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.

Making Yogurt - Lactose Free

I love the taste and quality of homemade yogurt but recently I took on a new experiment with yogurt. Making it Lactose Free. My youngest daughter is showing signs of being lactose and gluten intolerant, so I decided to try making a batch of lactose free yogurt. I bought a litre of Organic Lactose Free milk and Nutri-Max yogurt culture (starter) at the health food store. I already had a second hand yogurt "maker" that I purchased at Value Village for $3.99.

Making yogurt, even lactose free, is really simple and the taste is soooo much better.

Here's the basic recipe I use:

Heat 1 litre of milk to 82ºC and let cool to 48ºC. Mix in the yogurt culture and pour into yogurt containers. Place containters in yogurt maker and Incubate at 40-46ºC until milk has curdled (turned solid), about 4 hours.
Then place yogurt in refridgerator.

Sometimes I alter the recipe a bit to add sweetener and/or berries. This particular batch I made two containers of Blueberry yogurt and 4 containers of Vanilla Bean yogurt.

For Blueberry Variation:

Add fresh or frozen wild blueberries (I like using them as they are smaller) to the bottom of the yogurt container and pour yogurt overtop before incubating. I also find you need more sweetener with berries as they tend to be more tart.

For Vanilla Bean Variation: Scrape the seeds out of half a vanilla pod and add to milk while heating (I also like to add the vanilla bean and remove before adding the culture). Continue with steps for basic recipe.

I currently have a batch of Vanilla yogurt sweetened with Agave incubating, I will let you know how it turns out:)

I am a homemaker , First

I found this great quote on another blog and thought it would lead nicely to my first post here:

“When we traded homemaking for careers, we were implicitly promised economic independence and worldly influence. But a devil of a bargain it has turned out to be in terms of daily life. We gave up the aroma of warm bread rising, the measured pace of nurturing routines, the creative task of molding our families’ tastes and zest for life; we received in exchange the minivan and the Lunchable.” — Barbara Kingsolver (first read on Modern Retro Woman)


Just recently I made the profound discovery that I am happiest when I am a homemaker, first. After spending years searching for a fulfilling "career" I can finally just be me. I can take the time to be present in everyday tasks, enjoy things as they are, and learn how to live more simply. Now, don't be fooled, this is not as easy as it sounds. I have spent my entire life trying to avoid cleaning, laundry, and everyday tasks. I grew up with a single mom, who spent a lot of time working and hated to come home to do more work. This lead me to see 'homemaking' as a chore that was only done when it had to be. I still don't know how to iron properly, fold sheets so they don't wrinkle or keep my sink shiny, but I am learning.

I have known for some time that I enjoy making bread from scratch, the smell of laundry fresh off the clothes line, and all things crafty. Knitting has brought me many hours of simple pleasure, curled up under a cozy blanket, while sipping tea. I now find I want to learn more about how my grandparents lived and managed everyday tasks. I want to help my children (2 girls) to understand that even simple tasks can hold meaning and pleasure.

Who knew that by admitting out loud that I am a homemaker first, I would ultimately find the career I was looking for. Welcome to Itty Bitty City Farm!

Starting the process...

I am in the midst of transferring posts from my other blogs and making this my one and only. This process is taking me a little more time than I thought. While I work on what's what feel free to take a look at my other Blogs:

www.bake-happy.blogspot.com
www.boobalou.blogspot.com

Hopefully, all will be contained here within the next couple of weeks.

Cheers,

Trish