The middle schoolers from the Xavier University Montessori Lab School have been coming out once each month this school year to spend a day learning and helping with a project. Today's theme was "Signs of Spring." We started off the day by dividing into three groups. Each was to search out as many signs of … Continue reading A New Generation of Foragers is Born
Recipes
Robyn’s Orange Chicken
Our Aunt Robyn was telling me about a new recipe she made for her son's family last week, and I had to try it straight away. Robyn's homemade orange chicken was a hit here last night. It is a pretty simple recipe but packed with flavor. Robyn's Orange Chicken Ingredients: One bag of chicken tenders … Continue reading Robyn’s Orange Chicken
Traditional Jam Sandwich Cookies
I was tasked with bringing dessert for Christmas dinner. I wanted to do something using my homemade jams and jellies. When I happened upon a recipe for traditional Linzer cookies that included almonds in the dough, I knew I'd found my dessert. This recipe is fairly involved, taking several hours to prepare, but the result … Continue reading Traditional Jam Sandwich Cookies
Ham Bone & Veggie Soup
Every year, the Joseph family gifts a full holiday meal to each Cincinnati police officer as a show of gratitude for their service to the city. This year we chose a ham as our meat and I prepared it for our Christmas Eve dinner. There is inevitably lots of ham leftover, and a lovely bone. … Continue reading Ham Bone & Veggie Soup
Gingerbread Cookies
Making and decorating cookies is a Christmas tradition that I hold dear. As long as I can remember we have made gingerbread men together and decorated them elaborately. Some years, we mixed it up and added in some sugar cookies too, but gingerbread was our standard. My mom and I were the core duo of … Continue reading Gingerbread Cookies
Medicinal Elderberry Syrup
I shared my story previously about the elderberry bushes that planted themselves here in our yard, volunteers brought over most likely by birds from our neighbor Rita's garden. They have grown and spread so that now I have a nice little elderberry patch. This is one plant I will be happy to watch take over … Continue reading Medicinal Elderberry Syrup
Blackberry Pear Pie
As I type I'm enjoying leftovers of my pie from Thanksgiving dinner so, as promised, I'm sharing the recipe. I found this recipe in the Thanksgiving edition of Good Housekeeping magazine and saved it because I still have a basin full of pears from our tree out in the fridge. Any interesting pear recipe I … Continue reading Blackberry Pear Pie
Pear Pie
The abundance from the two old pear trees continues to fill my days. Yesterday I processed 18 pounds into 4 batches of lavender pear jam and 12 pounds into a double batch of pear butter. That wasn't even one basket of pears. I still have 5 more baskets in the big fridge to make my … Continue reading Pear Pie
A Magical Cake
We went to our niece's first birthday party this weekend. She had a magical unicorn cake that her mother and grandmother tag-teamed. Mom made the cake and grandma decorated. It was both delicious and gorgeous! Lauren said she tried out a new recipe she'd seen on a Netflix cooking show called Momofuku cake. It has … Continue reading A Magical Cake
A Great Summer Sangria
We had a gathering of neighbors a few nights ago and I wanted a good summer drink to offer. I inherited a love of sangria from my mother. It's the perfect summer drink - light and fruity and sweet. Try this peach sangria with watermelon ice cubes for your next summer gathering! Peach Sangria with … Continue reading A Great Summer Sangria
