing the [...]
We are beginning to enjoy the fruits (and vegetables) of our labor. Last night's dinner consisted of many homegrown treasures. A simple pasta dish that lets the subtle and spectacularly fresh flavors of summer shine through. I feel odd even writing this recipe out, as it's so simple, but what [...]
The heat outside renders everything a faded golden wash and I am left with dreams of the coming fall as I watch it from afar----or near, in my sheltered home. Yet, I dream of making corn husk dolls, Halloween decorations, scrumptious apple creations. Of fall's pumpkins, [...]
Well, not really. A house full of kids, chickens in the yard, and a garden bathed in 90-degree heat offers plenty to do. Always. But I'm finished with my first term of summer courses and awaiting my next round.
The kitchen always draws me in, though, asking for more to' [...]
My health instructor said something the other day that has stuck with me. She reminded us that we all create so much energy. You see, physiologically, our bodies are processing and converting food into energy constantly. But where do we put that energy?
When it finally rains on the high desert, everything feels refreshed. Including me. The air smells of sagebrush and all I want to do is stand outside and breathe it all in.
But I don't have the time. I am taking condensed college courses this summer. Every' [...]
After a hectic holiday weekend, wandering through my garden is a much needed respite. It's no secret that summer is a challenge for me. It's hot. It's dusty. Too many activities.
But there are bright spots. Like the garden. Every morning, I [...]
My daughter created this little map. Within, she illustrated a layout of her own personal village where those that are important to her live close-by. She enjoys doing this: creating lists of friends, understanding her heritage, asking about her ancestors. It all needs to be in [...]
I seek knowledge today. In a classroom amongst other students. A different form of education than what I am used to. Though I doubt this class will satisfy my current hunger: a hunger for the knowledge of life and the whys and hows of it all. [...]
Summer is the season of fresh flavors. Delicate flavors juxtaposed against the rich and sometimes brash tastes of summer's green crops. My kids lean towards those sweet and delicate flavors-----juicy peaches, bright red strawberries, fancy cherries, dripping watermelons; the expectation of summer in one bite.
I cannot help but keep my eyes firmly on the ground when I go for a hike. For good reason, too: how else would I find a little rock shard with the faintest impression of a tree...
... and ready for my outlining [...]
So far, this summer...
My son turned 13. And I sighed a long, sentimental sigh. Breathe in, breathe out.
And he slept outside with friends. Dear, sweet friends that make him happy. Me, too.
My children & I went hiking----just [...]
I am gently dabbling in a vegan lifestyle. I have not adopted it fully, but rather along the same lines as the cookbook author, Mark Bittman. He chose to eat a more vegetarian and vegan diet based on his own health needs, but he also points [...]
The first day of my children's summer vacation finds us sitting down to write up some summer wishes, dreams, and goals. Things like... What do you want to do this summer? What do you hope to accomplish? In the past, the list included things like 'ride' [...]
My life was a whirlwind of activity this past week. When I felt I could settle down to write here, another gust of needs whisked me off again... Thankfully, most of it was good, if not bittersweet.
My children finish their year [...]
Our charming little chicken coop is coming along nicely. A whole-hearted and huge round of appreciation must be paid to Pants for all he's been through with the coop.
'Oh, but isn't it just a simple chicken coop?' you might ask. Noooooooooo, my friends, never fool' [...]
First things first: Congratulations to Kath of Four Miles North of Nowhere and PerryAnne----they were the winners of the Patchwork Style book giveaway! Thank you all so very much for sharing your own experiences and treasured bits of life with us all... It [...]
I try...
“Try to make at least one person happy every day. If you cannot do a kind deed, speak a kind word. If you cannot speak a kind word, think a kind thought. Count up, if you can, the treasure of happiness that you would dispense in a week, in [...]
In an old kitchen of an old house with counter-tops above my toddler head, I remember pies. Pies sitting out but not within my reach. The crusts still holding the pattern of my Mom's fingers. The anticipation. The sweet smell of fruit filling the room with possibility....' [...]
