What do you eat in February?

February 26, 2013September 2, 2015 / makingofahome / 2 Comments

Local watermelon. As strange as that may sound, yes, for dinner last night we feasted on local watermelon we put by way back in early September, and let me tell you…It was delicious!

After reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle several years ago, I longed for the days of “looking at all [those] jars in the pantry [giving] me a happy, connected feeling, as if I had roots growing right through the soles of my shoes into the dirt” that Barbara Kingsolver so eloquently describes in her amazing piece of writing. And today, many years later, I truly believe I can confidently make that statement with my head held high. We have established food security for our family.

Our dinner last night was a reminder of this. With a lovely beef roast from a local grass-fed cow that was processed in October; green beans hand-picked by two adorable Fagan gals, bread and butter pickles made with cucumbers from one of my favorite farmers, pickled beets featuring the dazzling brilliancy of the Chioggia beets pulled from our very own dirt in the backyard, and who could forget that locally grown watermelon frozen in a bit of water and local honey. Every element on our plate last night came from a place I know and from people whom I trust.

All of those hours spent hovering over the hot stove, in the sweltering heat of this past summer, seemed worth it when all I had to do was head to my basement last night, grab some meat and veggies from our freezer and a few jars off the pantry shelf. Since beginning our journey toward sustainability, I am filled with an extreme sense of gratitude that I never thought possible. It seeps into every one of my pores and I can feel it in every fiber of my being. The Earth has provided us with so much, and by harnessing these gifts in a conscientious manner, we have been able to provide food for our family, even in the dead of winter. God is good.

A Year In Review

February 15, 2013 / makingofahome / 2 Comments

It is hard to believe that this blustery day in February marks the one year anniversary of Making of a Home. Thank you so much to all of you who have been following my musings over the course of the last year! I am deeply grateful for each of you.

Today I would like to share with you some of my favorite (and your favorite) posts from this past year. Thank you again, and be on the look out for some new and exciting changes and additions to Making of a Home over the course of the next year.

Chocolate Anyone?

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Pastaless Lasagna

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Fuasa—Italian Easter Bread

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Generational Wealth

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Farm Fresh

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Ode to the Strawberry

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Retreat

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Grandma Dit’s Carrot Cake

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Canning Day

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New Chapter

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Suburban Homestead

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Walk with Us

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Thanksgiving 2012

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Musings

Homemade Granola Bars

February 14, 2013September 2, 2015 / makingofahome / Leave a comment

As I mentioned on Monday, we are prepping for a winter hiking trip, so I’ve been trying to come up with some homemade snacks to bring along. I wouldn’t want the troops to get hungry on our fun, little adventure.

While the girls busied themselves in the playroom yesterday, crafting all kinds of Valentine goodness, I messed up the kitchen a bit and came up with this granola bar recipe. We all sampled the granola bars last night for dinner and agreed the test was a success. Enjoy!

In a large bowl, mix together the following ingredients:

3 cups rolled oats

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

1 teaspoon baking soda

3 tablespoons seeds of your choice (I used Garden of Life’s Super Seed, but you could use flax seed, chia seed, etc.)

1/3 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup unsweetened dried bing cherries

3/4 cup unsweetened dried cranberries

Then, in a saucepan over medium heat, mix together:

2/3 cup honey

1/3 apple sauce

Once the honey and applesauce mixture is combined, remove from the burner and mix in 1 teaspoon vanilla.

Pour the honey/applesauce/vanilla mixture over the dry ingredients and mix until well incorporated. Line a 13X9 baking dish with parchment paper. Pour the mixture into the pan and pat down firmly. Bake at 325 degrees for 20 minutes. Allow to cool for at least 20 minutes before removing from the pan. Cut into bars. Enjoy!

*A note about all my recipes: I use all organic ingredients, local when available. I use non-homogenized milk, and all of the dairy we use is from animals raised on pasture. I also use oils that are non-GMO verified. All our meat is raised locally on organic feed, and our beef is grass-fed, grass-finished. All our spices and cane sugar are fair-trade certified and purchased through a cooperative.

Hearty Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies

January 16, 2013January 10, 2013 / makingofahome / 1 Comment

I am constantly testing out recipes in my kitchen, attempting to incorporate local organic ingredients to amp up the healthiness of the goodies we love to eat, while also keeping them super yummy. I still had some locally-grown rolled oats in my fridge from this farmer and whole wheat flour from this farming family, so I created this recipe to highlight those hearty grains and their lovely earthy, nutty flavors. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup coconut oil

1 cup brown sugar (packed)

1/2 cup granulated cane sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 baking soda

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups rolled oats (not quick oats)

4-6 oz. high quality milk chocolate chopped into chunks (I love using Green & Black’s Organic Chocolate in all my baking.)

Cream the butter, coconut oil, and both sugars using a hand blender or stand mixer. Then blend in the eggs and the vanilla. After all of these ingredients have been well incorporated, add the baking soda, followed by both flours. Now, mixing by hand, add the oats and chocolate.

Scoop the dough out (about 2 tablespoon-size) and bake at 375 degrees for 7-9 minutes, depending on whether you like chewy oatmeal cookies or crunchy ones.

Yam Fries With Spiced Aioli

January 10, 2013September 3, 2015 / makingofahome / 1 Comment

With winter now in full swing, I am trying to get seasonal ingredients on the table as much as I can. This week I tried out a new experiment with fresh yams I found at the store. This recipe made for a nice sweet and salty treat that the kids just gobbled right up. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 egg yolk

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

3/4 cup canola oil, plus additional oil for frying

1 cup olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

pinch of pepper

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, plus more for garnish

4 large yams

For the aioli: Whisk the egg yolk with the Dijon mustard. Very slowly, drop by drop, add the canola oil while whisking briskly. The mixture should start to thicken. Once all of the canola oil has been added, then very slowly, add the olive oil. Continue to whisk while adding the olive oil. The key is to add the oils very, very slowly while whisking continuously. (This may take some time to master. If the oil breaks, don’t get frustrated, it happens. You could try again, or like I’ve done many a time, just eat it anyway 🙂 It still tastes pretty yummy, it’s just not the greatest consistency.) Once both oils have been added, mix in the salt, pepper and nutmeg. Pour into a bowl and garnish the aioli with a pinch of nutmeg.

For the yams: Slice your yams into small strips. Pour about one inch of canola oil in a pan and heat it. (A trick is to sprinkle a drop of water in the oil once the oil has been heating for a while. If the water sizzles when you add it, you know the oil is hot enough.) Add a handful of the yams to the hot oil and allow to fry for 3-5 minutes. Remove from the oil and allow to rest on a plate covered with a paper towel to drain off the excess oil. Salt to taste. Serve with the aioli.

Thanksgiving 2012

November 26, 2012 / makingofahome / 1 Comment

For about six years now, my hubby and I have been the proud hosts of our family’s annual Thanksgiving celebration. We prepare for this day all year long, with our next year’s theme in mind before the current year’s festivities have concluded. We gather the necessary ingredients from farmer’s markets, local farmers and our own garden throughout the year, and take the necessary steps to preserve that food until the big day.

The week of Thanksgiving, the whole family assembled in the kitchen to fashion the meal. This year we faced a few road blocks, like a daddy who was sick the entire week prior to the feast, and I can’t leave out the fact that my oven broke on Wednesday. Yes, the oven. It is a wonderful blessing that I live so close to my parents. I just strapped on my running shoes and ran pies back and forth the whole day. So really, it worked out quite nice. I got in a bit of a work out, so that I could eat more of the pie 🙂

The theme of this year’s event was “An Ancestral Celebration,” so we spent the day honoring those members of our family who are no longer with us. We feasted upon recipes from their recipe boxes, and relished in the grateful bliss of food, family and fun.

I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and are enjoying this beautiful Christmas season that is now upon us.

Antipasto

October 24, 2012October 24, 2012 / makingofahome / 1 Comment

This past Sunday, we spent the day in the warmth of our kitchen’s arms, making Italian antipasto with my husband’s grandmother. There were a lot of veggies, and even more chopping, but the best part of our afternoon was spending time with Grandma. These are the moments that I hope my girls carry with them throughout their lives. Moments when they are home. Surrounded by family. Learning lessons passed down from one generation to the next.

Apple Sauce

September 18, 2012September 17, 2012 / makingofahome / 1 Comment

A sure fire sign that fall is upon us is when we start to find apples popping up here and there at the farmers’ markets. Last week, we found our very favorite farming family at market with their tables loaded down with the most beautiful apples. There were Cortlands, Jonathans, Honey Crisps, and Crimson Crisps. Each more delicious than the next.

With all of this goodness to choose from, the girls and I decided it was high time to start making apple sauce. So yesterday, with much fanfare and hullabaloo, we began our apple-sauce-making soiree.

The girls did all the work, while I took pictures and drunk in the sounds of 2Cellos on the IPad. They used our very favorite apple peeler/corere/slicer to do the majority of labor, and then took turns adding some yummy local honey and spicy cinnamon to the mix. We make our apple sauce in our slow cooker, so we just set it and forget it 🙂

A few hours later, once the aroma of the sweet and tangy apples, floral honey and spiced cinnamon fill the air, we have the perfect apple sauce for our family’s liking. Fall is here.

Our Weekend

September 4, 2012 / makingofahome / 1 Comment

This past weekend we opted to stay close to home because many of us in our little household of four were getting over the lovely beginning-of-the-school-year sniffles. It always seems so odd to me to have a cold in the middle of a ninety degree heat wave, yet that was our particular situation this weekend. So with lemon tea and honey in hand, we set to having a fun-filled weekend none the less.

The first pumpkins of the season made an appearance at Friday’s market, so we had to buy just a couple. The girls worked hard all of Saturday morning, digging out the seeds and preparing for some roasted goodness.

While the girls worked hard on the pumpkins, I got busy making my homemade granola. We were able to purchase some delicious home-grown oats from Hazard Free Farms, which helped to make the granola extra yummy.

I also tried another treasure from Grandpa Dit’s recipe box: piccalilli. I must say, standing in the kitchen over a giant pot of boiling veggies on a ninety-seven degree day was not one of my brightest ideas, but the final result was quite tasty.

And I chopped the day away, getting food ready to put by in the freezer for the winter months. Andrea Hazzard, from Hazzard Free Farm, gave us a great suggestion for preserving watermelon. Pour boiling water over a bit of honey, making honey water. After cooling down the honey water, pour it over diced watermelon until all watermelon is covered. Then freeze it for enjoyment in the winter months.

Rajah enjoyed finding a new hiding spot. Oh my.

And Tyler enjoyed some brewing time. He concocted a batch of caramel creme ale. Yummy.

I have also been hard at work in the backyard, continuing with our garden expansion. I am so excited to bring you the finished product in tomorrow’s post. Hooray! See you then.

Canning Day

August 15, 2012August 14, 2012 / makingofahome / 3 Comments

Mom (standing with hands on hips, a bit overwhelmed): What am I going to do with all of these vegetables?

Five-year-old Preservation Expert: Mommy, there is a lot of stuff here.

Mom (hands still on hips, a bit more overwhelmed): Yeah. Got it. I’m still trying to figure out what to make with all of it.

Five-year-old Preservation Expert (with a look of absolute clarity): I know! I think we need to have a canning day! Like, a whole day when all we do is can and freeze stuff for winter.

And so continues a day in the life with a very young child that just gets it. Of course. Why wouldn’t we put some of this food by for when the bounty is less? Sometimes it takes youth to open our eyes to what is right in front of us. Wonderful suggestion my darling girl.

Here is a walk through our day of food preservation…

{A wonderful new idea I got from this magazine. What a fabulous idea!}

{Salsa, salsa and more salsa}

{Got to love hot pink fingers for a day.}

{I struck gold this week! I found my grandfather’s recipe box in the back of my parents’ pantry. It contains all of his old canning recipes, including his bread and butter pickles, my favorite of all his canning greats.}