Basil Lime Gimlet

September 18, 2013September 1, 2015 / makingofahome / Leave a comment

Date nights do not often happen these days. Crazy schedules, shifting demands of the workplace and caring for two young children make it difficult for this mom and dad to have a few spare moments alone. That is why this past weekend was quite a celebration. We enjoyed a date night. With just the two of us. Alone.

We spent our time at an early evening movie, followed by wonderful Vietnemese food, and all wrapped up with homemade garden-inspired cocktails. It was a perfectly wonderful evening.

We wanted to incorporate our garden bounty in our cocktails in some way, so here is our best attempt to embody late summer garden freshness in a glass. We hope you enjoy this little treat as much as we did!

Basil Lime Gimlet

1 cup lime juice

1/2 cup water

7 fresh basil leaves

1/2 cup sugar

Place the above ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir the mixture constantly until the sugar is dissolved and begins to bubble. Turn off the heat, and allow the mixture to steep with the lid on for at least an hour. Remove the wilted basil leaves and pour into a glass container and place in the refrigerator until chilled.

When you are ready to enjoy your cocktail, fill a pint-sized Mason jar with ice. Add 1 oz. vodka, 2/3 cup of the basil lime simple syrup above, and 2 fresh basil leaves. Now, for that rustic chic charm, attach a lid and rim to your Mason jar and shake away. I’m telling you, it’s the coolest martini shaker on the market these days 🙂 Once your cocktail is properly shaken, remove the rim and lid, serve and 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.

Thoughts

September 17, 2013 / makingofahome / Leave a comment

Thoughts and prayers headed to those who need it today. Wishing you a peaceful start to your week, friends.

Dairy Free Apple Crisp

September 11, 2013September 1, 2015 / makingofahome / 2 Comments

Despite the fact the mercury is reading 85 degrees tonight as I write this, I am thinking Fall. To help force my most-loved season along, the girls and I decided to pick our first-ever crop of apples from two of our apple trees and enjoy them for dinner in our favorite baked apple form: a crisp.

Because my youngest is still on a non-dairy diet, I continue striving to find new ways of tweaking our favorite recipes to make them dairy-free. This recipe is one of those such experiments. I wanted to substitute the butter in a traditional crisp, without losing the earthy, creamy flavor I think butter brings to the table. I ended up using a combination of coconut oil, for the fat content, and whole wheat flour for the earthiness factor. The crisp turned out quite nicely, without any hint of a coconut flavor that sometimes makes its way into recipes where I substitute butter with coconut oil.

I hope you enjoy this yummy fall treat!

Dairy Free Apple Crisp

1/4 cup honey

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Heat the above ingredients in a small saucepan until the honey becomes runny. Pour this mixture over 6 cups of sliced, fresh apples.

Pour the apple honey mixture into a 9X9 baking pan.

In a separate bowl, mix together:

2 cups rolled oats

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

Cut in 5 tablespoons of coconut oil. Crumble the oat mixture over the apple mixture. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes, or until the top is crunchy and golden brown. Enjoy!

At This Moment

September 9, 2013September 1, 2015 / makingofahome / 1 Comment

At this moment, I am…

~thankful for a most relaxing weekend spent with dear friends and family, while celebrating a wedding in the most beautiful of settings.

~gearing up for yet another hot, hot day. Trying to get all animals cared for, and plants watered before the sweltering heat is upon us.

~glancing around my house this morning, realizing my day needs to be spent in the throws of cleaning. Being gone all weekend did not bode well for the cleanliness of this place.

~listening to the tomatoes calling out to me. There are not many, but those that are hanging out in the garden are ripe and ready to be processed. (I think today I’ll make some tomato sauce. Nothing like a little sauce simmering on the stove for multiple hours on a ninety degree day, right?).

~enjoying this book in the wee hours of the morning and late at night after the little ones are tucked in.

~staring at the growing pile of laundry in my family room. Apparently, I should be tackling that instead of reading the above mentioned book 🙂

~wishing you all a wonderful Monday, friends!

Home

September 4, 2013September 13, 2013 / makingofahome / 4 Comments

Good morning, friends! Where has the week gone? I have been deep in thought and reflection of late, and have found it difficult to come to this space and attempt to articulate just what it is I have been mulling over in my mind. So, I must warn you…This post may take on a very stream-of-consciousness-type nature 🙂

The past two years, when this time of year rolls around, thoughts of home seep into every thought in my mind. Summer for our family represents such a time of connection. Connection to each other, our home, our land. And it just seems that each year when we reach that late-August-back-to-school-crazy-schedule-never-leaving-a-second-to-breathe time, those familiar connections are somewhat strained.

Now don’t get me wrong, there is also a wonderful sense of renewal and excitement that accompanies this time of year, but it’s the common societal belief that this fun and excitement needs to take place outside our homes that has me thinking. We are all a bustle with activities beyond the scope of our homes because there is this notion that our homes are confining. But what about the idea of our homes as embracing? Instead of looking beyond the walls of our home for fulfillment and excitement, shouldn’t we be welcoming each other into our homes, to share the love, laughter and learning found within?

Historically, the home was where all activity centered, and it seems that each day we as a culture are moving further and further beyond the home in search of the next big thing. But I just can’t help to wonder, what if all of that greatness we are in search of is right under our noses, in the very homes that we are trying to escape from? For often “a man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it.” ~George Augustus Moore

August Action

August 29, 2013August 27, 2013 / makingofahome / Leave a comment

There has been a lot of action of late in our gardens. It is truly at its peak, and despite the near 100-degree temperatures this week, we find ourselves entwined in vines of all sorts, harvesting all this fabulous veg.

Tomatoes make an appearance at our dinner table each night, for I am not sure there is a better fresh vegetable on earth than a homegrown tomato. Herbs are being dried each day in order to preserve them for the winter months. Onions and beans are being diced and then destined for the freezer. And who could forget our school garden, from which we just reached the 100 pounds donated mark! Yup, the students of Cathedral of St. Peter School have donated 100 pounds of fresh produce to the Plant a Row for the Hungry program at our local food pantry.

So much wonderful August action in the garden right now. I hope all of you are finding yourselves in the midst of such garden greatness as well!

The Boy

August 28, 2013August 27, 2013 / makingofahome / 1 Comment

The Fagan house had been pet-free since its creation. You could often hear us saying, “No pets for us. Pets just aren’t our thing. Who really wants an animal living with them? I mean, it’s an animal. Yuck.” Well. Huh. Let’s just say, that has changed. Significantly.

I have talked about some of our pets in this space, and others have gone unmentioned. But what is important for you to understand is this: 1. We now have a lot of pets, all of whom have been adopted in the last year. 2. Up until Saturday morning around nine o’clock, my husband had been surrounded by three human females, and a multitude of gal pals in creature form.

Enter Pickles. The first boy to grace our residence, and join Daddy in the ranks of male Fagans.

Now, Pickles may not look particularly manly, but this little guy has stolen my girls’ hearts for sure. Welcome.

The Making of a Home Shop

August 26, 2013August 25, 2013 / makingofahome / 2 Comments

I am so incredibly excited to announce the official opening of the Making of a Home Shop! It has been nearly two years since I began writing this blog, and after a great deal of thought and consideration, I have decided to branch off and sell a few of the items I often discuss with you in this space. I am so thankful for each and every one of you who join me here each day, and I hope you enjoy the new and exciting things I have in the works for Making of a Home.

Come on in, and welcome to the Making of a Home Shop!

Our Summer Kitchen

August 20, 2013 / makingofahome / 1 Comment

With the garden flourishing, there is a lot of action in our summer kitchen. Thank goodness for the cool temperatures that graced us last week! It made the whole idea of standing over multiple pots of boiling liquid all day a lot more tolerable.

Grandpa Dit’s Bread and Butter Pickles were first on the to-do list. One of my favorite canning goodies.

Preserving sweet peppers for winter. I take the time now to dice the peppers, and then freeze them in plastic freezer bags. Then in the winter I can just pull them out and add them to anything calling for some sweet pepper love.

A new one for us: Jalapeño Jam. It sure smelled good while making it. I guess we will see how it tastes in a few weeks. Fingers crossed.

After harvesting our rhubarb, I chop it up and freeze it in freezer bags so we can enjoy this spring and summer treat all winter long.

Our tomatoes are finally starting to ripen. I must say, our tomatoes are kind of lack luster this year, which is very disappointing because putting by tomatoes is my most favorite produce to preserve. But here is one nice sized basket I was able to garner from the garden last week. I made tomato sauce with this collection, and then froze it in our deep freeze for the winter months when throwing pasta in a pot and adding a jar of homemade tomato sauce is just what those little school girls want for dinner.

B.L.T.s I would be hard pressed to find anyone who does not think this sandwich tops the list of greatest summertime foods. The bread is from Banana Cherry Bakery, the bacon is from the hog we purchased from this farmer, the tomatoes are from our garden, and topped off with a touch of homemade mayo. (I use Jamie Oliver’s mayonnaise recipe from this cookbook.) Oh my. Delicious.

And we all know that when you eat those salty B.L.T.s you need something sweet after, right? We whipped up a batch of this amazing cinnamon sugar popcorn. Wow. It has quickly become a staple at our snack times this week.

The makings of our dinner from last night, and breakfast this morning. I love the fullness that this time of year brings. Such garden abundance is truly a blessing.

At This Moment

August 19, 2013August 18, 2013 / makingofahome / Leave a comment

At this moment, I am…

~labeling all kinds of school supplies. I still cannot believe school starts this week. Where has this summer gone? My stomach is churning as I think about it.

~harvesting rhubarb from our garden. I’m hoping to whip up some rhubarb squares later this afternoon. Yum.

~transforming a portion of our playroom into a library for my little book-lovers. More on this revamped space later this week.

~re-reading Catching Fire. Oh my. I forgot how much I love this book.

~loading up the van with needed supplies for the school garden. We are setting up an outdoor classroom space today, just in time for the start of the new school year.

~wishing we could add some more days (or weeks really) to this fleeting summer.

~hoping each of you has a wonderful start to your week.