gardening

Spring?

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As I poured my cup of coffee this morning and opened my shades to look out on the garden, these were the Spring greetings set before my eyes…

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While these may not be the most “Springy” of sights, as I looked a bit closer to the goings on here in the Fagan abode, I noticed a bit of Spring showing her face.  There is more sunlight spilling in our windows…

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…and sunflowers reaching toward the sun’s rays.

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Spring is here, we may just need to look a little closer and dig a little deeper to find it’s beauty this year.  Happy Spring all!

This Time Last Year

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Well, my stint as a junior high math and science teacher ended mid-week last week, and our household has slowly moved back to its normal rhythm.  I had a fun post in mind for today featuring a new soap recipe, and homemade deodorant and lotion.  But then I woke up…to snow.

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It doesn’t show up wonderfully in this photo, but there is quite a bit of snow falling in the picture.  This winter landscape outside my front door led me to think about the strangely warm spring we had last year, and the stark contrast to this morning’s weather.

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March 18, 2013 (Today)

This Time Last Year

March 18, 2012 :: This picture is from my blog post on this day last year.

Huh.  Now that is what I call a doozy of a weather shift.

I hope all of you are enjoying this Monday morning, no matter the weather.  And you can bet that new soap recipe will be the feature of tomorrow’s post 🙂

A Bit of Math and Science

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I am subbing in the junior high at my daughter’s school this week.  In math and science.  Oh boy.  Thank goodness for this marvelous snow day!  It’s allowing my English-major self some time to brush up on endotherms, greatest common factor and transversal lines 🙂

Join me on Friday for my “Kairos” moment from this week.  I hope you are all safe and warm wherever you find yourself on this early March day!

Arrival

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Just as we were nestling in for the night yesterday evening, there was a knock on our front door.  There stood our mailman with a small box tucked under his arm…Our 2013 seeds had arrived.

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So, our dinner table found itself scattered with those many seed packages, and tiny hands eager to sort them by vegetable, color and shape.  We had such fun, we completely forgot about the steady snow falling silently outside our window. Spring is on the horizon.

What do you eat in February?

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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.

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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.

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A Year In Review

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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.

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Chocolate Anyone?

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Inspiration

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Laundry Day

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Upstream

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Let Them Read

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Rhubarb Goodness

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Spring Soup

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It’s In My Blood

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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

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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!

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*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.

At This Moment

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At this moment I am…

~glancing out my kitchen window, as the snow blows sideways across our yard.

~snacking on a bit of left over pumpkin tiramisu.  The recipe for this fabulous dessert can be found in A Year of Pies.  Yum!

~organizing volunteers for our church’s Friday Lenten Fish Fry.  Join us if you are able…It is always such fun!

~enjoying warm coffee roasted by JavaMania Gourmet Coffee Roastery…one of my favorite local coffee roasters.

~supervising another burlap project, repurposing coffee bags from the lovely people at JavaMania.  More on this activity in a few days.

~crafting a few new woolens to bring along on a winter hiking trip we plan to take in the very near future.

~beginning a new book, The Nature Principle by Richard Louv.  I have already enjoyed another of his works, The Last Child In The Woods, and hope to be enthralled with this read as well.

~wishing you a wonderful week!

What I’m Into This Week

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Whew.  It has been one of those weeks.  I know you all understand what I’m talking about…One of those weeks where all of a sudden you look at the calendar and realize multiple days have gone by without your noticing.  Yes.  That has been my week.

I think one reason for the craziness is I seem to have had my hand in a bit of everything this week.  So, with that said, here is what I’m into this week…

  • My girls had a few friends over and they made some Valentine’s Day ornaments using the “Salt Dough” recipe from Paula Deen’s My First Cookbook.
  • I just finished reading Radical Homemakers by Shannon Hayes, and let me tell you, it is a fabulous book!  It gave me a whole new perspective on homemaking as a means of ushering in social change.  Amazing.
  • I also just picked up another book by Shannon Hayes, Long Way On A Little.  It contains great insight into the world of eating closer to the source, and also has a ton of great recipes and project ideas.  Hopefully you will see some of this in action in upcoming posts.
  • It’s not only non-fiction on my reading list this week, I also just started reading Gone Girl for my next book club gathering.  It is a bit on the creepy side, but it is definitely a page-turner.
  • A dear friend of mine just passed along this link to a great homemade fruit snack recipe.  My youngest and I made four batches already this week and they are being gobbled up as fast as we can make them.
  • I started a crocheting project with wool from this farm.  It is working up nicely, and  rest assured there will be a picture of the finished project coming soon.
  • I’ve been perusing this thrift store and this one, and this antique mall lately for some new dishes.  I’ve come home with a lot of cute sweaters…and not so many dishes…ha.
  • My oldest daughter and I are looking forward to making quite a bit of cheese today with our kit from New England Cheesemaking Supply Company.
  • I want to redecorate our main bathroom, and I’ve been looking to make this project as the focal point of the room.
  • And last but certainly not least, I plan to try out two more pie recipes from A Year of Pies, my new favorite cookbook.IMG_0610