Monthly Archives: February 2012

Poultry Butchering Set-up

Posted on February 29, 2012 by dep31

The road from my first perusal of Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma to eating our own pastured broilers seemed like a long process at the time… but looking back, it seems to have flown by. The biggest hurdle, outside of … Continue reading →

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The Construction of the Chicken Corrals

Posted on February 29, 2012 by dep31

The past few years, we have teamed up with the Stch family to raise broiler chickens for ourselves and others. One of our first steps to raising chickens on pasture was creating some sort of moveable pen that sheltered the chooks … Continue reading →

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A Question of Compost Bins

Posted on February 28, 2012 by dep31

I like these compost bins. They aren’t mine.  The ones we built a couple of years ago were of similar size and layout.  They worked great. But they were made with stock fencing, and looked like an open buffet for … Continue reading →

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Cherry Cobbler

Posted on February 27, 2012 by dep31

I have always adored pie cherries, sometimes known as ‘sour cherries’. I like sweet cherries fresh when they’re in season, and occasionally frozen in smoothies and in ice cream.  But for pies, cobblers, compotes, crisps or dried… give me pie … Continue reading →

Posted in Allergy-Friendly, Baking, Canning, Comfort Food, Desserts | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Putting it all into perspective

Posted on February 23, 2012 by dep31

Field trips are just as educational for moms as they are for kids. I’m not sure they’re getting quite the same thing out of it as I do.  For instance, here’s what I learned from a recent trip to the … Continue reading →

Posted in Homeschool, Still Thinking | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Chipotle Sour Cream Dip

Posted on February 21, 2012 by dep31

Whenever we have Mexican food, I generally serve it with sour cream.  Then… I discovered how to spice that up a bit with chipotle. I find that spicing up the sour cream has two benefits.  First, anyone over the age … Continue reading →

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Plum Apricot Ice Cream, Dairy-free

Posted on February 20, 2012 by dep31

This ice cream is one of my go-to recipes when I need something that is allergen-friendly and simple, and for which I have all the ingredients on hand.  This recipe is inspired by the plum ice cream recipe in “The … Continue reading →

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Applesauce: Made And Canned At Home

Posted on February 14, 2012 by dep31

What with all the ongoing applesauce drama around here, I’ve been feeling pretty good about our annual applesauce extravaganza. If you haven’t heard – Snokist, a major fruit processor in Yakima, Washington, has been found to be selling ‘reprocessed’ moldy … Continue reading →

Posted in Allergy-Friendly, Canning, Comfort Food, Projects | Tagged , , , , | 13 Comments

Cider Pressing

Posted on February 9, 2012 by dep31

Every year, we travel across the state to an orchard owned by family friends to do a bit of cider pressing. The apples aren’t completely organic.  The ground around the trees is sprayed with an herbicide before the apples begin … Continue reading →

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Taming the Raspberry Jungle

Posted on February 5, 2012 by dep31

Today, the sun shone.  There was no form of precipitation on the ground, and no threat of any looming in the sky.  Neighbors were out cleaning up their yards and dreaming of gardens. Me?  I pruned the black raspberries. Black … Continue reading →

Posted in Gardening, Projects | Tagged , , , , , | 8 Comments