Handmade and Homegrown

New Website!

2012-02-10T10:31:00.001-06:00

The website for Cypress Lake Soap is finally up and running. We would love to know what you think! The link is CypressLakeSoap.com Come on in and find all your old favorites. Look for our new features and products.

Soap of the Month

One of our new purchasing options is a Soap of the Month. With this option we are offering a club subscription to try out a new soap. We are offering a 3, 6, or 12 month option.

New Scent
Amaretto Latte

New Scent
Hotty Toddy

We also have several new scents available and are planning many more over the coming months. We are really excited about all of our new changes and we hope you will enjoy them too.

Soap Rocks

A new addition for this season
Soap Rocks

We really like this new idea that some other hand made soap shops are doing. It is a great way to use up some of those extra pieces that are cut from the soap edges and ends. This means less waste for us and a savings for you. These little "gems" are great for guest soaps and kids soaps. They are each unique hand shaped little soaps.

Happy Birthday Nathan!

2012-01-19T15:05:00.000-06:00

Today our oldest is twelve...where have the years gone. He has gone from a precocious little tot, to a rough, active, adventurous, little boy, then a stubborn, strong willed youth ready to conquer the world...and now he wants to be a man. Full of promise, and passion and ready to tackle anything, no plan in site, but sure of victory...he is and always was all boy.

Here is a pictorial history of life with Nathan. I had to okay the pictures first in order to reduce the embarrassment factor of a pre-teen and unfortunately the bare bottom photo was voted out, but I have to say it is definitely one of my favorite and oh so very cute.

One month

Three months and already knows
how to be cool.

Eighteen months
Always liked being just like his Daddy.

Two years old - Always the artist

Three and a half years - A man of
intrigue and disguise

Four years -
Puddle jumping explorer
Granny's Fig Tree

Four and a half years
Very discriminating sense of style
Uncle Philip's Wedding

Five years old
Big move to Oxford , Mississippi

Five and a half years
Noah arrives

Six years
First trip to a real beach
Mobile, Alabama

Seven years old
Trip to Fort Worth
Star Wars Exhibit

Seven and a half years
Jacob arrives

Eight years old
Cub Scout Summer Camp

Nine years old
Fun with Brothers...Noah attacked
with a bucket of mud.

Ten years old
Crawfish Boil at the new house

Ten and a Half
Evelyn Arrives

Eleven
The biggest snow EVER!

Eleven and a half
Grilling Chicken

Twelve Years Old
...and yes he blew them all out

So here's to the first twelve years of the Saga of Nathan. There have been ups and downs, smiles and frowns. Lots of laughter and some tears. We have weathered all the storms and are still here. My birthday wish for you is countless blessings, lots of love and joy, the best of everything that life has to offer and many, many more years to come. May your journey in life take you far and the adventure always be exciting...

K5 Learning Review

2012-01-06T13:17:00.000-06:00

For the last six weeks we were given the opportunity to review a new program geared toward young students Kindergarten to Fifth grade. K5 Learning is an online program to help strengthen math and reading skills; it was created as a supplement for students as an after school program, but as a home schooling family it also fit into our schedule well for enrichment and further learning.

The program has assessments to see where your child is at on the learning scale between Kindergarten and Fifth Grade, or where there are problem areas that need to be strengthened. The lessons are created to build on what was learned previously and the students are able to do the work on their own at their own pace without a lot of overseeing. The program keeps a record of how each student is progressing, so you know what subjects need extra attention.

We had two of our children on the trial program and it was enjoyable for both of them. We had the 4 year old and 6 year old working on the program. They both really enjoyed the time they spent working on the programs. The 4 year old caught on quick and was able to work through the Alphabet introduction, and simple math skills with very little help. Sometimes I had to limit the time he spent working on the computer. My main reason for testing it was the 6 year old. He is having a difficult time with reading and I thought that this might help him to get past his troubles. He also picked it up really easily and jumped right in. His lessons were more difficult, but the way the program was set up allowed him to progress through the lessons and give him confidence to continue even though they were tough to begin with. Over all we really enjoyed the program and I am considering a subscription at least for the 6 year old, especially right now because of the difficulties he is having with reading.

One thing that I do have to point out especially for other homeschool families, the program, although enjoyable, can be noisy because of the cartoon-ish nature of it. It gives a lot of positive feedback during each exercise, but if you have other children studying is can be frustrating. It is best to use the program at a time that is not designated as "school time" for homeschool families. (Note: It was suggested that headphones be used to alleviate the noise issue and that it would have helped with some concentration...wish I would have thought of that.)

So to conclude we truly enjoyed this program, I would highly recommend it to other parents with children in this age group. My boys were very disappointed that their "computer homework" was no longer working and I am pretty sure that they would recommend it also. It is a great tool for families that want extra enrichment, those who have struggling students, and those that have little minds eager to know more. It is fun for kids, but the program is more about education than entertainment, and that is why I would recommend it highly.

Happy New Year 2012

2012-01-06T09:53:00.003-06:00

Hope everyone has had a wonderful start to the New Year. Last year past by way too quickly with lots of projects either left unfinished or never started. Yet again we get a new start at a new wonderful year full of opportunity and promise.

Wishing you a happy, prosperous, joyful new year filled with love, wonder, and all the promise of a new and successful beginning.

We are looking forward to many adventures in education, Boy Scouting, Cub Scouting, probably some girly adventures added in this year, gardening and landscaping, chicken raising, soap making, bread baking, continuing to learn to be sustainable and good stewards of what we are given to use while we are here...and whatever else decides to cross our paths this year...a lot of the same stuff as last year, but hopefully with new challenges waiting.

Blessings and Love,
-The Zerangue Family

K5 Learning Trial/Review

2011-11-07T08:33:00.001-06:00

K5 Learning has an online reading and math program for kindergarten to grade 5 students. I've been given a 6 week free trial to test and write a review of their program. If you are a blogger, you may want to check out their open invitation to write an online learning review of their program.

Demos at the Farmer's Market

2011-11-04T12:09:00.000-05:00

This year at the Taylor Farmer's Market I tried doing a couple of demonstrations to show people some of what I do to make soap and other bath products. One of the demos was making Bath Bombs. They are really fun to make and since there wasn't a huge crowd involved this time, I let some of the kids that were standing around the table participate and take their creations home. It was really lots of fun to get people involved in the process instead of me standing there doing the demonstration and just explaining each step. I think everyone involved had a good time and it looked like the people that participated were really excited about what they made. Bath Bombs are a relatively simple project that really anyone can do once you get the feel for it. The ingredients are very simple and safe, and there are so many things that can be done to make them your own creation. It is all up to your imagination.

If you are interested in trying yourself, here is a simple recipe that can get you started.

Basic Bath Bomb Recipe

1 cup Baking Soda

½ cup Citric Acid

Witch Hazel (or water) in a spraybottle

Color*

Scent (essential oil)*

The mostimportant step is mixing the baking soda and citric acid. Make sure that it iswell blended this is what creates your fizz.

Addyour color and scent and mix well. If you are using a food coloring that iswater based mix it in quickly because it will make your mixture fizz.

Nowfor the difficult step…Begin spraying while mixing with the other hand. Don’tlet the mixture get too wet. When you can squeeze the mixture in your palm andit stays together without crumbling it is ready to put into molds.

Tightlypack the mixture in your molds. You need to work rather quickly so that themixture doesn’t dry up on you. The harder you pack the molds, the heavier,denser, and more durable your final product will become. Let your molds set fora while and unmold on a sheet pan that is covered with a towel. Let them airdry for a few hours or overnight. When dry place them in an air tightcontainer.

*Note: because of sensitivities in our family, color and scent only comes from natural sources. I try to use only colorants that are a natural material(vegetable, clay, etc.), and scent only comes from essential oils. Fragrance oils and dyes can be used if you like.

Cabbage Casserole

2011-11-04T09:12:00.001-05:00

This recipe has always been one of my favorites as a kid. It is really easy to fix and can be done on the stove, in a slow cooker, or in a rice cooker. It is warm, hearty, and great because it is a one pot supper that includes everything.

Cabbage Casserole
1 lb ground meat(pork, beef) uncooked
1/2 lb smoked sausage
1 onion chopped
1 bell pepper chopped
2 stalks celery chopped
3-4 garlic cloves
2 cans chopped tomatoes
2 cups rice uncooked
1/2-1(depending on size of cabbage) head of cabbage shredded really fine.
1 cup water
Seasoning to taste with salt, pepper, basil, oregano or others of your choosing.

Take everything and put it into which ever pot you decide to use. Mix it all well and cook until rice is tender. Sometimes you need to check and make sure there is enough water and add a little if it looks too dry.

So that is the recipe that I usually follow. One other change that I did make was to cut back on the amount of meat used. If you feel like you want more in the recipe you are welcome to put more in The other day I wanted to test using the outer leaves of the cabbage...you know the ones you never see in the store that are left out in the field to waste. Okay, so here is the adjusted recipe that I tried.

Cabbage Casserole 2
1/2 lb ground meat(pork, beef) cooked
1/2 lb smoked sausage
1 onion chopped
1 bell pepper chopped
2 stalks celery chopped
3-4 garlic cloves
2 cans chopped tomatoes
1 can of tomato sauce
3-4 cups rice (cooked left overs from gumbo)
3-4 large outer leaves of cabbage shredded really fine and chopped
add a little water if necessary since the rice is already cooked and will not soak up liquid like above.
Seasoning to taste with salt, pepper, basil, oregano or others of your choosing.

Just like the other recipe add everything together and stir until combined. This time most of it is cooked so basically it is just re-heating and wilting the cabbage. It should be the consistency of a Jamabalaya. Ham, chicken, or shrimp could possibly be substituted, or no meat at all. Mushrooms, or carrots would be a great addition also. We really enjoyed this dish this way also. Everyone had seconds and one of my boys even ate thirds. Which was pretty impressive to me considering cabbage was involved. The large dark green leaves are not as strong as regular cabbage. I used the cooked rice because it was in the house, the recipe is so much better if you make it using the uncooked rice so that it soaks in the liquids.

Baked Potato Soup

2011-10-28T05:00:00.000-05:00

This is a very simple flavorful hearty meal that is great on a cool or rainy evening. The key to making this meal flavorful in adding layers of flavor. One of the most important steps it to make sure to saute the vegetables to bring out their flavors. The cream and butter add a layer of richness, flavor, and a creamy texture to the meal.

Baked Potato Soup

Ingredients

6-8 strips of bacon, chopped
2 stalks celery, diced
2 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
12 potatoes, peeled and cubed
4 cups chicken stock, or enough to cover potatoes(or water)
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon dried tarragon
salt and pepper to taste

In a large heavy bottom pot or duch oven cook the bacon over medium heat until done. Remove bacon from pan, and set aside for garnishing the top.

Chop onions, bell peppers, and celery, add them to the bacon drippings and begin cooking until onion begins to turn clear. Add the garlic, and continue cooking for 1 to 2 minutes. Chop the cubed potatoes, and add them to the pot and saute for 5 to 10 minutes in order to begin browning them. Add enough chicken stock to just cover the potatoes. Cover, and simmer until potatoes are tender and the soup has thickened to the consistency you like. Add butter, cream and seasoning.

To serve, ladle soup into bowls and top with cheese, sour cream, bacon, chopped green onion or any other toppings that you enjoy on your baked potatoes. Serve with pieces of crusty French Bread.

2011-10-26T06:34:00.001-05:00

For those of you who responded to the soap sample give away, Thank you very much. Because there was such a low turn out each of you will get a sample for playing. :) Tiffny Stewart, Loretta Reece, Michelle Muse, Laura Manley Schlett, and Angela Smith Elledge I will be sending you each a sample of our new Chocolate Almond Oatmeal soap.

Cinnamon Rolls

2011-10-22T07:00:00.000-05:00

There is nothing better than a warm gooey cinnamon roll fresh and hot out of the oven. Most people don't think they have the time for that anymore, but it really isn't that difficult especially if they are prepared the night before. It has taken me quite a while to get this recipe to the point where I am happy enough to share it. We love to make these on Saturday that way you can fix the cinnamon rolls in the pans and put half of them in the refrigerator overnight and you have an almost instant Sunday breakfast treat. Take them out, let them come to room temperature they rise while we are at church and when we get home we pop them into the oven and breakfast is ready.

Cinnamon Rolls
3/4 c milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup butter
2 packages yeast
1/3 cup warm water(for yeast)
3 eggs room temp
5 1/2 - 6 1/2 cups flour

Filling:
1/2 stick butter
1/4 cup of cinnamon
1 tablespoon of flour
1/2 cup of sugar

Topping:
1/4 stick of butter
2 cups of powder sugar
milk or half and half(enough to make it liquid enough to spread but not to liquid.)
vanilla or other flavor

Heat milk and butter(I use the microwave) until the butter is melted but not hot.
Dissolve yeast and add to milk mixture.
Put 5 cups of flour, salt and sugar in a large bowl add the milk mixture and the eggs. Mix and let rise for 30-45 min. Add more flour to make the dough workable and knead for 10 minutes, put in a oiled bowl and let rise 1 hour. (If you have a mixer skip the kneading and let the mixer do it.)

Divide into two roll out one section at a time into a rectangle-ish shape and put filling. Roll up cut into sections 1-1.5inches wide and put in a baking pan cover and let rise for 20 min. Bake just until the top starts to turn brown 15-20min? -ish?

soften butter mix with powder sugar and milk until you get a good consistency to pour on top add vanilla and spread on top before they cool too much.

Gumbo Z'herbs

2011-10-20T05:00:00.000-05:00

This is a wonderful recipefor anyone who is vegan, vegetarian, or enjoys meatless meals on occasion.Traditionally it is made on Holy Thursday to be eaten on Good Friday because itis a day of fasting and abstinence for many Catholics. It was a meal that cameabout in New Orleans because although the No-Meat-On Friday Rule for Catholicswas usually not a problem for most, this particular day posed a problem becauseit is a day of fasting. So for many who do not agree with the Friday seafoodfeast it can be toned down with this meal in keeping with the tone of the day.

All of the greens listeddo not have to be used, but the more variety you have the more layers of flavoryou will get in your gumbo. This gumbo is also a great way to use allthose tops to your root vegetables that you thought had no purpose. Carrot topsare actually quite tasty like a mixture of parsley and carrot.

A note on pepper grass.This is actually a weed found growing in fields, edges of woods and abandonedlots. I can remember chewing the seeds as a kid because of the distinctivepepper flavor that they have. It is not necessary if you do not know what it isor can't find it, but it is a nice addition if you can get it.So don't be afraid to try it you probably won't even miss the meat.

Gumbo Z'herbs(Green Gumbo)
1 bunch collard greens
1 bunch mustard greens
1 bunch turnip greens
1 bunch spinach
1 bunch watercress
1 bunch beet tops
1 bunch carrot tops
1 bunch radish tops
1 bunch flat-leaf parsley
1 bunch chicory
1 bunch pepper grass (if you can find it)
1 bunch arugula
1 bunch sorrel
1 bunch dandelion greens
8 or 10 sprigs of tarragon
1 head romaine, green-leaf or butter lettuce (not iceberg)
1 green cabbage
1/2 bunch green onions
1 gallon water, salted
1 large smoked ham hock (optional; omit if you want it strictly vegetarian)
1 cup of flour
2/3 cup oil or butter
3 large onions, chopped
2 bell peppers, chopped
4 ribs celery, chopped
1 bunch parsley, chopped
2 bay leaves(optional)
4 sprigs fresh thyme (please try not to use dried for this dish)
2 whole cloves
2 whole allspice berries
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Cayenne pepper to taste
6 cups cooked rice
Wash all greens thoroughly and remove all stems or hardcenters. Chop finely and put aside. In a large, heavy-bottomed stock pot make abrown roux of the flour and oil or butter (or a cup of purchased roux). Add 4-6quarts of water and bring it to boiling. Add the ham hock Let it continue toboil while you chop your onion, bell pepper and celery and sauté for 10minutes.

The Ham can be taken out at this point since it is used as a seasoning to flavor the gumbo only(and saved for another use), added to the pot if desired, or omitted completely for a completely vegetarian meal.

Add the onions to the roux and water. Add the greens, herbs, spices, and seasonings. Simmer onlow heat for 1 hour 1 ½ hours. Adjust seasonings as necessary.

Serve in large gumbobowls. Put 1/2 cup of rice in each bowl, and ladle generous quantities of gumboover it. Optionally, you may season each bowl with gumbo filé. Yield: 12 servings

Wordless Wednesday

2011-10-19T05:00:00.001-05:00

Chocolate Almond Oatmeal

2011-10-18T13:11:00.001-05:00

As delicious as it sounds, it is not breakfast, fudge, or a new granola bar, although I am quite tempted to try it. It is my newest soap scent. I think it came out quite nice. The scent is very strong in almond, which may need a little adjustment, and then the chocolate comes through. It is a nice warm scent.

If you are interested in trying out this new scent, I am giving away 4 sample sizes. All you have to do is post in my comments and let me know if you have tried any of my soap before, what are your favorites, and follow our blog to get future updates and giveaways. I will randomly draw 4 names to receive a sample of this new scent. If you know of anyone who would be interested in natural soap send them a message, if your friend wins I will send one to you and the friend.

So here's your chance to try a new scent on me.
Good Luck!

I will pull names on Tuesday October 25th.

Realigning Priorities

2011-10-16T13:13:00.001-05:00

Apologies for my absence and negligence. I always intend to make sure a post gets done and somehow it just hasn't gotten done. I find it interesting how being intent on something and having good intentions are so far removed from each other. One is an action and the other is a dream that will probably never be. I say this because lately my life has been flooded with good intentions that I just have not attended to. It is wonderful to have hopes and dreams, but action has to come in order to make it a reality. Unfortunately my good intentions in the last few months have been just that because of inaction. It begins to permeate other aspects and before you know it life is swirling around you waiting for you to grab hold and take control. The time has come...

Ok, so yes I have started reading a new book that has inspired action...What's this great book, you ask? It's Dave Ramsey's newest book EntreLeadership. I began reading this book because it is time to go forward and make more out of this little business that we have started. Actually, I am really needing to go forward in so many aspects of my life and it is interesting how this book has set that in motion. Although it is a book about business, and Leadership and guiding a team, Mr. Ramsey's words are very far-reaching and can apply to so many aspects of life, not just business. I am about half way through the book and I can't wait to get to the end. The book serves as it's own work book that directs as you go so just like his other books, they can be life changing but it requires work. So thank you Mr. Ramsey for yet another book to ponder and work toward setting new life goals.

So here's to putting dreams into actions, setting goals and putting life into motion again instead of standing in the center of life's tornado watching it go by. One of my first goals again it to give our blog more attention and be more active in posting. So see you soon with another post.

Other books that I am in the process of reading right now: How to Win Friends & Influence People, and Guerrilla Marketing: Easy and Inexpensive Strategies for Making Big Profits from Your Small Business. What are you reading right now?

School is inevitable...

2011-08-29T13:00:00.000-05:00

It's funny in life, you always have grand plans to be on top of everything so that you have every part of your life running like a well oiled machine....and then it happens...LIFE! It seems like these days there is just too much to do and never enough days in the week. So why is it that we just can't seem to stop adding other things to what we are already doing.

Summertime is officially over and school has begun, so has Cub Scouts, and Boy Scouts, and what seems like countless other things to fill our days and nights. And yet there are times that I just feel that one more small thing can be squeezed in to be juggled along with everything else.

We are beginning week 3 of our school year. So far it is going pretty well. I actually expected it to be a more difficult transition. We officially have 3 in school...6th grade, 1st grade, and Pre-K 4. I am determined to make this year more exciting than the last one. It is time to have a hands on year. One of my thoughts was to have 3 weeks of actual school work, and then a relaxed week of art exploration, experimentation, and exploring things not in our regular lessons to have a break, but not to completely abandon school work. This year I would really like to do more with writing reports and short stories, maybe a little poetry thrown in too...

In our first three weeks, Nathan has mostly stayed on task and completed everything that is asked of him...It makes me very, very happy to see an effort being made.

Noah is very good in math and has started reading and writing, which is very exciting because last year he wasn't very interested in "knowing all that letter stuff".

Jacob, well we are lucky to get him to sit still for more than 15 minutes, but in that time he shows lots of interest and promise...what more could you ask of an overactive 3 year old.

Evelyn is working hard at taking steps and saying new words, eating new foods, being patient when mom's time is focused elsewhere and napping.

So, what are some of your grand plans and goals for the year. How do you deal with life interruptions and hiccups.

Wordless Wednesday: Diligence

2011-06-22T11:06:00.000-05:00

Well I tried to put photos up today...for some reason it just won't work. Anyone have a clue about how to fix it? The pictures will upload, but will not show up on the post...ugh!

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

2011-06-21T11:09:00.000-05:00

Today Evelyn turns one. The first year is always such a blur of excitement, change and growth..She has brought so much love and joy to our family. It has been fun watching her personality grow and change over the last year. It looks like she will be a princess, but is also showing that she will be right in the middle of it all with the boys. She is bright, inquisitive and curious, and is already getting into trouble and messes. She doesn't walk yet, but knows how to climb and although she is a girl of few words, she has no problem making herself understood. It has been a wonderful first year and we can't wait to see what next year brings.

June 21 2010

July 2010

August 2010 Baptism

September 2010

October 2010

November 2010

December 2010

January 2011

February 2011

March 2011

April 2011

May 2011

June 21, 2011

Wordless Wednesday

2011-06-08T05:00:00.001-05:00

The Summer Is Here

2011-06-07T12:46:00.000-05:00

J. Planting Beans

Everything is heating up fast, and summer is now upon us even though not officially yet. It is definitely time for front porches and ice cold tea, lemonade and popsicles. The gardens are not really thriving this year, but they are planted and some things are more successful than others. In time we will get the soil right and have better success.

N. Planting Peas

The onions and shallots seem to be doing really well. A few of the garlic seems to be doing well too. Right now we have two tomato plants that are just beautiful and one is loaded with tomatoes(Creole Tomato) and the other is slowly producing a few(Amelia Tomato). There is also a cherry tomato that is trying really hard to get established.

Zucchini, and Yellow Squash are growing nicely this year and it seems as though we have escaped the dreaded Squash Boring Bug that gave us so many problems last year.

We also have a few random potato plants, a volunteer squash or pumpkin of some sort that is beautiful, and a few gourdes that will look like eggs.

Our new garden space

On the new garden plot so far we have planted some eggplant, peppers, okra, squash black eyed peas, and purple hull peas. I am hoping to put in some more tomatoes, potatoes, pumpkins, corn, and cantaloupe.

I am already planning and looking forward to the fall crops...I am really enjoying the process of gardening even though the yields are not overly successful.

Some of the Chickens

The chickens are doing great. These new guys are a whole lot different than my first ones. They are less timid, and a whole lot more aggressive. The little rooster is beginning to show dominance and our older chickens are not too happy about it. So far they haven't been too mean to the smaller ones, but they let them know who is boss.

Our baby girl is on the move

The kids are all excited for summer and what adventures are ahead of them for the next couple of months...nothing really planned yet, but there is a lot of anticipation. Hoping we can make it a memorable summer for them.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-05-04T05:00:00.004-05:00

Garden/Farm Update

2011-04-25T23:44:00.000-05:00

As of today Garlic, red shallots, and yellow onions have been put in the ground. Three tomato plants(creole, sweet 100's I think, and a pink variety that escapes me right now). A few egg gourds just for fun. Sweet Peas and a few bush beans. Yellow squash and zucchini two of each I think. A couple of asparagus plants.

The blueberry bushes seem to be doing really well right now and even though they are really small this year, several are bending under the weight of the berries they are holding so I look forward to future years. I also have five new bushes that need to be planted soon, hopefully this week, but the question is where.

Sadly, the strawberries that I planted a few weeks back do not appear to have taken, so it looks like we will have to try again another time...maybe seeding would be better. It was very disappointing I figured they would take off rather well considering there were already a type growing in that area.

Right now there aren't many flowers actively blooming, except a few purple iris, a couple of roses, and one of my favorite my wild gladiola. It is a beautiful spike of bright fuschia/purple blooms that bob and sway with the wind.

Our weaknesses: The soil really needs amending. I will be sending in soil sample tests soon, but recently we did a home test kit just to see quickly what we were looking at and it was also a great project/science lesson for the kids to see. It turns out that one part of our yard is very acidic, very low in nitrogen and potassium and moderately low in phosphorous...so basically it needs quite a bit of work. We also really need to get more sun into our yard. Although we don't want to clear cut and cause issues, there are very few places in our property that has the daylight hours we need for garden plants.

The chicken run/coop progress has basically just stopped, just way too many things going on and being taken into too many directions. We are still just where we were at the last post...the posts have been put in. All the chickens are still okay where they are; our big girls are happily laying and egg a day(3 total), and the chicks although restless and I am sure ready to be outside will have to hang in there for another couple of weeks.

I am interested in getting several plants...one of the top on my list right now is jewel weed. Mostly because I will be using it in a future soap and spray in next year's soap season. It is good for relieving poison ivy. So I look forward to testing it...especially right now because I have poison ivy...ugh. Licorice, Bay Laural, Artichoke(saw the plant this weekend and love it), a few woodland ferns and other types of shade greenery that could be used for decoration, marsh mallow, and a few others are also on my mind.

The weather is getting really bad so I will post this now and fill in with pictures later...

Happy Easter!

2011-04-23T10:02:00.000-05:00

I thought I would share with you...one of my favorite trees. I have loved this tree even as a small child, because it was my climbing tree. The tree where I found refuge, where I would go to think, where I would go to wonder, where I would go to pass the time on any given day, alone, or with my pal Cotton(my dog)...and yes, I would actually carry the poor dog up in the tree with me. Before my teenage years, my tree died and had to be cut down it was heartbreaking. Later in life I found this legend and it has always made me smile. My favorite tree as a symbol and reminder of Christ. It is interesting to me that the tree that I found solace in as a child is a symbol of Christ and as I grow older I am learning to find comfort in Him. What a beautiful reminder living in our woods and on our world.

The Legend is a really beautiful sentiment true or not. The version I read many years ago is not the same as this, but it does tell the story. So I share it with you today in honor of what our Lord did for us.

Happy Easter!

The Legend of the Dogwood

Many years ago, a dogwood tree grew on a hill outside Jerusalem. In those days, the dogwood tree was as tall
and mighty as an oak, and this tree was the tallest of all the dogwoods, and extremely proud of its strength.

"Something wonderful is going to happen to me," it said to anyone who would listen. "I'll probably become the mast that holds the big sail on a grand ship, or the main timber supporting a great house."

Unfortunately, the huge old dogwood was cut down to become the cross to which Jesus was nailed. The tree was horrified. All its dreams of glory were smashed, and it groaned in agony as two boards
from its trunk were nailed together.

Jesus took pity on the tree, even as he carried it to Calvary. "You will never be put to such use again," He told it. "From this day on, your shape will change, even as will the world. You will become
slender and sway easily with the breeze. And instead of acorns, you will bear flowers in the shape of a cross... with
two long and two short petals. In the center of the outer edge of each petal,
there will be nail prints... brown with rust and red with bloodstains to show the world how you have suffered."

"Last of all, the center of your flowers will be marked as though with a crown of thorns to remind people forevermore, that you and I spent our last moments together." And so it was. And so it is.

~ Author Unknown ~

Soap Process

2011-04-19T17:15:00.007-05:00

The other night I finally got to make two new batches of soap. I really hate it when I get behind because instead of being able to experiment and create new batches I am having to make batches that I run low on...which I am not at all complaining about because it means that it is selling, and that is wonderful! I just want to make new stuff for the 2011 season and haven't been able to yet....okay enough whine.

I wanted to show off a couple of pictures of a stage that I don't often get to witness but think is very, very cool! It is called the gel stage, because as the soap heats starting from the center of the block it turns into this jelly like substance and it spreads all the way to the edges of the block and then begins to cool down from the edges back to the middle. It is very fascinating to me to see. Not all soap makers let their soap go through this stage for various reason, and there are some soaps that you definitely do not want to do this like some milk soaps, or soaps with essential oils that are more volatile because the heat will either alter, or make the essential oils evaporate from the batch and in some cases disfigure or completely ruin the batch of soap. This particular batch is a new batch of Rosemary Lemongrass, it seems to have gelled nicely. When I get the chance to cut it into bars we will see the actual results...but right now is looks pretty good.

Garden/Farm Update

2011-04-14T15:06:00.000-05:00

With rising prices lately I am even more determined to make this Homesteading adventure work for us. It seems like every time we make another trip to the grocery store the inflation that is not possibly happening, is happening. Even the children are starting to see the rising prices. My eleven year old is noticing the gas, and some of the grocery stuff...you know the important things like Pop Tarts. We don't buy them, but his comment was, "now we will never get Pop Tarts when they have gone up to THAT price". So it is amazing to me that even our children can "see" what the some can not seem to. It seems to me that many are being lead around with blinders on and music blaring so that they can not see or here what is being pulled from under them. Okay, enough rant...garden.

We have lettuce in the ground, a few of the blueberry bushes have a few berries this year probably just enough for the boys to pick at while playing outside. The okra, green peas, green bean seeds have been started and have really taken off in the last couple of days, a couple of squash and zucchini plants, and new strawberry plants started so that we can hopefully have something more than fairy berries like last year. Recently we also got a bag of seed potatoes, onions, asparagus, shallots, and garlic that I would like to try this year. My guess is the asparagus will be an ongoing project because it takes time to get anything out of it. Soon we will start some warmer weather seedlings like peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, basil and such...I just can't wait for some fresh pesto. Next week I will put the two tomato plants that my mom brought in the ground. I did a quick soil test on the area that we would like to garden on and it looks like it will need some help and nutrients over the next few years. I really wish that I had followed through and done that last summer so that we could have been adding stuff over the fall.

The chickens are now one month old and growing really fast...faster than we are getting the run and the coop expansion done. With all the busyness that is going on here lately I have a feeling it will be a race to see who wins...us or the chickens. Our older three chickens have really been enjoying the weather, so much so that they are being naughty and escaping out of their enclosed run to explore the yard for tastier things...I can't blame them I enjoy them being out in the yard to explore. The other day one of them even killed a snake. It was a garden snake and not a threat, but I didn't know they would do that.

Until next week or so...

Wordless Wednesday

2011-04-13T23:37:00.002-05:00

It's Alive!

2011-04-08T15:27:00.000-05:00

A new project revisited. Before we had Evelyn, we were making and drinking quite a bit of Kombucha. In all of the chaos of adjusting to the new baby it was forgotten about and died. Recently I was given a new one to start all over with. It is one of those acquired tastes...well a lot of people will tell you that it is a like it or leave it thing, but there are many others that will try it and not like it but have to try it again just in case, before long you realize that you really like it. If any of you don't know what the heck this science experiment in a jar is, it is a symbiotic bacterial(scoby) growth very similar to a vinegar mother which feeds on wine to make true vinegar, not the stuff made as a byproduct of the petroleum industry. It feeds on sweet tea...yes, you heard me right all you sweet tea drinking southerners out there. I can just hear it now...OH THE HORROR! You feed that thing sweet tea! Well yes, because it turns it into a really yummy fizzy beverage that keeps me from wanting soda, and other drinks and it is good for you. It adds beneficials to your system helps boost your immune system, adds B-vitamins, and apparently lots and lots of other healing properties according to the internet and other people who enjoy drinking it.

It feeds on the sugar and reduces the caffeine and what you are left with is a fermented drink that is very similar in many ways to apple cider. So fermented, you mean it is an alcoholic beverage? Yes, there is alcohol, but it is a fraction of a percentage so it doesn't affect you. You can brew black, green or a combination of teas. It is best to brew pure tea without flavors because the chemicals from flavors could alter the symbiotic relationship and could hurt or kill the organism. Recently I had Kombucha made with green tea and really liked it, before I only used the black tea. One of my favorite things to do after the batch is ready is to add ingredients for flavor. A few frozen fruit(peaches, blueberries, strawberries, and black berries are really good) pieces, grated ginger, lemon, orange, lime peels, etc...but I only add it after I remove the scoby.

It takes about a week for one batch to be ready and if you are wondering why it is called a mother, well eventually you will feel overrun with these scobies and you will not know exactly what to do with them. That's when you start your friends and family off with new 'pets' of their own...only if they want one and will use one of course.

At this point I am making ours in one one gallon jar it's best to use glass. Soon I will be putting my other jar to use since it is just sitting around.

So in case you would like to try your own, you can get them on the internet, or wait a few weeks and I will be happy to give you one of your very own.

How to Directions:
Place Scoby disc in a clean jar I used to use quart jars they worked really well. The disc will usually come with starter liquid it is very important don't throw it out add it into the jar too.

Brew some tea what ever type you would like, but just remember flavors are not a good idea(even Earl Grey) just plain tea(black or green) is best. While the tea is hot add some white sugar. Don't worry about any special sugars or good honey, it needs just plain old sugar to eat and when it is done most of the sugar is used up so it doesn't matter anyway. Besides honey has properties that may harm the disc.

When the tea is cooled either let it sit on the stove until cool or add ice or cold water to make the amount equal the whole amount you will be using. Pour your tea into the jar, cover with a towel or paper towel and secure with a rubber band. That's it now all you have to do is wait.

It will probably need to work for 7-10 days especially the first one you start. Once you start making it regularly, you can start testing earlier the temperature of your house will also affect how soon it is ready the warmer it is the faster it works. I like to test it after about 6 days to see how sweet it is. If you like it at that point pour it into a container or bottles to put into the fridge and start another batch or add some flavoring additives and let it sit out on the counter for a few more days and then put it in the fridge.

The disc gets put back into the original jar and used again. The reason it is called a mother, is because a new layer will form at the top of the jar, or attached to the original over time they grow thicker and form more layers and you can store the extras in a jar in some of the kombucha in the fridge, and share them. The only maintenance they require is to periodically pour some of the old liquid off and add some fresh kombucha so that it doesn't get too vinegary which will happen if it is left too long. This isn't a problem either because if it goes to far and becomes vinegary you can use it to cook with and in salad dressings like you would use vinegar.

So there you have it, an introduction to Kombucha as I understand it so far....

Cheers!

Taking things for granted

2011-04-07T22:52:00.000-05:00

Sometimes life just starts going into auto pilot. You follow along day to day never really catching up, never really realizing that your days have turned into weeks and your weeks are turning into months and life is passing you by at a very steady speed. You find yourself thinking there will be time to start that project next week, or finish that chore tomorrow. It is easy to get caught up in a cycle of unfinished forgotten chores and projects that just follow you around while you are basically sleeping through your life. Then something comes along that wakes you up. It makes you realize that if things don't change you will turn around and suddenly the wasted time and energy are all gone and there are no more chances to finish, catch up or start something new. I think I got my wake up call and I am praying that I answer it before life passes me by.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-04-06T16:52:00.001-05:00

Garden/Farm Update

2011-04-02T14:21:00.004-05:00

What a wonderful time of the year, and it is beautiful outside. The sky is the bluest hue and there are very few clouds to be seen. There is a wonderful breeze and the temperature is a wonderful 68 degrees. I don't believe anyone could ask for a better day. As soon as this is posted I will make my way back outside to continue planting what my mom brought on her recent trip up. We will have squash and zucchini plants put in the ground, a few chive plants, a few herbs, a couple of tomato plants, small lettuce plants, several different flower and decorative plants.

Other things happening on the Mini-Farm Front:

The plum tree has lots of small fruit, but didn't produce any last year, so I don't have much hope for it this year. I'm not really sure if the tree is too old or if there is something I can do to keep the fruit from dropping off like last year.

Our blueberry bushes planted in the fall are beginning to show new life and some are already starting to bloom and grow a few berries.

The new strawberry plants that were planted a couple of weeks ago have started to show leaves.

If I have the time today, we will also try to plant some green beans seeds in the ground, maybe a couple of other things, and start a few seed trays.

The chickens(big) are now happily laying an egg each per day. The chicks are growing very fast and were finally moved from their little box inside the house to a large refrigerator box on the porch. They are very happy to be in a new space where they have more room to run and play. Today the boys and I gave them some limbs from the yard to 'roost' on and they have been happily playing and jumping around.

So far on the new run we only have the posts placed in the ground. I will probably try to dig a trench for the buried hard wire cloth to be put in and then we will put in the larger fencing. At the end of the month we are hoping to move the coop to the new run and begin adding on additional space for the new chicks.

Time to go plant. :)

Crossing Over

2011-04-01T09:11:00.004-05:00

This week Nathan received his arrow of light and crossed over from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts. It is amazing how quickly time has gone. In the last five years we have watch him grow from an imaginative, adventurous little boy, into a fine young man. It has not always been easy or fun and there were lots of bumps along the way, but most things worth attaining in life will be met with challenges and obstacles to overcome. It is hard to imagine that in the next five years we will be watching our oldest son go from the imaginative, creative little boy that we know grow into a man. It is really wonderful to see the qualities and talents that God has given to him begin to emerge and show us a glimpse of the person he can become.

Nathan is creative, artistic, intelligent, kind, and friendly; he never meets a stranger. He is also strong willed, obstinate, overly confident and sometimes very hard to convince that he should be doing things differently. Often, as parents we want to focus on and foster all the good qualities and work really hard on removing the 'bad' traits. We have to remember that even some of the characteristics that we may not like now will serve him well and make him a stronger adult. These traits will be what makes them leaders. Sometimes as a parent we forget to foster those qualities also and remember that they have a purpose in their life; that it is important to guide and not push(something I need to work on).

My hope and prayer moving forward is that we can work together to focus on helping him to become the man he is destined to become. Here is to the future of a bright, wonderful young man and the next leg of his journey. Our oldest son, Nathan. We love you.

New Chicken Run Construction and Chicken Update

2011-03-20T23:52:00.004-05:00

Today turned out to be a great day; it had a rough start, but once we got going it was great. We started putting up posts for the new chicken run, which is now going to be 25' x 30' and 4' high. Matt Nathan and I dug out 20(I think) post holes and put in the posts(4 4x4's and trees we cut out of the yard). After the first couple of hours it looked like we would never get finished, but by supper time we had actually completed putting in all the posts and filling in around them.

This week I will start digging the trench to bury the wire. Eventually we will be moving the existing coop and adding on to the side of it. We have been trying to decide what to do with the existing coop, if we should add on, add another, or just start over. I hated the idea of starting over because it seems like such a waste. Building another, although a good option, isn't very pract

ical, so I think we have decided to just modify what already exists to accommodate the new brood.

Since it looks like we will not be able to let the girls out as often as last year, I have hopes to maybe split the run into two parts, and grow grass on it periodically so that the chickens don't live in a muddy mess like before, but have not completely figured that one out yet. That will probably be an on going project to accomplish, I have a feeling it will be a very challenging one.

As of Wednesday, the new chicks are doing great. One of my roosters wasn't growing well and hadn't figured how to eat and drink well on its own so I have been feeding it a mixture of sugar, water, and feed with a syringe. Last night it seemed to be doing much better, but it is smaller and getting picked on quite a bit by the bigger birds. The Leghorns and Austrolarps seem to be a bit more aggressive than the Easter Egg Chickens and Wyandottes that we had last year. My little rooster is a Easter Egg Chicken and they are really being rough on him. I really hope he makes it. (The picture is of my little rooster, not the best picture because of the broken camera, but you can see he is really cute.)

Also, it has been about four day without my camera now, and it is almost driving me crazy...not to mention all those people around me that I keep telling, "oh what a great picture that would be..." It should arrive at the Nikon fix it shop tomorrow and I am really hoping it doesn't take too long before I hear something from them. The auto-focus just stopped working on it last week and I am hoping that they can fix it and it doesn't cost an arm and a leg since it should still be under warranty. So there will either be no new pictures, or old pictures until further notice.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-03-16T18:10:00.003-05:00

Random Thoughts of Spring

2011-03-15T09:14:00.008-05:00

This year has been very challenging so far. Winter just seemed to drag on way too long for some reason. It is interesting how hectic life can get, but yet the level of accomplishment just doesn't seem to go along with it. It's not to say that nothing gets done, it just gets done at the level of a scattered-brained snail's pace. How do you handle the fog of Winter and get into the Spirit of Spring?

We are finally starting to see and feel the warm sun again. March is a very exciting time of year; new life comes in many forms this time of year, a time of renewal, rebirth and birth on many levels. For many religions it is the Lenten season; a time to step back, remember, and refocus our priorities in our spiritual lives. It is also the beginning of a new Spring and time to get household priorities together and begin to prepare for all the projects both inside and out. It is garden time, time to start organizing the planting beds, getting seedlings started, preparing garden spaces and landscape areas. Farms and Zoos come alive with all the new baby animals. It is such a wonderful experience for children to see the happy playful new babies.

Some of the projects we have started(some conceptual some actual). In welcoming spring I have begun planting mini-landscapes and and creative plantings to get ready for the coming farmer's market season. The kids are looking forward to being involved in the Farmer's Market this year with activities of their own which could be a great learning experience. Because of warmer weather we are all looking forward to being outside to do more nature studies and hopefully getting nature notebooks together. We will be expanding our chicken coop and run area, we lost too many chickens last year (We should get chicks this week). We are also enlarging our garden space and trying new plants this year. Expanding on the products that we make for the soap company and looking for new stores to carry our products.

These were just random thoughts that have been floating around lately. What are your thoughts on Spring and how are you refocusing and start the renewal process for spring in your families?

First Batches of Soap For 2011

2011-02-17T14:26:00.008-06:00

Life has a way of getting ahead of you, but finally, two new batches of soap have been created for 2011. They were cut earlier today and are now curing. It is always exciting to cut into a new block of soap. Every batch is different and every bar has it's own unique appearance and beauty. These two batches are some of our first creations and have become well loved standards in our line.

The Orange Eucalyptus was the first soap that started combining multiple essential oils within the soaps. The formula has evolved over the last few years and has become very popular. It has a very warm, comforting scent. I think the addition of cinnamon to the bar has really made it stand out.

Rosemary Mint has by far become one of the best sellers that we have. It is a wonderful combination of Rosemary, Tea Tree, and Mint, and other essential oils that gives it a wonderful uplifting, eye-opening scent. The beautiful clays that are marbled into the batch provide color, texture, and beauty and all the oils selected for the soaps make each one it's own masterpiece, that is also good to your skin.

We are in the process of restocking all of the best sellers and I will soon be making a few new scents to add to the line. The most exciting for me personally this year will be something with vanilla! Keep checking with us to see when your favorite will be restocked for the year.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-12-22T12:55:00.000-06:00

Wordless Wednesday

2010-11-10T05:00:00.001-06:00

Inspired to Create

2010-11-08T14:45:00.002-06:00

Lunch is always difficult for me...It is usually the time of day that screams at me to jump in the car and go get fast food. I have been fighting this very hard, and today I was inspired to create a new sandwich. It was an open faced toasted cheese sandwich topped with thinly sliced avocado, bean sprouts, and hummus. It was a very odd combination, but all the flavors complimented each other well and it was balanced and healthy. It reminded me of one of my favorite lunches during my years in college which I will have to make and post soon also.

Of course I ate it before realizing pictures should have been taken. It will be made again...possibly as soon as tomorrow.

Interesting way to use kale

2010-11-07T20:31:00.004-06:00

I like kale, it has a good flavor, and a little bite to it. It looks good in a salad and gives it a nice texture. It adds interest in fresh salads, but is also great cooked in main dishes and as a side dish. It is a very versatile green leafy vegetable. Tonight I discovered another way to cook it and the boys actually asked for more. I made chips out of it...Yes, I know it sounds weird and I would have never thought of doing that on my own, but I was in the mood to experiment and that recipe just happened to show up on the top of my search. It is very easy and apparently you can add different seasonings to suit your mood. Tonight I decided to use a seasoning blend and Parmesan Cheese. The boys and I really enjoyed them. I used them as a topping for the salad, but I think it will have to be used as a snack again soon.

Kale Crisps

Kale

Olive oil

seasoning

Preheat oven to 350 deg. Remove the stem from the leaf, lay the leaf on an oiled pan or oiled parchment paper on a pan. Spray or drizzle oil on leaves add seasoning. Bake in the oven until the edges begin to look brown and crispy(about 10 min), take them out and enjoy.

Variations:

Add chili powder

Drizzle honey

Garlic powder

Onion powder

Wine vinegar(or other of choice) and sea salt

Parmesan Cheese(This is what I did)

Cheddar Cheese or other cheese

thoughts to try eventually:

Wasabi Powder

Curry Powder

Nutmeg

If you try this recipe let me know what you think.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-11-03T05:00:00.001-05:00

Christmas Time Soap

2010-11-02T05:00:00.001-05:00

A few weeks ago I made these two batches of soap for the Christmas Season. They are cured and ready to go.

Peppermint which has a strong peppermint scent and is speckled with pink and green soap chips from other batches of soap; this one always goes fast.

The other is called Christmas Pine. It has the scent of pine mixed with other scents that remind me of Christmas like pine from Christmas trees, peppermint, cinnamon and other spices. the green batch is topped of with a little of the Peppermint batch that is pictured above.

Happy Halloween

2010-10-31T20:31:00.011-05:00

Greetings all on this beautiful Halloween night. This year was a quiet Halloween. For this year we didn't participate in the usual festivities, running around the neighborhoods begging for treats; I could give several reasons why, but instead I will just show you what we did do. The boys were treated to a very special Halloween trick meal...We started the night with a quite artfully put together salad of eyeballs and hairballs...

Then I stirred up a quick batch of goblin guts...

and completed the meal with some

deliciously bloody mummy fingers.

To wash this ghoulish meal down the boys had

day-old bathwater to drink....

...and for dessert they were served a delicious scoop of freshly dug graveyard mud complete with worms and bugs.

Hope your ghouls and goblins had a horrificly terrific Halloween night. Mwwaahahahaaaa!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-10-20T05:00:00.002-05:00

Fresh Baked Bread

2010-10-18T05:00:00.003-05:00

In an effort to eat fresher food we have decided to try not to buy staple items from the store that I am relatively sure that I can make at home. So bread, and tortillas are now handmade instead of bought. Some days it is difficult when we have run out of these items and time is short. It has really made me more aware that consistency is very important. Baking bread has to happen at least once a week in order to have it in the house on a regular basis. I have really been enjoying bread baking except when it is rushed. So we are experimenting with freezing bread dough, and possibly freezing baked loaves of bread in order to help out with time. With that being said, my last batch of bread is one that I just came up with the other day because I just wasn't in the mood for white bread. It is a rather large batch.

Whole grain French Bread

Making a Sponge:

2 cups of flour

2 cups of water

3 tbsp yeast(I use instant)

2 tbsp sugar

1/2 cup of corn meal

1/2 cup cracked wheat

Mix the above ingredients into a very large bowl. It should be quite liquid, if not add a little water until it is not dry. Let it sit in a warm draft free area for 1-2 hours

Making the bread:

After this time the sponge should be bubbling and rising in the bowl. Add to it:

8 cups of flour

2 - 3 cups of water

2 tbsp molasses or honey(molasses adds color and flavor to the bread)

2 tbsp olive oil

2 -3 tsp salt

1/2 cup wheat germ

1/2 cup oatmeal

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

Alternate adding the water and the dry ingredients so that he batter does not become too dry. If the batter is too wet add a little flour until it is not sticky and can be kneaded. Some people recommend taking the dough out and putting it on a floured surface to knead, I just keep it in the bowl for the first rising. Knead it for 10-15 minutes until it is no longer sticky, add a little flour as needed to keep it from sticking. Rub a little olive oil on the dough ball and let it rise covered in a draft free area for an hour. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Punch down dough and shape into loves either in a pan or free formed like a French bread. Let it rise for 20 minutes or so. Bake in a preheated oven for 25-30 minutes. This recipe will make 3-4 large loaves.

The Best Biscuits

2010-10-17T12:57:00.004-05:00

This is my favorite biscuit recipe because it is a very large batch that is also very versatile, and the only one that I have managed to get to work right to make light fluffy biscuits that rise when you cook them. It comes from a Bed and Breakfast in St. Joseph Louisiana that was shared in a cookbook by Chef John Folse; a cookbook that has become somewhat of a cooking bible to me. It is my go to book to use as a base for many of my recipes. I typically do not usually follow recipe directions, but this book gives me a good starting point.

Angel Biscuits

5 cups flour

1/4 cup sugar

5 tbsp baking powder

1 tbsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 cup shortening

1 package of yeast(dissolved in 4 tbsp warm water)

2 cups buttermilk

4 tbsp melted butter

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Mix flour, sugar baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add shortening and mix until the flour mixture looks like coarse cornmeal. Add dissolved yeast and buttermilk and mix until the dough forms a ball. Roll out dough to 1/2inch -3/4 inch thick on a floured surface. Cut out biscuits, continue rolling and cutting until all the dough is used up. Brush with butter and place on a baking sheet and cook for 12-15 minutes. The dough can be made a few days in advance. And baked when needed.

Also, you can bake until just slightly underdone and freezing for later by warming them in a 500 degree oven for 5 minutes.

Okay, so my adjustments to the recipe:

Sometimes I will substitute whole wheat flour for some of the recipe, or wheat germ. I use 3 cups of whole wheat or 1 cup of wheat germ for substitution.

Instead of shortening, use butter or lard. Better flavor and more natural.

The recipe says to use a pastry blender...I have found that the flour mixture can be combined better using your hands that way you get a feel for the texture you are looking for; it is messy, but kind of fun. Just make sure you have washed your hands. :)

Regular milk is okay, Buttermilk is good, but 1/2 and 1/2, or whipping cream make a richer batter.

I like adding nutritional yeast for flavor...1/4 to 1/3 cup works well. Not at all necessary.

The Fall holiday shapes were used just because the cookie cutters just happened to be on the cabinet....It made breakfast fun.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-10-13T05:00:00.001-05:00

Navy Beans with Country Ham

2010-10-11T19:07:00.008-05:00

Navy bean cooked with ham and served with a couple of slices of French bread is one of the most simple, and most delicious meals when the weather starts to turn cool. There isn't much to putting it together so it doesn't require a lot of kitchen time unless you are also making the bread to go with it.

Navy Beans With Country Ham

2 lbs of Navy Beans

2 large onions chopped

1 large bell pepper

3-4 stalks of celery

1-2 tablespoons of butter

1 tsp thyme

1 tsp red pepper flakes

1-2 Bay leaves(take out when you serve the dish)

Ham...I use a small amount of meat for flavor about 1/2 lb.

salt and pepper to taste

Hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce

Soak the beans overnight or do the quick soak method on the bag. Start the beans cooking and let them cook for about an hour on low.

Chop the vegetables and saute in butter until translucent and the edges are beginning to brown. Add to the pot of beans. Also, add seasonings.

brown ham in the pot that the vegetables were in. When browned add meat to beans and deglaze the pan and add this liquid to the pot of bean also. Let it cook for 20 minutes to an hour, test for seasoning and adjust.

Serve in a bowl with a couple of slices of fresh bread and enjoy. Hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce can be added to taste after being served.

Wordless Wednesday: Our Daily Eggs

2010-10-06T05:00:00.001-05:00

The King's Road

2010-10-05T03:58:00.016-05:00

Over the years I have experienced many kinds of music, I enjoy listening to many different kinds, each has their own appeal. It was a big part of our lives growing up in South Louisiana. There is a festival to be found in every part of Louisiana celebrating every part of our culture and heritage. A couple of my favorite festivals are music centered, Festival International, and Festival Acadian (this one is this weekend). Festival Acadian is the celebration of the Cajun culture good food, good music, and lots of dancing...always a great time to spend the day with family and friends hanging out at Girard Park in Lafayette Louisiana. Festival International is a week long festival in Lafayette also. It happens in April every year and brings together bands from all over the world. It is a great way to sample many, many cultures and traditions, and it is a week long party. I guess I am feeling quite nostalgic right now, this weather always does that to me now that I am away from home. When fall and spring come around it has always meant it was time for outdoor activities and gatherings. I guess this is a big part of why I have become so fond of the Taylor Farmers Market. Through the growing season local people set up to sell their harvest, but they also gather for the great bands and musicians, both local and visiting. Anyway, to get to the point of my story, the music has all been wonderful over the past couple of years, but this year we were introduced to a band the I am particularly fond of. It was a group called The King"s Road. They are a trio from Scotland and Ireland. The music they played was traditional folk from Scotland, Ireland, and America, but it was done in a more contemporary style...and what a style it was. They played several different instruments including guitar, mandola, banjo, mandolin, cello, and harmonica. The music was wonderful, and beyond that Alister, Rab, and John added their own bit of history, humor, and life to the music that gave it more depth and richness. We were able to see them play twice while they were here. Once at a house concert which was wonderful because we actually got to meet and talk to the musicians and one of their wives who is an author of Celtic historic fiction, which I am looking forward to reading sometime in the future. The next day was spent out at Taylor Farmers Market. It was a lovely day to just sit out in the grass and listen to the music while the kids played. The boys really enjoyed the music, to quote my five year old..."That was awesome! The baby likes Floddens Field and Ms. Hamilton, it has worked well as a lullaby several times, they are very soothing. So a little tribute to The King's Road, the music highlight of my summer for 2010. Thank you for a lovely memory, and I hope to be able to see you, and enjoy your music again in the next few years. We can't wait for you to return for another concert in the future. Blessings and best wishes to you and your families.

If you are interested in hearing some of the music they played you can go to their MySpace page at:

http://www.myspace.com/thekingsroadmusic

We really enjoyed all the music, but I think my

favorites are Pilgrims in the mist, Doon the Brae, Floddens Field, and Ms. Hamilton.

It's Gumbo Time!

2010-10-01T16:47:00.007-05:00

Gumbo...South Louisiana Cuisine

Growing up in South Louisiana has been one of the best parts of my life. I absolutely love my home and my heritage. The people, the culture, the language...it is a place that is beyond compare and the top of that list is the food that we have grown up with.

When the temperature turns cool everyone gets ready for Gumbo. It is a time to enjoy the cool weather gather family and friends and enjoy good food, good music, good company. Today is our first gumbo of the season. I really enjoyed spending the time getting everything together and cooking it outside on our burner, which is nice because I was able to watch the kids, enjoy the weather and was not stuck in the kitchen all day.

Usually our first gumbo is chicken and sausage gumbo, but our local CSA has provided us with great fresh okra, and peppers so instead it will be shrimp and okra.

A good gumbo is only as good as its ingredients and the time, care and love that is put into it. It is not something that can be rushed to the dinner table. This dish is slowly cooked for several hours so that all the flavors come together for a wonderful food experience.

Shrimp and Okra Gumbo

1 pint jar of roux

5 quarts of water, stock, or mixture of both

2 lbs Shrimp

3 lbs Okra

1 can of chopped tomatoes with juices

3 large onions chopped

2 bell peppers chopped

4 stalks of celery chopped

2-3 cloves of garlic chopped

a pot of cooked rice

First start the roux and water boiling in a pot. Be sure to stir until the roux is completely dissolved in the water let it continue to cook while you prepare the other ingredients.

Then satue the onions, peppers, celery and garlic until translucent. Transfer most of the vegetables to the pot of roux and water.

Cook the okra with the rest of the vegetables for about an hour until it is no longer slimy. (a tablespoons of vinegar will help to reduce this. Add the tomatoes and cook for 15 -20 more minutes then add to the gumbo pot.

Season with salt, pepper and hot sauce to taste. Let it cook on low so that the flavors can come together. 15 minutes before ready to eat add the shrimp. Test for seasoning, serve over rice and enjoy.

A slice or two of fresh french bread is also a great addition.

Note: this recipe makes a lot of gumbo so be sure to invite someone to share it with you, and any leftovers are a special treat, because it is always better the next time it is heated up.

Jacob Turns Three Today

2010-09-27T05:20:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday Jacob!

Today is my third son's third birthday. He is a very active, adventurous, little boy that loves to explore and investigate his world. He loves to sing and dance and has the heart of a Scottish Warrior; he doesn't give up or give in when he truly believes it is what he needs. Yet, he is very kind hearted and gentle and has a very generous spirit and a very sweet boy. This is a little pictorial history of Jacob's first three years.

(September 27, 2007)

Jacob joins the family.

(October 2007)

Our little Pumpkin. He was our tiny tot.

(March 2008)

Out exploring on a warm spring day.

(March 2008)

Enjoying a banana for the first time.

(September 2008)

Farmer's Market Fun in a tire pot made by Felder Rushing.

(July 2009)

Nothing better than a fresh carrot.

(August 2009)

It's just all sweetness and love.

(August 2009)

First Haircut

(May 2010)

Camping Out

(August 2010)

Exploring the U.S.S. Kidd

Happy Birthday to my little man.

Happy Birthday, Noah!

2010-09-21T13:22:00.012-05:00

Noah's First Five Years

Today is my second son's fifth birthday. He is very excited to be five today and has a joy of life that is just so precious to watch. He is precocious, adventurous, curious and it usually leads him to trouble at some part of the day. Noah has a love for everything that is just bigger than the world, but has a roughness that only a little boy can claim...he loves frogs, bugs and mud. He is sweet, beautiful, and angelic...only while he is sleeping. This is a little pictorial history of Noah in his first five years.

(September 21, 2005)

The Day we met.

(Summer 2006)

Exploring nature even before he could walk.

(October 2007)

Loving an afternoon out in the Pumpkin Patch.

(Summer 2008)

Oh those beautiful curls.

(Later in the Summer 2008)

First haircut....

(Summer2009)

Fourth of July Tye Dye

(Summer 2010)

My boy loves his feathered friends.

Red Beans And Rice

2010-09-16T05:00:00.002-05:00

Red Beans and Rice is one of my favorite meals to cook when the weather starts turning cool. It is good any time, but it is just one of those warm, stick to your ribs kind of meals that makes you feel cozy inside. It is also a very good vegetarian recipe, just leave out the meat products. If you want the smoke flavor that the sausage gives it add some liquid smoke.

I really like to start this meal completely from scratch with dried beans instead of canned, but for this recipe I will use the shortcut version, because that is what I had to do this time because I realized in the afternoon that I forgot to soak the beans overnight.

This recipe will feed an average family, I like to double it and have some to freeze.

Rice

1-2 tablespoons of oil to saute vegetables(butter or bacon grease are good choices)

2 onions chopped fine

1 bell pepper chopped fine

2-4 cloves of garlic to taste chopped fine

2-4 stalks of celery

1/2lb. - 1 lb of sausage depending on how meaty you want it(or none)

2-3 cans of Red Beans you can use the big or small beans or a mixture of both(we use both)

1-2 quarts of liquid for cooking the beans water or broth(chicken or vegetable)

1 can of fat free refried beans(this saves the step of mashing a portion of the beans while cooking)

Seasoning to taste with salt, pepper, or a Cajun seasoning mix

Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce are also good flavorings to add to the pot or to the bowl.

Start a pot of rice I usually cook 2 cups(uncooked) for our family. Sometimes we have leftover sometimes not...depends on how active everyone was that day.

Saute the onions, bell peppers, celery and garlic in oil until tender. If you want to start with bacon grease, two strips of bacon will come in handy to start with. You can crumble and add the bacon to the beans or eat your choice.

Cut the sausage into small pieces and add to pot, cook sausage for about 5 minutes.

Add the drained and rinsed beans to the pot(not the refried beans).

Add water or broth to cover the beans . At this point everything is cooked, if you are in a great hurry, you can add the can of refried beans and adjust the liquid so that you have a smooth, thickened gravy with the beans.

If you have extra time, add the liquid to the beans and let it cook on low for about 20 minutes so the flavors can come together. Add the refried beans and adjust the liquid so that the gravy is smooth and thickened. If at any point the beans and gravy get too thick just add more liquid to your liking.

Serve this over rice with a nice crusty slice of French bread to get all the gravy out of the bowl.

Wordless Wednesday: Blessings

2010-09-15T05:00:00.002-05:00

The New Bars of Soap

2010-09-13T15:09:00.001-05:00

Here are the new bars ready for the curing racks.

This green marble batch is Tea Tree Oil.

These Brown bars are Chai Tea.

Harvest Season

2010-09-04T09:42:00.005-05:00

I love this time of year. There is always one day in the year that signals it, and today was the day. There are other nice mornings, but this was that first briskly cool morning that really says fall is here. It just makes you want to start storing food for the winter...jams, jellies, canned vegetables, and my next new adventure, lacto-fermentation. I am really anxious to get some things done. Today I have several projects that I would like to complete. Lately my expectation on finishing things has been very low, but I just keep trying. I will be making a couple of new batches of soap today. These will be my seasonal fall batches. One of them will be Chai Spiced Tea, and the other will either be Pumpkin Pie Spice, or Spiced Apple Cider.

Bread needs to be made today, and if time permits, and the baby allows, I will be attempting the following:

Sauerkraut in a Mason Jar

1 Head of Cabbage(8-10 Cups)

10 Juniper Berries

1 tsp. caraway seeds

1 tsp. yellow mustard seeds

1-2 tsp kosher salt

1 cup filtered water mixed with 1tsp. salt

In a clean non-metallic bowl, mix cabbage, juniper berries, caraway seeds, mustard seeds, and salt. Stir to release juices. Let is rest 10 min(or more) and stir again.

Pack into a sterilized quart jar and push down with a wooden mallet. Add filtered water with salt to the rim of the jar. Loosely cover and place on a tray to catch overflowing juice. Place in cool room for 2-3 weeks.

After bubbling stops, check container and top off with more salt water if level drops below rim. Skim any white spots or film off of the top and close jar tightly, wipe off outside of jar and store in refrigerator until you use it up.

Well, my hands are free for a few moments, so it is time to start the lye, and get the bread dough rising, maybe I will be lucky and get to chop the cabbage also....

Wordless Wednesday

2010-09-01T18:18:00.002-05:00

Chickens on the Loose

2010-08-31T06:00:00.000-05:00

The boys are beginning to enjoy the chickens so much more now that we are able let them roam out in the yard every evening and that they are able to go out to see if there are any eggs waiting for them. The chickens are even beginning to get brave and explore the woods near the house. So far we haven't had any problems. The dog that comes to visit is now being kept at home during the hours that we let the chickens loose so it has been working out very nicely. The chickens love their time in the yard and it is great fun to watch their antics, and they are also beginning to actually relate more to us now that they are not penned up. They impatiently wait at the pen door and cluck at about five in the evening to be let out, and are beginning to follow us around the yard instead of run away. The boys are also able to catch and hold them now. One of the funniest new things is watching the kittens that we recently brought home. They will stalk the chickens while they have their backs turned, but as soon as a chicken turns and faces them they look in another direction as if to act innocent. The chickens and the kittens are so much more fun to watch than the television and computer. I am beginning to see what people did before electronics. There is so much wonder out there in the world that it is actually sad that the world is missing out on it. What hobbies do your families engage in that doesn't include electronic devices?

Pimento Cheese

2010-08-30T06:00:00.001-05:00

The sound of that probably conjures up memories of the gross slimy day-glo stuff you find in the store...yuck!

One day I was trying to figure what to feed us all for lunch and had decided on sandwiches. When Nathan stealthy pointed out that it is Friday and ham sandwiches would not work because we are trying to be meatless on Friday, which so far has been a real challenge. In an effort to avoid the oven and stove on this particular hot steamy day I decided to make up a quick batch of pimento cheese. It is quick, and simple, and as I am making it I begin to wonder why we don't make it more often, also a simple dish for the kids to help with to practice kitchen skills.

Here is my version:

Pimento Cheese:

2 oz. cream cheese(room temp for easy mixing)

2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese

1/3 cup grated parmesan

1/2 cup mayonnaise(or more if it seems dry)

1/4 cup pimentos(if they seem big place them on a cutting board and mince them a bit)

2 tablespoons onion chopped extra fine

1-2 cloves of garlic smashed and chopped extra fine

salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Let is sit for a couple of hours(if you can wait) in the refrigerator for the flavors to come together. Try making it with other ingredients, different cheeses and add-ins. There are so many ways to make it. Make up your own family version.

This is a very versatile spread. You can use it on so many things, crackers, sandwiches, celery and other vegetables, toasted on an open face sandwich, hamburger or baked potato topping ...just use your imagination.

When you make it yourself, you know what you are eating.

Our Trip to the Ship

2010-08-29T16:00:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago we Baptized our baby girl. During this trip we took a mini vacation and went to Baton Rouge, Louisiana to see the U.S.S. Kidd.

Matt, his Dad, and I took the kids to explore the battle ship. I had been as a child and have wanted to return with Nathan for some time now. We had a really great time. It was quite hot, and I do recommend going on a day when the weather is mild because the ship does take a while to explore completely. It is a self guided tour,they give you a map that is numbered to show you interesting facts. I found many fascinating things about ship living, they are obvious things when thinking about ship life, but until you experience it you really don't realize it fully. It is very tight living, your bunk was just inches from the bunk above you. The bathroom facilities were very open. Not only were there several entrance and exit doors, the actual toilets were set up on several troughs facing back to back with no stalls at all. I don't think that modesty had any place on the ship. You had to live very modestly also, from what we noticed there was very little storage space for your stuff, it looked like a half of a foot locker and a small cubical space under the bunk closest to the floor. Going up and down stairs was tricky especially with Evelyn, so after a while I just stayed on the outer decks. Navigating the ship during times when there may have been a rush or emergency would have been tragic for someone clumsy like me. The stairs were steep like ladders, and all the doors openings were at least six inches off the ground. The boys really enjoyed seeing all the guns, missiles, and depth charges. It was very interesting to see the huge difference between the state of the officers quarters, and the rest of the crew. My favorite part to visit on the ship had to be when we found the kitchen, it is really hard to tell from some of the pictures, but everything is giant sized, but it is in a space that is probably the size of half of a modern kitchen. If I remember right the sign said they had to cook for more than 300 people within that space. This was a really great day trip that I would highly recommend to anyone that likes to spend time exploring and wandering, likes ships wars or weapons, would like to experience life in another setting, is into history, or studying history. If you are ever in the area or near one of the other many ships that have been turned into museums, they are worth the time to visit. One of the future ships we would like to explore are the Tall ships of the pirate age, now that would be an adventure. On a side note, if you look past my legs in the picture you will notice a circle...It is an open hole. Matt had to grab our adventurous four year old by the feet and pull him back onto the ship before he fell through into the Mississippi River. He "just wanted to see what was down there"... It is never a dull moment with our crew!

The Smell of Fall is in the Air

2010-08-26T14:49:00.005-05:00

Fall is coming fast. The sound of the school bands practicing and getting ready for football season. The leaves beginning to show their first signs of their glorious colors of the season. Muscadines coming into season begging to be picked and turned into juice and jelly. The occasional cool breeze that brings with it the crisp smell of fall, and the cool mornings that just beg you to open the windows and enjoy, while whispering of soups, stews and gumbos to be made in the days to come. Sitting on the porch in the hazy light of the morning with the smell of coffee on the stove. Of course here in the south you have to really take it all in and enjoy it when it gets here because in the blink of an eye it is gone so come on in fall, take off your boots and stay a while, we would love a nice long visit.

Wordless Wednesday : Our First Eggs

2010-08-18T20:08:00.001-05:00

Mini-Farm Progress

2010-07-17T09:35:00.001-05:00

Summer time is heating up here in the south. Most of the plants are starting to suffer at this point and I am having to look at replanting many of what we started out with, but it will just have to wait a few weeks because between the extreme heat, humidity, weeds and the bunches of creepy crawlies almost nothing survives August here. Being Organic is very tricky and challenging. I guess it is time to look at starting a fall crop of seedlings in the next

couple of weeks.The mystery vine in the compost pile turned out to be a pumpkin. On the whole vine(and it was huge) so far there are two pumpkins that are growing. I have never seen a pumpkin vine

with leaves as big as these. The kids could use them as umbrellas, really.

The eggplants that were planted are still struggling to grow and the leaves are beginning to get eaten. I refuse to use anything on the plants to keep the bugs away. I have noticed several good bugs in the area that I am really excited about. We have seen several praying mantis in the

garden in the last few weeks.

The squash started out doing really well and was beautiful, then they produced a few squash, we were able to pick one and the others just disappeared. I'm thinking rabbit. It just got too hot for them and they would wilt in the middle of the day.

All of the pepper plants got eaten by some kind of bug, and most of the onions are just gone. Our cucumbers just never got established very well and are barely hanging in there. I am pretty sure that we have some soil adjustments to make for next season.

The tomato plants are having a hard time in the heat and with the nasty tomato hornworm(the chickens love the worms), but they are hanging in there and starting to actually ripen some really great tomatoes. We have been picking some cherry tomatoes the last couple of days and just recently our larger varieties are beginning to turn colors too. I just can't wait to bite into one of those beautiful yellow boys that are growing.

The watermelons are growing and so far there are 4 small sugar baby melons growing. The moon and stars have not started flowering yet, but are beginning to grow to. The cantaloupe are struggling at this point and we just may have to wait until next year for those.

The blueberry bushes still have some unripe blueberries and are not in the ground yet, because I want to wait until fall and still haven't figured out which area of trees to clear out to put them in.

The chickens are doing great, we are eagerly awaiting our first eggs which should be soon.

Chocolate Syrup

2010-07-08T16:47:00.000-05:00

My boys love chocolate milk in the morning. We have coffee and they have chocolate milk. Lately we have really been trying hard to reduce and eventually eliminate our use of High Fructose Corn Syrup(HFCS) in our diets. It is a very difficult battle that has caused me to start cooking and baking a lot more than I used to. Most of what is on the store shelves has HFCS in it whether it is needed or not(usually not in my opinion). We have been out of chocolate milk for a few days now, and in order to stop the whining that comes with not having something they really want, I made a batch of Chocolate Syrup. I started to follow a recipe that I found on the internet then modified it a bit. The next batch will also be changed up a bit more, because I found this one to be very sweet(too sweet).

The recipe on the internet with changes:

1.5 cups of unsweetened cocoa powder

2 cups of sugar

1 cup of water

1 Tablespoon Butter

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup of chocolate chips

Mix the Cocoa Powder and sugar until the cocoa is no longer lumpy. Add to a pot and add water and butter. Cook until boiling. Continue to let boil for a minute or two then turn the heat down to low and cover the pot do not stir* let it cook for 3minutes. Take off the heat stir in the chocolate chips until melted and let it cool add the salt and vanilla and stir well. Let it cool completely and store in a glass container.

*Stirring and scraping the sides of the pot will create sugar crystals in the mixture and make it grainy. By letting it cook with the cover on it reduces and sometimes eliminates this problem. Alton Brown taught me that on his fudge episode(really great episode). Just don't cook at too high a temperature.

My changes for the next batch:

1.5 cups of unsweetened cocoa powder

1 cup of sugar

1 cup of water

1 Tablespoon Butter

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips(Ghirardelli are our favorite)

Now, if only we had ice cream in the house!

Welcome Evelyn Grace Zerangue

2010-07-07T12:55:00.000-05:00

We would like to introduce the newest member of our family. On 21 June 2010 we were blessed with Evelyn Grace. 9lbs 8oz. 19.5 in long. In the last couple of weeks there has been lots of sleepless nights, lots of adjustment time, lots of frustration, but she has been a joy and a blessing to us all. I can not even begin to express how special she is. The boys are just crazy about her, and she has instantly become daddy's girl.

Newest Soap Curing

2010-06-18T08:18:00.000-05:00

Today I will be cutting and setting these two batches of soap to cure. One is Lavender Ylang Ylang(pink), and the other is a new scent that I think will be rather successful. It has, among other essential oils Grapefruit and Jasmine(light yellow). It is lightly citrus and has an exotic feel to it; it is a sweeter floral than I have made previously I did not use the essential oils that have a spicy tone to them so this bar is a bit more feminine than the other florals. The scent of Jasmine is not overwhelming, but it helps to round out the citrus in the bar. In future batches I will probably add a little more scent to make it stronger, but for a first try I am rather happy with it.

My Oldest Son's Talent

2010-06-18T05:00:00.000-05:00

My oldest son is a very talented boy. We butt heads often when it comes to school work, which can be very difficult at times, but I have to admire his artistic ability. He is very artistic in many areas and enjoys lots of the different arts. He has been taking guitar for about a year now and does fairly well, loves acting in plays and operas that are put on by the local university, and has a passion for art and drawing. He started drawing at two, and we were rather impressed by what he accomplished. But the odd thing was he was never without a notebook and pencil and by the end of that year I had a box of notebooks and paper. He still goes through several notebooks a year mostly drawing Star Wars, various weapons and Superheros. And it has rubbed off onto his brothers who draw on everything also(Nathan never drew on walls...the other two are a different story). So to the point of this post, we asked him to draw some cards for family members and one in particular stood out. He took a tee shirt that had a bass printed on it and began to draw it. Below is a scan of his picture.

Although I am able to draw a little, I don't think that my talent even came close to this at the peak of my college years. Matt is quite an accomplished artist and was very impressed at Nathan's ability at this age. Nathan is 10 years old.

One Week Left

2010-06-15T10:57:00.000-05:00

Well we are down to the last week of pregnancy...It went by faster than I expected. There is so much to be done until Monday. I am pretty sure that I have planted my last plant until the fall...maybe. Everything seems to be growing really well now and we actually have vegetables on the plants. Yesterday we picked our first cucumber and yellow squash. Matt made a trellis with some of the sticks from the trees that were in the yard for the cucumbers to start climbing on. All of the tomatoes have now been staked and yesterday we noticed that many of the plants now have marble sized tomatoes on them. There are also several small zucchini and yellow squash and what looks like a pumpkin, and a melon of some sort growing also. The watermelon seedlings seem to be doing pretty well so far. The eggplants are doing okay, but seem to be growing a little slow. I am not too sure of the bell peppers that were planted, something seems to be eating them and they don't seem to be growing very well yet, they may need a supplement of some sort to get started. Yesterday I planted my hot peppers and pimento peppers. It doesn't look like the onions are going to survive this year, we will have to try again next season with those and maybe some garlic.

My last Farmer's Market for a while will be this Saturday. Either Matt will be out there, or Katherine at Broken Magnolia Farm will have a table at her stand for me until I am able to return. I think that this weekend will be the last 'ice pop' weekend until I can get up and around again, hopefully that will only be a couple of weeks.

Soap has to be prepared and Ice Pops have to be made for the weekend. One of the local papers will be doing an article on me and the soap, so today I will be making a couple more batches of soap so that pictures of the process can be taken. It is so exciting to have an article in the paper.

My Sister-in-Law will be here this weekend with her children, to visit and help out and we just can't wait until she arrives. They live in Texas so we don't get to see them nearly enough of them.

This will probably be the last post for a while too, If I get a chance at the end of the week I will post pictures of the new soap, one of them will be a new floral scent and I am leaning toward a combination of jasmine and grapefruit.

Just an Update

2010-06-11T12:40:00.000-05:00

I have really been trying to keep current on the Blog Front, and realized that it has been a while since my last post. The Taylor Farmers Market was excellent for the opening day. I really hope that it keeps up this momentum through the year. It was great fun to see old faces as well as new faces. We had a great time and a successful day with both the Soap and the Handmade "Ice Pops". It is a weird combination to have with soap and we did get odd looks and lots of questions, but they were well liked and I am hoping that as the summer continues to warm up they will be a big hit at the Market.

Juggling Life, Kids, School, Market, Chickens, Garden, and House will become increasingly difficult in the next couple of weeks. Time has just flown by and we have a just over a week before we will be welcoming baby Zerangue into the family. June 21st is the date scheduled for my c-section. So there will probably be another unintended gap in posts on the blog, not to mention everything else coming to a screaming halt for the next month, but we will adjust and work through it just like everything else.

On the Garden, everything seems to be growing well. It has gotten rather hot in the last couple of weeks, so watering has been more essential lately. We are continuing to put in new plants when we get a chance. There are a few that really need to be planted this week. The herbs are growing well, and the watermelon although slow are starting to get true leaves. The squash, zucchini and my mystery vine now have small fruits. Tomatoes have grown to about 3 feet, were tied to stakes last week and are beginning to flower. The cucumbers are starting to climb and produce flowers. The blueberry bushes that we bought are full of berries, but won't be planted until the fall, mostly for ease of taking care and making sure they get the proper water over the hottest part of the summer.

The chickens are really doing great. They are enjoying all the garden weeds and vegetable/table scraps that they get daily. As much as I would like to let them forage it just isn't possible without building a portable pen(which will just have to wait now). They are really fun to watch especially when you put a favorite food in the pen, not only is it usually a race to see which of the chickens get to their favorite, there is also usually a few that get chased around because the others want that same treat.

So for tomorrow at the market we will have the following soap choices:

Oat and Grain
Mojito
Lemon Basil
Rosemary Mint
Spicy Citrus Shaving Soap
Patchouli Lavender

Orange Eucalyptus

Sportsman

The Ice Pop Choices will be:

Sweet Tea with Lemon

Strawberry Lemonade

Blackberry Limeade

Pear Blueberry Polka Dot

Berries 'n Cream

Also, CypressLakeSoap Etsy site has been updated today. I would really like to have a stand alone website for my soap and products, but for now I think it best to just keep things the way they are and not make it more complicated.

The site name is http://www.etsy.com/shop/cypresslakesoap

Ice Pop Experiment Summer 2010

2010-05-30T22:22:00.000-05:00

Since the weather has warmed up quite a bit, the boys have been going through boxes of Popsicles like crazy. I don't buy the dyed water version for them though because of the dyes, High Fructose Corn Syrup, huge amounts of sugar, and the fact that they don't have much in nutritional value either. One of our boys has a sensitivity to red dye so it can be difficult sometimes to give some things to the others and exclude him even though we find suitable alternatives, they know it isn't quite the same thing and even if it is better it somehow doesn't seem fair in their eyes. On a positive side, he seems less and less effected by it as he gets older. Anyway, I grew tired of buying the high-priced boxes of "ice pops"* and decided last week to begin making them instead. The boys and Matt have really enjoyed them so far, and I have found lots of resources and recipes to try out over the next few weeks...not to mention a few of my own design. The Market is starting on Saturday, and I figured if the boys are enjoying them it might be a good treat to sell at the Market so we will give it a try if I can work out the traveling and storing aspects of it. I am starting out with rather basic fruit pops, and a couple of creamy ones, if I get the chance I will also add a tea or coffee one. In time if it all works out I would like to try and focus on fresh and local produce. So far I have come up with Watermelon, Pineapple-Coconut, Pear-Blueberry, and fruit punch. Tomorrow I would like to make Lemon-Berry or Lemon-Mint, Lime, and maybe a fudge pop with chocolate cookie chunks.

If you are interested in trying the pear-blueberry yourself, it was fairly simple, I had a can of pears in juice no sugar added on hand and frozen blueberries. I pureed the pears, you can add a little honey or sugar(I didn't and it came out fine) poured it into molds and added frozen blueberries and the sticks. I would like to use fresh fruit in the future, but this was a trial so I used what was handy. The hardest part was waiting. This basically made enough for four "ice pops"*.

*As a side note I just wanted to explain the phrase ice pop instead of using Popsicle. Apparently, Popsicle is now a registered trade mark and can not be used as a general description any longer, that is why you find "popsicles" listed under Novelties in the freezer section.

Getting Ready For The Farmer's Market

2010-05-27T07:00:00.000-05:00

June is approaching fast. What a quick spring we have had, It seems like winter would never end and then in the blink of an eye summer has quickly descended upon us.

This week and most of next week will be rather busy preparing for a new season of soap at the local Farmer's Market and local stores that carry our soap.
New batches are now curing in anticipation of the June 5th opening of the market. Many of the batches have been updated in some way to make them more unique and to add more interest. Late last year I began experimenting with sugar and salt body scrubs and got good feedback on it. I am thinking of adding these if time allows. I am also still trying to find a lip balm recipe that I am happy with so that I can have those ready this year too. Later this summer I am hoping to begin making a line of liquid soap. Then in the Fall I would like to also add lotion bars, and body butter. Another change we are working on for this year is adjusting the labels a bit and eventually changing the packaging.

This is the new label for the soaps. Anyone have any comments on it, they would be appreciated.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-05-26T09:47:00.000-05:00

Mini Farm Update

2010-05-24T21:23:00.000-05:00

The rain has been really nice lately, especially for the garden. Besides not having to drag out the hose, the plants much prefer the natural water from the sky instead of all the chemically processed water that comes out of the faucet...of course I really don't hear them complain too much, they just look happier after a nice shower.The only problem with the great rain showers is that it also makes the weeds happy, happy, happy. Last week the garden was relatively clear of stray plants.

Walking outside yesterday I realized that there was a little neglect on my part, but in my defense those plants grew way faster in a week than I would have anticipated and nearing the end of this pregnancy has proven to be a little more difficult than the previous ones, making it harder for me to spend as much time outside in the last couple of weeks with the increasing heat and humidity.Anyway, it looks like I will have to brave the heat and the itch that comes with it and clean out the garden before they swallow my plants whole. The cucumbers also need something to climb on, that should also be done tomorrow. Maybe I will even get the green beans replanted.

On a happy note, some of the watermelon seeds that were planted recently have started sprouting despite the garden intruder that

tried to eat all my seeds, unfortunately they managed to eat every one of the cantaloupe seeds on the row and left the seed shells to taunt me.

The compost heap has been growing some beautiful stray plants, it looks like there are some potatoes, and squash(maybe from last year's decorative autumn display) for sure. The squash plant is amazing and I can't wait to see what it produces.

The chickens are doing well. It seems like they are really happy in their house and run. They really enjoy being out during the day, and unlike my children know when to put themselves to bed.

About an hour before sunset for the last couple of days they have gone back to the coop all on their own which makes it a lot easier on them and me. Seeing the boys chase them around the run for half an hour and stressing them out was really starting to stress me out.

We have also come to the realization that we will probably not have free-range chickens like we first planned.

The neighbors dog is just way too interested. At first it was really cute, she is part border collie and she seemed to want to herd them around, but she is also part bird dog which makes me think she is trying to herd them into a corner for a snack. I am not sure that we are ready to find out which it is so for now they will have to stay in their run until I get brave or build a pen that we can move to different areas in the yard.

Good Friends...Good Fun...Good Crawfish

2010-05-22T10:44:00.001-05:00

We have been trying for quite a while to have a group over for supper at our house since we have moved in. On Thursday we hosted a crawfish boil for some of the people that work for Matt and some of our friends and neighbors. This was our first official gathering at the new house and despite the looming clouds and intermittent rain it seems like everyone had a really good time. We cooked about 75 pounds of crawfish along with lots of potatoes, corn, mushrooms and onions. The vegetables soak up the seasoning that the crawfish are boiled in and it gives them a really good spicy flavor.

The boys really enjoyed themselves. Nathan has been to crawfish boils before back home in Louisiana and probably ate his share and mine. Noah and Jacob on the other hand have never been to a boil before and had lots of fun catching and chasing crawfish in the yard. I was amazed at how brave they were. Neither of them had any second thoughts about sticking their hands into the pot of live crawfish to catch and play with them.

Eating it was a different story, though. they were not too sure about them. It was a little funny. Noah liked eating them, but didn't want to have to peel them. He mostly made a meal off of the corn and potatoes. Jacob on the other hand was positive that he didn't want to have anything to do with eating those bugs on the table, but every time you handed him a tail and he didn't know where it came from he would eat it and ask for more.

Unfortunately, after everything got cooking I put my camera down so that it didn't get rained on or fall into the pot and forgot to take pictures of the actual supper.

Wordless Wednesday (Picking Strawberries?)

2010-05-19T09:32:00.000-05:00

Garden Update

2010-05-18T15:00:00.000-05:00

We have been working hard to make sure that the garden is well established before the baby comes. It has been quite a task, lots of plants have been put into the ground, but so far it has been a fight to get them established. Now that the warm weather is here to stay, it seems like things are coming along lots better. The squash is really beginning to take off. The tomato and cucumber plants were struggling for a while, but now seem to be catching up with a little boost of fertilizer. The lettuce seems to be perking up a bit, but the onions still seem to be behind in spite of the extra help. Although the green beans and yellow wax beans that were planted are producing some beans, they flowered way too early to let the plants establish themselves, so they will have to be replanted soon also to be able to have another crop of beans. Last week I planted watermelon and cantaloupe seeds, but it seems like most of them have been eaten by a critter of some sort. I will wait a few more days to see if at least a few seeds escaped the feast. In the next couple of weeks I am hoping to get some eggplant and pepper plants into the ground. My neighbor was nice enough to help clear out a part of our property and we now have quite a large place to plant more stuff and we are in the process of creating a shared garden up on the hill.

What's coming up in the yard

2010-05-16T16:47:00.000-05:00

It has been lots of fun watching and waiting to see what the previous owners have in the flower bed and around the yard. From the end of summer last year when we looked at the house I noticed several herbs, what I thought was strawberries(turned out to be wild strawberries), and lots of dead/dying annual plants. Since the start of spring we have had several types of daffodils, a couple of types of iris, dasies, roses, azaleas, a couple of different types of fig trees, a plum tree, mullberry trees, dogwood trees, lots of muscadine vines, maybe a couple of wild cherry trees, I'll know for sure when the fruit ripens. There are also a couple of trees that flowered early in the spring, but I forgot to mark them to see what they were...maybe I'll remember next year.

Our Big Little Harvest

2010-05-14T17:30:00.000-05:00

When we moved into our house we noticed plants that looked quite a bit like strawberries. I have been waiting to find out exactly which kind and it seems like we have a crop of wild strawberries. They are sweet, tart and flavorful little berries...very little berries; a pint container can probably hold more than fifty to seventy. The plants are beautiful, they have deep green rather large leaves that grow in an upright form that almost shade the flowers and berries that grow on shorter stems closer to the ground in clusters that may have as many as ten or fifteen berries on them, but they are not much bigger than blueberries or raspberries. The berries are lots of fun to pick, and very tasty. We have been picking them for a few weeks now, and really enjoying the flavor, but I do not think that we will have enough to do anything with them except eat them fresh. They would make an excellent jam if there were enough of them. The boys are having lots of fun picking them and eating them right out of the yard. My guess is that the previous owners used these plants as ground cover to keep the weeds down in the flower bed. I am hoping to keep them growing in the future and maybe add some of the regular strawberries also. They don't appear to grow in the same way as the regular strawberries, they don't seem to have runners so I am not too sure how to make sure that new plants will continue to grow. I will have to watch them as the season progresses to see if runners form.

Getting A Late Start on the 2010 Year For Soap

2010-04-27T14:00:00.000-05:00

On top of all the other projects we have going on this year with the new baby coming, homeschool, chickens, garden, landscaping, house projects and keeping up with the ever growing list of house chores, I have also decided to "re-start" our soap business. I am not really considering anything drastic right now, but there are a few things that I would like to change and add this year. Because I have misplaced my diary of formulas during the move, I will be working on editing the soap scents and colorings that have been done in the past, and figured that it is time for some new editions for the year.

Scents That Have Been Created In Past Years:

Lavender

Lavender - Ylang Ylang

Lavender Oatmeal Goatmilk

Rosemary - Mint

Rosemary - Lemongrass

Orange - Eucalyptus

Lemon - Basil

Mojito

Spicy Citrus Shaving

Serendipity

Sportsman

Patchouli - Lavender

Patchouli - Rose

Oat and Grain

Unscented

Beer and Bay Rum

Mulled Red Wine

Peppermint

Christmas Pine

Almond Oatmeal

Chocolate Almond Oatmeal

Some Possible Future Soaps:

Ginger and something

Vanilla

Some kind of Floral

Grapefruit

Pine Tar

Garden Herb

Pumice(or other) Scrubby soap

Calendula

Sassafras(Root Beer)

Soap with sea salt and sea weed

Ocean Scent(just don't know if it is possible with just essential oils, researching now)

Future Products:

Lip Balms(Still working on formula)

Laundry Soap

Sugar(Salt) Scrubs for bath/Shower friendly cubes(less oily)

Baby Products

Body Butters

Solid Lotions

Roll-on/solid perfume

Face Masks

So with all that being said I would like input from people around me, especially if you have used my soap and products in the past. Let me know what your favorites are, if there is anything you would like changed about them, and anything that you would like to see me add in the future. Please pass this along to anyone you think would like to participate in this study. If anyone has ideas that I choose to use I will send gift products to them and also give them credit for their ideas. So be creative, but keep in mind that I will only use real essential oils so many of the "flavors" that are out there may not be able to be made by me. You can leave comments here, or send it to my email mzerangue 'at' gmail.com. All comments are welcome, anything about scent, amount of scent, packaging, etc...I look forward to your comments and ideas on making the 2010 year a special year.

Our Newest Family Members Arrived This Morning

2010-03-19T10:13:00.000-05:00

We have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of our baby chicks for about a month now. While we were waiting on them this week we began to build their coop for when they are big enough to be put outside. The coop project has been a great experience, everyone has been able to participate, and despite all the usual snags in construction, not using actual plans, the extra trips to the store and the fact that not everything is square or level, overall we have done a really good job.

Yesterday, most of the framing and half of the walls were put into place. Today we were able to finish the walls and put on the roof. Tomorrow we are hoping to finish it up with the screening and the nest boxes before the rain starts. Next week we will begin painting and sealing any areas that could let in predators. Our next step will be adding the chicken run. Here's hoping that can get done before June when the baby is due.

This morning I went to the post office and picked up our peeping box of chicks. I have been told that the first few days are tricky when getting the new babies settled and sometimes there is trouble with a few dying. I am hoping that we are lucky and got a good healthy batch. When we opened the box to put them into their new crate they were so wild that one even jumped out and began to run around so I am taking that as a good sign. They are adorable and the boys are having lots of fun watching them. To start out with we decided on just hens. We have ten Americanaus, they are also called Easter Egg chickens because they will lay eggs that range from brown to a pinkish and also blue to green. I figured these would be fun for the boys because we will always be surprised when we go to get eggs. The other five are called Silver Laced Wyandottes. They are supposed to be a gentle breed that lays well and we thought they were pretty, their markings are black, silver and white. This year we are trying just laying hens. In the future, if we are successful and like keeping chickens we may try to raise some meat birds also. The hardest thing about having them so far is keeping the boys' hands out of the box for a few days, and not sitting and watching them all day...they are really cute to watch.

Garden Preparation Continues

2010-03-15T11:04:00.000-05:00

In between the cool rainy days and early warm days we have been actively been preparing the garden spot. This weekend we began tilling the areas that we are going to plant, removing grass and roots from the tilled areas and moving rogue flower bulbs that have popped up as it gets warmer. This week I am hoping to add compost to the rows, add a couple of logs to terrace the areas that slop down hill to help keep the soil from washing out, and add some organic fertilizer to the rows. Our seedlings are growing beautifully. So far in the last couple of weeks we have planted onions, lettuce, green beans, yellow wax beans, tomato, cucumber, eggplant, lots of herbs, sunflowers, Shasta daisies, spinach, and sweet peppers. I am hoping to plant something each week until there is no more room this year. I would really like to create landscape gardens and integrate the decorative plants and the edibles to get the most out of our yard during each season.

Wordless Wednesday...Monkey Business

2010-03-10T12:27:00.000-06:00

Spring Clearing

2010-03-07T21:46:00.000-06:00

Today, we started clearing out some of the property. Where the garden is located for this year, we cut down five smaller trees, mostly pines and cedars, to allow more light in. On the other side of the yard, we started removing the privet that is starting to take over. So far we have cleared out about eight trees and although it sounds like a lot, it really has not affected the look of our yard yet.
I really like the seclusion that is created by the heavily wooded areas, and want to preserve it, but it is so overrun with vines, brambles, privet, and lots and lots of unhealthy little trees that are starting to affect the health of everything around them. I think that by replacing much of what is there with native species it will be much easier to maintian in the future. Besides, it would be so much nicer to walk through the woods and not get tangled the thornes that have taken over.

Most of the trees we are cutting down will be re-purposed. The trunks will be used for garden borders, fence posts, and other projects. Some of the smaller branches are being kept for trellising, plant stakes, and other crafts and projects. If we have enough wood in the future it would be really fun to build a fort.

Time For Spring! Time For Spring!

2010-03-06T13:01:00.000-06:00

For some reason this winter has been way too long, just dragging and lingering. Maybe it is because we have all this new yard and I am really itching to dig into it, literally. The boys and I have been planting seeds for weeks now in anticipation of getting the garden started. This morning Jacob and I went out to clear our new garden area. This area is a tempory spot for this year until we can decide exactly how the yard will be used.

We are situated on a hill that is heavily wooded. Although this can be a disadvantage because of the extra work of clearing out some of the land, it has mostly been untouched for the last thirty years or more and is very fertile soil.

One of our goals going forward is to keep some of the wooded areas especially where the land will be too difficult to plant. Thinning out some of the flatter areas but keeping the larger trees. Filling in with native plants, gardens interplanted with flowering plants, herbs, and edible plants. Hopefully finding an area for fruit trees and berry bushes. It will be a long, tedious journey and a very, very big undertaking.

The first step besides the temporary garden is going to be watching to see what is already here. There are lots of daffodills, iris, strawberry, and herbs near the garden area and in the front yard that died down during the winter; waiting to see what comes back as it warms up. There are several large rose bushes and azalea bushes that are oddly placed, but could be moved or just removed eventually.

Time to trim some more limbs and vines.

Happy Mardi Gras!

2010-02-16T10:54:00.000-06:00

Traditionally, today is a time of fun, excitement, and overindulgence in our culture. Mardi Gras(Fat Tuesday) is the day before the start of Lent usually celebrated by parades, lots of good food, and parties in preparation for the Lenten fast that is ahead of us. Celebrating a time of plenty in order to get ready for 40 days of fasting, prayer, and reflection in order to remember why we are here and to learn where we are going. So have a great day today, a great Lenten start, and to truly remember what Jesus gave up for us to be here. Happy Mardi Gras everyone. Wishing everyone a great Lent.

Happy Valentine's Day

2010-02-13T20:10:00.000-06:00

Wishing everyone lots of Hugs, Kisses, and Love.

Pinewood Derby 2010

2010-02-13T17:51:00.000-06:00

Today was the Annual Pinewood Derby for Cub Scouts. What a crazy busy morning. Lots of little boys, all the excitement and anticipation, and bunches of fun! There were lots of fast cars in this year's race. The boys had a great time watching their cars 'fly' down the track waiting to see who would come out victorious. All the boys did a great job on their designs. Their hard work and dedication were obvious looking at all the cool cars on the racks waiting for their turns at the track.

Nathan's car placed second this year. I think there was a moment of disappointment, but overall he was a good sport about it. Of course it is difficult to be the Grand Champion from last years race and have to face coming down.

Updates and Catching up

2010-02-11T09:50:00.000-06:00

Wow! I can not believe it has been close to a year since I have posted anything. Well things had gotten busy in those months. The summer was filled with Cub Scout activities, Farmer's Market fun, house hunting and visiting with family and friends. At the end of September we finally found our house and moved into it in October. November we discovered that we will be adding a new addition to the family due to arrive at the end of June. Holidays were nice, we spent our first Christmas in our new home and spent the New Year with family.

As the new year unfolds we are beginning to realize the projects ahead of us and how they are building. Obviously there are on going home projects since we have bought an older home that will need repairs. The yard will be needing some work. The woods need some clearing and new trees need to be put in. I will be ordering laying hens in a couple of weeks, so the chicken coop needs to be completed by May. Seedlings also need to be started soon...as soon as this weird cold weather goes away and Spring arrives. We are pretty sure of where the garden is going to go for this year, that may change later.

My oldest son killed his first deer this year and sausage was made with some of the meat. We made a makeshift smoker using an outdoor grill on the property and we are determined to have a smokehouse. It is in the planning stages and hopefully will be finished by the fall or next spring.

Soon I will be making new batches of soap and getting ready for this year's Farmer's Market, and local stores that are now carrying the soap.

So I think we are all caught up. These goals are in addition to our regular everyday life of school and such. My Blog goal is to post at least once a week and update on the projects ahead.

Wishing everyone health and success in the New Year.

So until next time...

New Soap Creation

2009-03-28T10:33:00.000-05:00

This was a busy week. I was able to make four batches of soap. Patchouli-Lavender, Rosemary-Mint, Orange-Eucalyptus, and Mojito...a new creation. It is always fun to create something new, especially when it turns out to be a good soap and not sent to the pile that gets ground up for laundry or dish soap.

After making the Mojito soap it inspired me to expand my product base and add lip balm. Making a lip balm has been on my mind several years now, but just wasn't sure about jumping in. So far the results are favorable and the people who have tested it really like it. I will create several new flavors(all natural of course) hopefully in the next week or so. A solid scented lotion bar to match the soap scents will be my next project. If all goes smoothly they will be added near the end of April also. Look for its debut at the end of April.

My mystery soap from an earlier post has been named. After sending out samples of the soap to several people my Brother-in-Law came up with the name Serendipity. It is a very clever name as well as fitting. This soap has had some really wonderful comments so far I think it will be a popular soap.

Happy Mardi Gras!

2009-02-24T15:53:00.000-06:00

Mystery Soap

2009-02-08T16:29:00.000-06:00

I created a new batch of soap. With the intention of making a Spring scent this particular soap developed. This expirement was actually good, because it gave me ideas for three future soaps. I love developing new scents, especially if they are successful oness.

I think I will call it Spring Floral...but I will decide later after some of my product testing team has come back with their thoughts on the bar. The scent is quite different, it has the complexity of a wine because there is quite a bit going on, it has floral, fruity, citrus, and spicy scents mixed in. Some of the essential oils used are lime, clary sage, ylang ylang, and geranium.

The marbling in the bar was attempted with three different colors. Marbling is a very tricky process that I feel I could use more work with. Getting the percentages of the color mixtures to the right amounts, and getting the mixtures at the right thicknesses without having the whole batch seize in the mixing bowl(luckily that hasn't happened yet).

The Pinewood Derby Champions

2009-02-08T11:35:00.000-06:00

Nathan's Lightning
Fast Winner! Ka-chow!

Matt's Turtle Car does

anyone else see the irony?

This Saturday was the Annual Pinewood Derby Competition for the Cub Scouts in Pack 4. The boys(and dads) had lots of fun carving, cutting, painting and getting their cars to the right weight in preparation for the big day. Saturday morning they all got together at a local school gym to find out how all their hard work paid off. It was an exciting morning as cars were raced two at a time down the track to see who would eventually come out victorious. In the end the Bear Den's top three winners were Nathan Zerangue, 1st place; J. Price, 2nd place; and R. Burns, 3rd place. Also awarded were M. Smith, Best Design; C. O'Sullivan, Most Unique; L. Kelly, Coolest Car; B. Nash, and A. Wheeler were awarded ribbons of participation.

Homemade Chili or Taco mix

2009-02-01T14:13:00.000-06:00

Have you read the ingredients on the back of the packets when you make chili and tacos? It is loaded with things that are just not necessary, not to mention that there are chemicals that can cause sensitivities in many people. Below is a recipe that I have developed over time to use instead of the convience packets.

Chili or Taco Mix

1 tablespoon Chili Powder
1 teaspoon Onion Powder
1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder
2 teaspoons Oregeno
1 teaspoon Paprika
2 teaspoons Cumin
1/2 teaspoon Dry Mustard
2 teaspoons Corn Starch(can be left out...I like slowcooking mine)
Salt and pepper to taste

Use this the same way you would use a packet for a pound of meat for tacos. I will use more for Chili, but I usually make a big pot. I will usually make a large batch and keep it in a jar to have on hand when needed.

In Full Bloom

2009-01-25T15:09:00.000-06:00

Day 21(January 25 th):
The flowers are in full bloom. It took a full week from bud to bloom. One of the days, I think Wednesday, the boys actually got to see the progress of it opening up. It seemed like it changed every hour. The buds went from closely placed together to spread out and the first bud opened that night. Thursday was the second flower, Friday the third, and Saturday morning the fourth was in full bloom. Today we will be pretending to be a bee and pollinate the flowers and see if we can make seeds to plant later.

Handmade and Homegrown

New Website!

Happy Birthday Nathan!

K5 Learning Review

Happy New Year 2012

K5 Learning Trial/Review

Demos at the Farmer's Market

Cabbage Casserole

Baked Potato Soup

Ingredients

Cinnamon Rolls

Gumbo Z'herbs

Wordless Wednesday

Chocolate Almond Oatmeal

Realigning Priorities

School is inevitable...

Wordless Wednesday: Diligence

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

Wordless Wednesday

The Summer Is Here

Wordless Wednesday

Garden/Farm Update

Happy Easter!

Soap Process

Garden/Farm Update

Wordless Wednesday

It's Alive!

Taking things for granted

Wordless Wednesday

Garden/Farm Update

Crossing Over

New Chicken Run Construction and Chicken Update

Wordless Wednesday

Random Thoughts of Spring

First Batches of Soap For 2011

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Inspired to Create

Interesting way to use kale

Wordless Wednesday

Christmas Time Soap

Happy Halloween

Wordless Wednesday

Fresh Baked Bread

The Best Biscuits

Wordless Wednesday

Navy Beans with Country Ham

Wordless Wednesday: Our Daily Eggs

The King's Road

It's Gumbo Time!

Jacob Turns Three Today

Happy Birthday, Noah!

Red Beans And Rice

Wordless Wednesday: Blessings

The New Bars of Soap

Harvest Season

Wordless Wednesday

Chickens on the Loose

Pimento Cheese

Our Trip to the Ship

The Smell of Fall is in the Air

Wordless Wednesday : Our First Eggs

Mini-Farm Progress

Chocolate Syrup

Welcome Evelyn Grace Zerangue

Newest Soap Curing

My Oldest Son's Talent

One Week Left

Just an Update

Oat and GrainMojitoLemon BasilRosemary MintSpicy Citrus Shaving SoapPatchouli Lavender

Orange Eucalyptus

Sportsman

Ice Pop Experiment Summer 2010

Getting Ready For The Farmer's Market

Wordless Wednesday

Mini Farm Update

Good Friends...Good Fun...Good Crawfish

Wordless Wednesday (Picking Strawberries?)

Garden Update

What's coming up in the yard

Oat and Grain
Mojito
Lemon Basil
Rosemary Mint
Spicy Citrus Shaving Soap
Patchouli Lavender