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Violet Unicorn Jelly
The best way to pick wild violets is sitting in the grass with a granddaughter on a sunny Sunday morning. The best reason to pick wild violets is to make violet jelly. And the best thing to do with violet jelly is to have a fairy tea party with lady finger sandwiches. So far, I Continue reading
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This Little Light of Mine: Beeswax Candles
I recently gifted a dear sister-in-law with two homemade beeswax candles. This has prompted her to do a blog post about beeswax candles. And that has been a major kick in the pants for me to share my candle adventure here. Making candles is so easy! Just melt and pour. NOT. It took me over Continue reading
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Making lipbalm: one way to avoid doing schoolwork
A box of honey has been spun and the cappings have been melted into a sunny yellow disc. With the school year looming, I am desperate to spend these last few days enjoying summer projects before the first steps into the school building erase these ten glorious weeks of summer. Or maybe I am just stalling Continue reading
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How Much Honey?
It’s the big question everyone has when we harvest a honey box. How much honey is in there? Family wants to know, “Will we get some for Christmas?” Colleagues ask, “Will you have any to sell this year? Mr. Beekeeper asks, “How many pounds did I carry up from the bee yard?” Mrs. Beekeeper asks, Continue reading
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Bionic hip mom-mom: Week 1
I’m now one week bionic. With a one-week old titanium/plastic hip, I’m not quite leaping after butterflies in the meadows (although I do have narcotic-induced dreams that get a little bizarre); I shuffle around the house with a walker. I strategize my day to coordinate my one effort to get downstairs with my actual need Continue reading
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Cleaning the Chocolate Fountain
A chocolate fountain really adds “wow” factor to a party. We’ve included a chocolate fountain in our holiday parties for several years now. If you acknowledge up front that the massive amounts of chocolate are mostly going to be tossed out and that you ought to have an empty dishwasher when you put chocolate-coated parts Continue reading
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What do you do with pumpkin seeds?
Here’s the dilemma du jour. Do you have to soak pumpkin seeds before roasting them? I have toasted them straight from the pumpkin with resulting tough, chewy seeds. Daughter Shelley, culinary queen in her own right, has either soaked them overnight or boiled them in salt water, both yielding excellent results. Friday night she was Continue reading
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Adventures in liverwurst
Pioneer John is making the most of his deer bounty. Not content with mere roasts, he decided to use the organ meats (liver and heart) to make liverwurst. For those of you shaking your heads and laughing while saying “Poor Kathy…,” it’s not really that big of a deal. I know for a fact that some Continue reading
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Lip balm
Making lip balm is one project I’ve been wanting to do with our beeswax. It is relatively easy and foolproof. The success of a lip balm has more to do with preference than with messing up a recipe. (This reminds me of a time when I made chocolate truffles as Christmas gifts. The raspberry truffle Continue reading
Slightly Off the Grid 