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Brandied Cranberry Pear Preserves

Cranberries are one of the things that make me buy non-local fruit. I just can’t not do it. I love them. I want to put them in everything I make. The pears are local! They’re from my friend’s farm in Potter Valley! I drove all the way over there by myself way out into the boonies out…

Vanilla Peach Jam

Have you ever been in that awkward social situation where you’ve bragged to some random person that you know how to sew your own dresses, you make a pot of coq au vin that tastes better than Julia’s, you have a whole garden of award winning rose bushes, and that you make the best jar of peach…

May Charcutepalooza Grinding Honey Biscuits and for Real Homemade Sausage Gravy

My Charcutepalooza project is late. I don’t really care, though, because I was just eating biscuits and sausage gravy, and that’s all that really matters in life. This month’s challenge was a saga, which seems to be the story of the Charcutepalooza in general. I have doubts… I think I lack the intense love of meat that…

Pomelo Marmalade With Rosewater and Cardamom

Welcome to my shiny new blog! I hope that you keep reading and maybe try out a few of the recipes and projects that will be appearing here. Check back often- 2011 should be a pretty action-packed year. Anyway, enough with the introductions, time to make some marmalade! So, Reader, since we’re just getting to know…

Winter Salad with Butternut Squash Greens Chicken and Candied Pecans

This salad! I should have taken more pictures of it. This isn’t even really the finished salad, just the almost-finished salad. The finished version disappeared too fast to take pictures. (The finished salad has chopped nuts and dressing on it). This is the perfect winter salad, and the perfect antidote to the cookies, cakes, cocktails, and candy…

Chicken Tikka Masala Because I Miss All The Restaurants in San Francisco

I am a country girl, through and through. I love living wayyyy out in the sticks. I love it that if I want to wear my work boots with manure on them and dirty old jeans and carhartt jacket into town, no one looks at me funny. My mud-covered pickup truck fits right in here….

On Killing Chickens Graphic Post

This is the story of how we went from having too many roosters running around to having a freezer stocked with chicken: This post is graphic and may be upsetting to some people, so if you’re going to start crying/be traumatized/send me hate mail, you should click away right now and go read about baking cupcakes…

Our New Chickens and how to integrate multiple age Groups of Chickens and Young Chickens Into Your Flock

I swore that I would take more pictures of the baby chicks this time around, and I totally didn’t do it. They just grow so fast; before you know it, their feathers are in and they’re starting to look like chickens instead of little stuffed animals. The Only Book You Need to Become Self-Sufficient on ¼…

I Love Winter Gardening: Greens & Sausage Gravy

When I first started keeping a vegetable garden, years ago, I was mistakenly under the impression that you only can grow things in the summer, between the frosts. Once I realized that you can grow vegetables year-round here in Northern California, I really fell in love with winter gardening. There’s none of the concern about…

Corned Beef Hash

corned beef hash March Charcutepalooza Challenge: Brining MARCH 15, 2011 ~ 3 COMMENTS For the March Charcutepalooza challenge, we made corned beef, which then ended up in a whole bunch of dinners: Corned Beef and Cabbage This dinner pairs slices of corned beef with gently simmered vegetables right out of the garden. That cabbage in the picture is the…