Cherry Crisp

July 20, 2015July 27, 2015 / makingofahome / 1 Comment

Last week my girls and I, along with my sister, ventured to my in-law’s home and spent the afternoon tangled up in branches and brambles. It was picking’ time! By the time the day was done, we ended up with two giant bowls of tart cherries and black raspberries. Simply marvelous!

The black raspberries quickly became freezer jam, with the help of my six and eight-year old sous chefs. And the cherries, well, the cherries ended up going into an absolutely amazing cherry tart. I don’t often like to toot my own horn, but friends, it was good. Very good. Let me share the recipe…

Cherry Crisp

6 cups pitted tart cherries (This measurement was taken AFTER the cherries were pitted.)

1 cup local honey

2 T Non-GMO corn starch

Mix these ingredients in a large bowl and pour them into a 9×9 baking dish. (I use this baking dish because then I can serve the crisp table-side and it looks as good as it tastes.)

2 cups oats

1 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 stick cold butter cut into cubes

Mix all these ingredients together in a large bowl (such as one of these sustainably harvested bamboo bowls) using a pastry blender. Pour the crumbled mixture onto the cherry mixture.

Bake at 375 degrees for one hour. Allow 20 minutes to cool before serving. 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.

Pesto with a Kick

June 24, 2015June 18, 2015 / makingofahome / Leave a comment

I love making pesto with early summer greens. It just makes me feel good. It’s green. It’s a great way to pack tons of vitamins and minerals in my kids’ bodies. And, there is cheese in it, and anything with cheese is a must have in my book.

I have written about making pesto before, like in this post, where I also discuss how I preserve my pesto for those Midwestern days when there is no green growing outside. This pesto is a bit different in that I didn’t use any herbs to impart flavor. This time I used kale and mustard greens. If you have never had mustard greens, they are amazing. They are incredibly earthy tasting, but very spicy. They are also another one of those cruciferous vegetables that have fabulous health benefits. I like to think of this pesto recipe as a cruciferous cancer-fighting bomb of deliciousness 🙂

This recipe made a giant batch of pesto, so feel free to adjust as needed. You may also need to make it in batches, depending upon the size of your food processor.

Here’s what to do:

1. Wash and spin dry (I adore my salad and berry spinner. Summer would not be the same without it. I use it Every. Single. Day.) 5 cups of kale and 3 cups of mustard greens. (Fyi…I jam packed the greens in the cups when measuring.) Set aside.

2. In a food processor, combine 1 cup raw walnuts and 6 cloves of garlic. Pulse them in the processor.

3. Add the washed greens to the food processor. (Again, you may need to do this in batches.)

4. Slowly add in 1/2 cups olive oil while the food processor is running.

5. Add 1/2 pound good shredded Parmesan cheese to the food processor.

6. Slowly add an additional 1/2 cup to 1 cup of olive oil depending on the consistency you would like.

7. Add salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste.

Enjoy!

The Ladies: A Lesson in Love and Loss

June 18, 2015June 17, 2015 / makingofahome / 2 Comments

Do you remember on Tuesday when I told you I didn’t ever really like to put myself out there and go too far outside my comfort zone for fear of upsetting others? For this reason, I have never shared (in this very public space) a simple fact about our family’s suburban homestead: We have a flock of backyard chickens. Oh, and we have had them for over two years now 🙂

When we first brought them home as chicks, I didn’t feel comfortable talking about it here on the blog for fear that we may not end up being able to care for them as they needed. I didn’t want to appear weak for having to give up on something that had only just begun. Then as months passed, and the chicks became laying hens (Well, one ended up being a rooster and thus was scooted quickly out to a farmer we know.), I still didn’t share any stories about the chickens because it just seemed like too much time had gone by, and it would be strange to introduce the concept so late.

But in keeping with my promise to myself, to remain transparent and open, let me tell you a little bit about our backyard coop convent.

These ladies have taught our family more than we ever could have envisioned when we picked them up from the feed store so long ago.

Did you know that chicks sometimes need a little booty soak and wipe when they are first born in order to prevent their vents from becoming clogged? I sure didn’t! But there I found myself, sitting on my basement floor with a warm cup of water, a three-day-old chick cradled in my hands, giving her the best spa treatment imaginable.

Did you know chickens each have unique personalities? We had no idea this was true until our gal Limey (She was named by my then-four-year-old.) came along. She had the most loving demeanor and just loved to be in on all the people-action. In fact, she would often fly out of the run, walk up to our back door, and scratch her claws against the screen door in order to get us to go outside and play with her.

Did you know laying hens are more than just egg producers, but members of the family? We definitely had no idea of the emotion impact we would face this past winter when our Limey would again fly out of the run without our knowing and was lost to a predator at night fall.

These feathery ladies have given us so much more than an egg a day. They have taught us valuable life lessons of love and loss that I believe have helped to shape our family.

Here is a little photo tour throughout our two years with the ladies…

Rebirth and Return

June 16, 2015June 15, 2015 / makingofahome / 7 Comments

In the past year and a half, my life’s journey has seen many peaks and valleys. More so than I ever thought to be possible. I have had the privilege of teaching an amazing group of young people who helped me to spread my wings as an educator in ways I never thought possible. I worked with a group of individuals who have compassion and an unshakable will to do what is best for kids day in and day out, and who support one another in a way I have never before seen in a professional setting. And I have experienced hardship and trama that has sent shock waves to the very foundation of my beliefs, and daily impacts the core of who I am.

The crazy thing about life is that there always seems to be something gleaned from the journey itself. Throughout my time away from this blogging space, I feel I have truly found myself. Life’s obstacles have forced me to look at what it is I truly want to do with my life, and do it.

My entire life I strove to not ruffle any feathers. My husband always joked with me that his one worry in marrying me was that I was so incredibly passive, and he feared that throughout my life people would walk all over me. And the fact of the matter is…He was right. I always seemed to find myself sacrificing what I wanted, or what I thought was best, so that everyone around me would stay happy. But something inside of me changed over the corse of the last 18 months. I realized I owe it to myself to do what I think is best. No matter the fall out, if I truly believe in something with every fiber of my being and in the very deepest caverns of my gut, I need to at least give it a try.

So now I find myself at a point in my life in which I have never been. I have abandoned what others think is normal or correct and I plan to pave my own way toward a path I feel will lead myself and my family to places we never dreamt possible. I invite you to come along with me. Welcome back to Making of a Home!

“When you begin taking that road not normally taken—Robert Frost poem—when you begin going a different direction and you find it very rewarding and satisfying, you wake up the next morning and you suddenly say, ‘Well, what else have I been missing out on?’ “ ~Joel Salatin

Living for the Pockets

February 17, 2014February 18, 2014 / makingofahome / 1 Comment

Well friends, it has been almost a month since my last post. When going back to work full time, I had high hopes of still being able to post each day. Now I’m thinking I may have been in the midst of a bit of a crazy streak to think that would be possible. In fact, for a few weeks there I did feel like I was quite the loony lady, and sure I would never again be able to take part in those “homestead-ish” acts that had come to make up so much of my life since I left the workforce in 2009. I felt like I couldn’t balance anything, and found it difficult to stay afloat.

But as always, my husband was there to tell me two things: 1. You are crazy. But not headed down the path to Crazy Town like I thought. He said I was crazy to think just because I had started back to work full time, that I would have to suddenly abandon who I was. 2. Give it a few weeks, and you will soon be able to figure out where to fit in all you love to do: teach, raise our family and keep our suburban homestead afloat.

So I did as he directed. I waited. And low and behold (and as much as I hate to admit it), he was right. I have found those little pockets of time here and there where I can still do those activities I love. In fact, I didn’t even realize I was doing it until I went to download pictures this weekend and discovered that over the course of the past month I had been able to do quite a lot.

But these activities have taken on a different form. Instead of dedicating several hours in the afternoon to crocheting, I sneak in a couple of rows while sitting at tumbling lessons. Rather than having an entire fermenting-day, I whip up a quick batch of yogurt on Saturday mornings with extra milk that is about to expire, and throw together an attempt at water kefir on a Friday night after the girls are asleep.

And I think my favorite part of all has been the ability to interweave these homesteading activities into my classroom. In the midst of a soil composition unit, we started a worm compost bin, and a chemistry assessment turned into a soapmaking lab. And I can’t forget the measurement conversion unit where we went outside to make ice cream in the snow.

The crazy part of this new life of mine has been how I now live for those pockets. Those pockets of time when I can do and share those activities that make me who I am.

I hope you all move into this week, able to find those pockets in which you can do all that you love.

Balance

January 21, 2014 / makingofahome / 3 Comments

So much of being a parent is a balancing act. Each of us who takes on this role knows that in order to be a parent you must find some sort of equal platform between all aspects of life: between wife/husband and parent, between house chores and playing, between health and the occasional treat. These past few weeks I have found myself trying to find this level ground between work and keeping my home as I have been for the past three and a half years. I am not a stranger to working as a teacher while also playing the role of wife, mother and homemaker. I just need to find that place again.

I truly believe that balance is within my grasp, getting closer each day, and hopefully soon I will find myself in a new rhythm of life that will guide me through these newly forming roles. Until that time, I will just keep inching forward, as best I can, searching for harmony between wife, mother, homemaker and teacher.

Thank you for continuing to visit this space, and taking this new journey with me. And great thanks for your kind words of encouragement on this space and outside of it.

May each of you find balance as you move throughout your week.

Christmas Morning Monkey Bread

January 7, 2014January 2, 2014 / makingofahome / 1 Comment

Beginning in December 2006, our first Christmas with children, we started a Christmas morning tradition in our household. Each Christmas morning, after all of the gifts have been unwrapped, we indulge in a gooey and glorious breakfast: monkey bread. I have been making little adjustments to my recipe each year, and I think this year I have finally perfected it. This year’s monkey bread came out with the perfect balance of butter and sugar, wonderfully flakey yet still sticky, and dripping with the perfect amount of sweet glaze. I hope your family enjoys this recipe as much as mine.

Christmas Morning Monkey Bread

(I normally do the following the day before I plan to serve the monkey bread.)

Dissolve 2 tablespoons dry yeast in 1 1/4 cup warm milk.

Beat two eggs in a large bowl, and then add milk/yeast mixture to the beaten eggs. Next add 3 tablespoons sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, and 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour.

Then cut up 6 ounces of softened butter and add it to the bowl. Using your hands, work the butter into the above mixture of ingredients.

Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover with a damp dish towel and allow it to rest until double in size.

After the dough has risen, melt one stick of butter and place the butter into a shallow dish. In another shallow dish, mix together 1 cup brown sugar and 1 tablespoon cinnamon. Roll the dough into 2 tablespoon-sized balls. Dip each ball in the melted butter, then into the sugar and cinnamon mixture. Then place the buttered and sugared balls into a greased and floured bunt pan. Once all the dough balls are in the bunt pan, cover with a damp dish towel and allow to rise until double in size.

(On the day you plan to serve the monkey bread.)

Bake your monkey bread in a 350 degree oven for about 35 minutes. (The time will vary slightly depending on whether or not you are using a ceramic or metal bunt pan.)

While the bread is baking, heat 4 tablespoons butter, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/3 cup real maple syrup, 1 tablespoon water and 1 teaspoon cinnamon in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring the mixture to a boil and allow to boil for one minute. Remove from the heat.

Once you remove the monkey bread from the oven, allow it to cool for about 5 minutes. Then invert the pan onto a serving plate to remove the monkey bread. Pour the glaze over the bread. Serve warm. Enjoy!

Our Holiday

January 6, 2014September 1, 2015 / makingofahome / 1 Comment

I hope this past holiday season found you all well, and in a state of food, fun and family bliss. Happily, all our family members remained healthy for the duration of our holiday break, enabling us to truly enjoy each moment of these past two weeks. Here is a bit of those things we enjoyed as 2013 exited, and 2014 began.

Sledding at one of our favorite parks–Rockford Park District’s Aldeen Park.

Enjoying this amazing egg nog hot chocolate recipe by Ashley English.

Taking in the majesty that was our church on Christmas Eve.

Engaging in some fabulous retro games and projects. Can you believe they are now selling these oldies but goodies again? Love it.

Indulging in Ree Drumond’s bacon maple scones from this wonderful cookbook.

Playing in the magical fairy tree house built by Santa’s elves.

Taking in the silence of our backyard on a snowy New Year’s Eve.

Happy New Year, friends. I hope 2014 brings much peace and happiness to all of you.

Nona’s Biscotti

December 18, 2013December 17, 2013 / makingofahome / 2 Comments

Nona Zanocco’s Biscotti has become a staple around our house each Christmas. This buttery crisp cookie is perfect for a morning coffee with friends around the holidays, and also a wonderful additional to the cookie platter at a holiday party. The word biscotti means “twice baked,” so although they do take a bit of time to make, these treats are worth the wait it takes to prepare them.

Nona’s Biscotti

Using a stand mixer, place 3 sticks of room temperature butter in the mixing bowl. Mix until the butter is creamy and smooth.

Add 2 cups of sugar and cream the butter and sugar.

While the mixer is running, add 6 eggs (one at a time). Then add 1 tablespoon vanilla and 1 tablespoon almond extract.

In a separate bowl, mix together 6 cups flour and 2 tablespoon baking powder.

Add the flour mixture to the butter/sugar/egg mixture. Run the mixer until completely combined.

Form logs of dough (roughly 2 inches wide by 12 inches long by 1 inch tall) and place on a greased cookie sheet.

Bake the logs in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes.

Remove the logs from the oven and allow to cool for about 5 minutes. Then, slice the logs into one inch slices. Spread the slices out and re-bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the slices are just starting to turn golden.

You can serve the cookies as is, or you can drizzle them with a glaze. (I like to mix a bit of powdered sugar with a touch of almond extract and some milk to make a glaze that I then drizzle over top. I then top with naturally-colored sprinkles, or lemon or orange zest.)

Enjoy!

At This Moment

December 17, 2013December 16, 2013 / makingofahome / 2 Comments

At this moment, I am…

~preparing my eldest’s Girl Scout Daisy smock. Today is her first Daisy meeting, and I am just praying her little cough from last night is better this morning so she is able to attend. She is so very excited.

~putting the finishing touches on the sleep hats I mentioned last week. More on this to come later this week.

~frosting biscotti. It’s my Nona’s recipe from Italy, and they are delicious. No worries, more on these tasty treats later this week as well 🙂

~wishing a few extra hours could be added to each day this week. There is so much that needs to be done.

~reminding myself what is important this time of year, despite the above mentioned craziness that seems to be seeping into each day.

~awaiting an important day in my family’s life. Check in on Friday for more about this news.

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