Winter Happenings

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O taste and see that the Lord is good;

How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!

O fear the Lord, you His saints;

For to those who fear Him there is no want.

Psalm 34:8-9

We've been enjoying lots of winter time teas since we've been dealing with a lot of sickness (like the rest of the US it seems!!).

And enjoying some wintery holiday baking :)

Working with dough is one of my faaaavorite things :) :)

And so is making cinnamon rolls, hah ;)

We tried our hand at making homemade vaseline and lotion bars! This was so much fun and the lotion bars work SO well, I never want to go back to store-bought chapstick!! ;) We used Melissa K. Norris's lotion bar formula HERE, and Homestead Corner's 2-ingredient vaseline recipe HERE. Highly recommended!! :o)

The deer have been out foraging ...

... and the winter sunsets have been breathtakingly lovely. :)

I hope you are having a blessed beginning to your year my friends! :)

♥

The Saturday Evening Post | Life Pictures and How to Make Beef Stock

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I currently have a cauldron of beef stock simmering away (for the second day) on the stove top. It's looking loooovely! Stock is SO good for gut health and general wellness and it's the very best when homemade. I've been researching where to find grass-fed beef bones, and finally found a farm where I picked up four packages on Wednesday morning! Hence the title … How to Make Beef Stock. Be prepared for a very exciting post. ;o)

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Gather whatever leftover veggies you may have saved up for stock and pop them into a large stock pot. A whole onion (including the washed skin, if you buy organic), celery (including the leafy tops), some coarsely chopped carrots, etc. We keep a bag in the freezer and add to it as we have opportunity. It all adds goodness. :)

 

Toss the beef bones in coconut oil and place them in a single layer on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Roast them for at least one hour at 425* F. Add them to your ever-growing pot of stock ingredients. ;)

Next, add a good tablespoon of raw ACV. This helps to release the nutrients from the bones.

Add a healthy number of garlic cloves - garlic adds loads of flavor, of course, but it is amazing for the immune system as well - lots and lots of antioxidants. 

Finally, add enough water to cover everything …

… and several bay leaves. Oh, and a few sprigs of fresh rosemary. If you don't have fresh, dried should do as well.

Simmer well for at least a couple days to make sure you get every last bit of nutrients and goodness from all the bones and veggies! 

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And now for a few life pictures …

Garden produce.

My sweet nephew was helping … :o)

Is there anything prettier than that?

Avocados on the windowsill.

Sunshine on the school bookshelves.

The first pumpkins! :)

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Have a happy, happy weekend!!

~ Summertime Happenings ~

Kitchen with a view ...

Projects:

Shining silver! My grandma passed down to me a silver tea service as well as some miscellaneous pieces such as this gravy boat, several years ago, and it's been a definite (and fun) labor of love getting everything back into shape ... I can't wait to use the service once everything is clean!

Before ...

And after! Fun, huh? The extra piece on the left is the cream pitcher from the tea service. Soo pretty.

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Trunk ... errr ... de-smelling? Someone have a better word? I just love my old pine trunk, and when I received it one Christmas Past, my plan was to use it as my hope chest -- the problem was its enormously intense mothball smell on the inside, which slightly hampered making use of it to store anything besides dishes and other non-absorbent things!

  I've tried just about everything over the past few years to de-scent it: baking powder, coffee grounds, cedar shavings, sanding the inside and leaving it out in the sun for days ... but nothing seemed to work. After doing some more research, I finally decided to use the big guns, and bought cedar oil! I rubbed it unsparingly all over the inside of the trunk, and have let it sit in the sun for several days. So far, the mothball scent seems to have been kept at least somewhat at bay -- however, I ordered more oil and intend to rub the trunk over another time before I actually put anything potentially absorbent within. I'm excited!

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Summer flowers ...

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Cooking:

This yummy recipe for shortcake ...

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From Pioneer Woman, mozzarella-tomato pizza with pesto for the sauce -- I've been having so much fun playing around with my basil this summer! And she has the best pizza crust recipe here.

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Bread making ...

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 This one's a shout-out to my Grandma! I recently made one of your old recipes for the first time -- my uncle one time gave me a really special gift of a recipe box filled with a number of family recipes, and Grandma's (marvelous) chicken lasagna was one of them!

 So, I wanted you to know I'm carrying this one on down another generation Grandma -- with a couple changes to make it my own! :o) Love you!

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Thrifting: 

This Wood and Sons blue-and-white pattern -- I officially love blue and white china. ;o)

 

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And this 16 piece tea set with four cups and saucers, and six plates -- pretty much very excited!

Perfect for tea-time and a read-aloud ...

which happens to be The Treasure Seekers by E. Nesbit at the moment -- this is an absolutely heart warming and delightful book that has been a favorite of mine for years. If you haven't read it, must pick up a copy post-haste. :o)

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