Goats are wonderful creatures, aren’t they? From the time I first laid eyes on a goat, I knew that I was looking at a very special creature. They entertain us with their antics, act as a composting device for our kitchen scraps, provide us with manure that can be used to fertilize garden beds, and […]
Homestead Recipes
Crave-worthy Caponata
As someone of German heritage, I have a profound love of homemade Italian food that belies my upbringing. Perhaps it was due to my exposure to Italian cuisine that involved a box containing a tin of sauce, a bundle spaghetti, and cheese that was shaken out of a green canister? I grew up thinking that […]
Better than Store-Bought: Homemade V-10 Juice
I grew up on my mom’s canned tomato juice. All that was in the jar were garden raised tomatoes and salt. She canned it by the dozens of quarts in late summer. There was enough for our family of eight to last us through the fall, winter, and even into early spring. Besides being a […]
Anticipation…Making Homemade Ketchup
Who doesn’t love ketchup? This ubiquitous red sauce was the go-to condiment for burgers, hotdogs, and fries amongst my friends and family. The distinctive shaped bottle graced most tables and just about every picnic. Now fast forward about 25 years. I am in the midst of canning season with a surplus of tomatoes. Frankly, the […]
Custard-Style French Toast
Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. In particular, I love a hot breakfast. Forget the cold cereal with milk, give me something where the aroma wafts through the kitchen and escapes into other parts of the house. I want something that will wake up friends and family and lead them to the table. […]
A New Delight: Tomato Basil Jam
Oh August, I have a love/hate relationship with you. You still throw out incredibly hot temperatures causing me to do outdoor projects only in the early morning and late afternoon. Yet on the other hand, you provide something that causes me to do my happy dance. Why am I happy? The simple answer is, the […]