In Gratitude

July 8, 2013July 7, 2013 / makingofahome / 2 Comments

This Monday morning I am grateful for…

~a wonderful vacation to the Northwoods of Wisconsin. (Lots more to come in tomorrow’s post.)

~those family members and close friends who pitched in to help keep the Fagan suburban homestead running in our absence 🙂

~Downton Abbey. Oh my. I have recently discovered this show, and have been devouring the DVDs ever since. It’s like a great British novel brought to life. What could be better?

~the leader of our book club for choosing The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society for our next read. I am thoroughly enjoying being transported to the isle of Guernsey in the 1940’s each and every time I unfurl the pages of this novel.

~peas and beans just bursting in our home garden.

~a first hand learning experience for my girls. We plan to head to the local food pantry this week with our first donation from our school garden.

~the Mason jars strewn across my countertop, just waiting to be filled with all kinds of canned deliciousness.

~the fermentation frenzy that is about to begin this week…woohoo! Kombucha, yogurt and kraut oh my!

~all of you gathered here today! Wishing you all much happiness and health this week!

Kairos

July 5, 2013June 29, 2013 / makingofahome / Leave a comment

Kairos—“a right, opportune, or supreme moment in which something special and unique happens”

If you are so inclined, share a link to your “Kairos Moment” in the comment section. I hope you all have a blessed weekend!

Happy 4th of July

July 4, 2013June 30, 2013 / makingofahome / Leave a comment

Wishing you all a fabulous Forth of July!

School Garden Update: First Week of July

July 3, 2013June 30, 2013 / makingofahome / 3 Comments

It dawned on me the other day that I haven’t given you a proper update on the school garden at my daughters’ school, The Cathedral of St. Peter School, since May. What a travesty I tell you! So, slip into your spiffiest garden shoes, and come along with us on a tour through the school garden…

Cowboy Cookies

July 2, 2013September 1, 2015 / makingofahome / Leave a comment

The constant rain of this past week brought water into our basement, as well as water leaking into our family room from the ceiling. With water coming from the top and bottom, I felt the need to indulge in some chocolate. I mean really, is there any better way to reduce stress? Nope…I don’t believe there is.

So, today I bring you last week’s chocolate fix: Cowboy Cookies. These cookies are filled with all kinds of sweet goodness, sure to lift anyone out of whatever summer slump you may be in. Enjoy!

Cowboy Cookies

In an electric stand mixer, add 1/2 cup butter and 1/2 cup peanut butter. Mix until smooth.

Add 1 cup granulated sugar and 1 cup brown sugar. Mix until sugars and butters are well creamed.

Next add 2 eggs and 2 teaspoons vanilla.

In a separate bowl, mix together 2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon baking soda.

Slowly add the flour mixture to the blended mixture.

Then add 2 cups rolled oats, 2 cups coconut, 1/2 chocolate chips, and 1/2 cup health bits. Mix until all ingredients are incorporated.

Roll the dough into golf ball-sized balls and place on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 8 minutes.

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.

Kairos

June 21, 2013June 18, 2013 / makingofahome / 1 Comment

Kairos—“a right, opportune, or supreme moment in which something special and unique happens”

If you are so inclined, share a link to your “Kairos Moment” in the comment section. I hope you all have a blessed weekend!

“Oh, Jam? I Love Jam!”

June 20, 2013 / makingofahome / Leave a comment

I think I love jam just as much as I love Friends…and what could be better than an entire Friends episode dedicated to jam? Love it! That’s why all afternoon, as my four year old and I worked in our strawberry-coated kitchen, I couldn’t help but hear Joey’s voice in my head repeating, “Oh, jam? I love jam?”

Yesterday, while my oldest was away at camp, my tiny sous chef and I worked with Pomona’s Universal Pectin, a wonderful low-sugar pectin (as we did in this post as well), and ended up with some absolutely fabulous results. When making jam last year, we used the low-sugar recipe options included with the Pomona’s Pectin. This year, we tried out two no-sugar options, taste tested them this morning, and yummy…delicious!

The first recipe we tried was simply the cooked strawberry jam recipe included inside the Pomona’s box. We used the honey sweetening option and it is delicious. The second recipe we tried is from the latest issue of Taproot. And oh boy, let me tell you, this recipe is amazing! It is a strawberry-maple with vanilla jam recipe, specifically designed for Pomona’s Pectin. And the best part about this fabulous recipe is the only sweetener is maple syrup.

Happy jam-making season all!

Late June Garden Update

June 18, 2013 / makingofahome / Leave a comment

Sorry for the late post this morning folks, but it is just the most beautiful day here in good ole’ Rockford, Illinois and we have been making the most of this greatness. But for the moment my four year old is busy playing with some paper dolls here on the deck (my oldest is at nature camp this week), so I have a spare minute to share a bit of our garden progress for this week.

Now, you may notice that all of the garden pictures for this week are close ups. Well, that is because it is not just the fruits and veggies growing fabulously this week, but also the weeds. Oh boy. Words can’t quite describe the weed-growing action we’ve got here. So, only pretty close ups of the veg, and we will just avoid those unsightly photos of the weeds. Sound good? We will just pretend for the moment those weeds just don’t exist 🙂

I hope you are all enjoying this day, no matter where you are. Happy Tuesday everyone!

The River

June 17, 2013 / makingofahome / Leave a comment

“I stood like one bewitched. I drank it in, in a speechless rapture.”

Mark Twain

My girls and I had a bit of time before a class at our city’s wonderful children’s museum last week, so we decided to pack some goodies and enjoy our morning breakfast by the river. It was a perfectly beautiful, still day and with the sun rising over the river, we could not have asked for a better way to spend those first few minutes of our day.

Although the area of the river on which we stood is very much urban, we couldn’t help but be filled with a sense of the power this river, this natural entity before us. Despite all of human being’s efforts to control the area surrounding this river, it continues rushing through, commanding control. It left us with a feeling of such awe deep within the pits of our stomachs as we stood there watching the currents run beneath our feet. Mother Nature and her wonders are truly at play here. And so we stood, anchored to our spot, looking out over God’s great wonder: the river.