Back to the Blog!

I can't believe how much time has past since I last looked at this blog. I have returned to school, moved to a new "homestead" and started an apprenticeship as a Montessori teacher. Busy would be an understatement!

Now that the move is over and things are starting to settle, I feel a pull to start blogging once again. Part of this pull is all the exciting things we are doing to the new house. We took possession of this house a month ago today and have already accomplished a fair amount. With thoughts of spring in the air I am super excited to starting the gardens. Hence, my renewed excitement to blog.

As we eco-renovate and plan our future in our new home, I hope to bake and blog my way along. I look forward to posting the happenings in my new kitchen and the exciting changes we face as a family, I hope you enjoy reading my adventures as well!

David Suzuki Digs My Garden

Exciting news in my blogger world. You can now find my blogging adventures at David Suzuki Digs My Garden. This is a new initiative by the David Suzuki Foundation to help get people involved in gardening pesticide free. The hope is to gain a community of gardeners that can share their experiences and adventures in gardening without chemicals....great news for us and the environment. Gotta love David Suzuki.

Motivated Moms

A quick post today to let you know about a little resource with big impact. I first stumbled upon the Motivated Moms Daily Chore Planner back in 2007 and just recently purchased it again. It really is nice to have little reminders for tasks that get put off, like cleaning the oven and sweeping the porch. When I stuck the list on the fridge I was amazed that other members of the household started to check off things as well. LOVE IT!

If you are interested in purchasing this lovely chore reminder I have added a link on the left side bar. Enjoy:)

Recipe Find

Cheesy Pinwheels with Italian Dip...

I had a couple moments this evening to simply meander through some blogs and see what new things I could find. When I came across this pic and recipe, I knew just by looking, that it would become a favorite in our house. The recipe and picture are from the blog Making a House a Home, one of the many blogs I happened upon by chance today. Enjoy!

I will post pics when I get a chance to make them.

Spring Food Finds

I love when I go the market and find great seasonal ingredients - this weekend was no exception. I came home from the market on Saturday with fresh local fiddleheads, sun chokes, rhubarb, spring dug parsnips, organic eggs, and a huge bag of mixed salad greens (mine are not quite ready for picking).

While doing a search for fiddlehead recipes I found this great recipe:

Spring Wild Harvest Ragout With Fiddlehead Greens & Morels

Ingredients: 1/2 pound fiddleheads, cleaned (link) 1/2 pound "baby" pattypan squash, trimmed 1/2 pound baby carrots, trimmed 3/4 cup shelled fresh peas 1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter 1/2 pound pearl onions, blanched in boiling water for 1 minute, peeled, and trimmed 2 thyme sprigs 1 bay leaf 1 cup chicken broth 1/4 pound fresh morels, cleaned and trimmed and sliced 3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves 1 large garlic clove, minced Boil the fiddleheads in salted water for 4 minutes, or until they are crisp-tender. Drain and plunge in ice water to stop the cooking. When cool, drain in a colander. Repeat the process of boiling and cooling with the squash and the carrots. Boil the peas for 2 to 3 minutes, or until they are just tender, and drain them. In a large heavy skillet combine 2 tablespoons of the butter, the onions, the thyme, the bay leaf and 1/4 cup of the broth and simmer the mixture, covered, for 5 minutes. Add the morels and 1/2 cup of the remaining broth and simmer the mixture, covered, for 10 minutes, or until the morels are tender. Add the fiddleheads, the squash, the carrots, and the remaining 1/4 cup broth and simmer the mixture, covered, for 1 minute. Add the peas, the parsley, the mint, and the garlic and simmer, covered, for 1 minute. Stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons butter, stirring until the butter is just melted. Discard the bay leaf and season with salt and pepper. Serves 6

It even has morels as an ingredient- which I used to forge for with my grandparents when I little. I haven't had them in years but sure would love to find some for this recipe. The website has several more recipes you can check out here.

Great Site

Every now and then I come across a great website that I just have to pass along. This spring while doing some research on gardening I found this site - http://www.gardeners.com.

It has a great veggie garden planning tool for those of us just starting out. The planning tool is based on Square Foot Gardening and gives detailed info on a lot of different veggies. Take a minute to check it out, but be prepared, you may get hooked.

Chickens

I have a confession - I have been secretly researching and wanting chickens for a couple of years. Not so surprising considering I want a homesteading life but what is surprising - wait, I can barely contain my excitement - MY HUSBAND is actually warming to the idea!!!! This is a huge step in the chicken owning direction for me and I am soooooo excited.



After much research on breeds of chickens (I had no idea when I began there were so many), I amfairly confident that Silkie Bantams would be the best choice for our family. As you can see from the picture above, they are great looking as well. Can you say that about chickens?

Today, I happened upon a chicken breeder website that sells day old Silkie Bantams. After looking through the site and sighing because I would never find such great breeders close to me, I looked up their address, and SURPRISE....they are located in Prince Edward County about an hour from my home!!!!!!

For more info on Chickens check out these great sites:
Performance Poultry
Backyard Chickens
The City Chicken
City Chickens

Oh, and I can't forget this:




Called an Eglu - more info on this chicken coop can be found here.