She Grows He Cooks

Our little Poppy was talking up a storm today and showing lots of interest in the nesting box. Tonight, in the back corner of the nest, I found out why.

I’m a proud chicken mama!

With 2+ months of sourdough baking in the house, time to find more uses for discard! Sourdough banana bread as a way to use the overripe bananas we had in the freezer is a winner, especially when baked in our loaf pan!
What is your favorite way to use sourdough discard?

Two months ago, I went to the bookstore. Unable to leave empty-handed, I purchased two books. One of which was about sourdough, my favorite kind of bread.

I’ve been saying for YEARS: I’m going to make sourdough. But like many things, time slips past, and all those *I want to* things get pushed to the back of the to-do list, never quite important enough to get done.

When I took the step to purchase the book, our kitchen was a wreck. You know, that two-year-long renovation/remodel whatever it turned into situation. So while it wasn’t time to start the starter, I was one step closer, and I told myself, The second the kitchen is done, I’m going to make sourdough.

Four days before Christmas we “completed” the kitchen project. (But is it ever really done when it’s DIY…?) We managed to sweep up and mop away the last of the dust just in time to shop and wrap gifts. Then the holiday was there, and with cooking to be done, it wasn’t the best time to start my sourdough.

Now, the holidays have passed (WTF, how did that happen?). It’s a new year! And I figured, what day better to be born? So here she is, FINALLY, my sourdough starter started from scratch. I hope she flourishes. And with any luck, I’ll be making my first batch of homemade sourdough in a few short days.

Happy New Year, Friends.

There is something so warming and comforting about a bowl of homemade soup, especially during our dreary PNW fall.
Homegrown tomatoes that we slow roasted with garlic, thyme and olive oil and froze, blended with vegetable stock, miso paste and EVOO in the Vitamix. Drizzled with a healthy spoonful of homegrown chili-garlic crisp to finish!

First year growing (and harvesting) potatoes, so of course they ended up on a pie! Loads of homegrown Fingerlings to go with homemade basil pesto in standard and dairy free versions.

We have had an amazing crop of cucumbers to finish out summer and I wanted to preserve them in a different way. We have done kimchi several times, but this is the first time with homegrown cukes!
It has nice kick from gochujang paste, fresh ginger and homegrown garlic and I can’t wait to see how it changes over the next couple of months!
Have you made kimchi before?

We are in the middle of a booming tomato season and wanted to share show our favorite ways to use them!
Slow roasted, pizza, salsa for a soup topping, roasted yellow tomato soup…. so many possibilities!!
What is your favorite way to use or preserve tomatoes?

Summer work for fall+winter garden. I'm behind on recommended planting times for a lot of stuff. But, the weather has been strange all over the place, right, so maybe the late planting will work out just fine.?. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Besides, you don't know if you don’t try.

The wind has been whipping today. A long, tall trellis with cranberry beans blew over. I stood it back. (Not easy, and I’m sure comical if anyone happened to see, but let's hope no one was spying on my backyard.) More wind and you guess it, it blew over again. This pattern repeated until nearly all the roots were torn up and I surrendered. So disappointed to lose these plants because they were still producing and we counted on them for some dried beans. 😔

Corn stalks blew over too. I can’t stand those back up. The good news, though, is they were all done for the season.

Guess what’s on the menu tonight!