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New Recipe Tried and other Bits

  I tried a new granola recipe and boy it's good.  First, it's a recipe from Mennonite Girls and Cook, and called "Backpack Snacks" online.  It calls for granola, so I used my homemade granola that we love.  Picture is the dry ingredients. Second, I pressed the final mixture into a 9 x 9, parchment lined baking dish instead of rolling it into balls.  The color of these photos are all different, because of the time of day, and how dark the house was from the thick Canadian smoke that was still outside at the time. These cut very nicely, and were very good, straight from the refrigerator.  It was hard to eat just one of them.  I will be making this again, and switching out the peanuts with walnuts, and switching out the raisins with dates.  Oh my!  The binder is honey and peanut butter. These are perfect for your hiking days, camping, your grandkids, or just for snacks when you want one. The rain arrived thank goodness, and washed the smoke in...
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Just the Bits

  Sharing another crochet book blanket granny square I recently completed.  One more caught up, but they need attached to the actual blanket yet.  My husband picked this book out for me at a very small, and very fun book store last year.  It was a long book, and I would give it a 7 out of 10.  It was just too much every day drama in 480 pages for me.  It was a half-price book, and now I know why.  I am still thankful for my husband's love in supporting my reading habit though (he he). I made this salad again, but this time used organic kamut pasta.  I also used my homemade organic, chive blossom infused red wine vinegar in the dressing.  Next time I will swap the salt for my homemade jalapeno salt .  I will possibly add chicken next time as well.  It is missing cilantro, as my two plants went to seed, and my newly planted seeds have not grown large enough plants yet. Update:  In the evening this level went up to 796! ...

Chit Chat

I finally got this granny square done.  I finished this book a while ago.  Yikes.  It was a good book though.  It was a blind date with a book gift to me. If you have not read about my crocheted book blanket, you can see my very first post about it, which was posted January 1st, of 2025 (click HERE to see it).  The last "end of the year" update was posted HERE .  I will try and get an updated photo in the next few months. Technically,  I crocheted the first granny square for my book blanket back in December of 2024.  Guess I better get some books read huh?  Thick smog is outside.  Canadian wild fire smoke is heavy.  Air quality is terrible.  It got up to 103 degrees yesterday, and it remains hot and very dry.  The grass is dying.   It's that dry. Thunderstorms may arrive in a few days.  We hope.  It will help water the gardens and cool us down a bit.  It will also get rid of the air smog. I'll admi...

Crochet Book Blanket Granny Square

  It's not hard to believe, that I had every single color of yarn to match this book cover.  I'd give it an 8.5 out of 10.  I'm still two crochet granny squares behind, but I'm not going to stress over it. The heat wave continues.  Not sure if our greens will survive this one or not. Crochet Book Blanket Granny Square   ©  July 2026 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

Another Heat Wave

I have not had much to blog about, and to be honest after looking over past posts, I really don't have much that is  new to post about.  Changes are being made here at the homestead, with more to come, and they are all good and productive.   Honestly, they are not wasted days either.   We are downsizing the kitchen table, and it will make it much easier to sweep and mop.   The upstairs is still in limbo (uncertainty) right now.  In reality, the summer times leaves little time for home repairs and such. We replanted what hot peppers would could buy, that were affordable and big enough.  Half of the green and wax beans were replanted and have sprouted.  The greens did terrible where I planted them this year.  I have replanted two of what I had seeds for.  We will not have arugula this year.  We are entering another heat wave, which makes garden season a bit tricky. The first zinnia seeds sprouted almost immediately, but...

I've Been MIA and Heat Wave

First day of July.  It's hot.   I'm definitely not entering a stage of boredom any day soon.  Although I've been doing a lot, it's been productive.  We are in the middle of the worst heat wave I can ever remember.  So humid, there is very little to no work being done in the gardens for the last few days.  Heat index has been up to 106 degrees, and nights did not get any cooler than about  77 degrees.  The heat wave will continue for the rest of the week.  No rain yet. I froze water in small bottles to keep the chickens water cold, and froze treats for them. I canned a small batch of reduced sugar peach jam (before the heat  wave).  I have to admit, it's been very nice to can for two people now.   Enjoyed the last of our asparagus harvest.  The last two stalks were harvested June 29th.  The longest asparagus season we've ever had.  They look light colored, but taking them out of the fridge, they quickly...

Reminders?

      On the positive side (after the hot pepper debacle). . .                                                We are looking forward to creative healthy meals, derived from the garden and whatever is in abundance, or available.  The chickens helped supply this meal last year and was delicious. Beets roasted with onions and rosemary from the herb garden.  Also, a picture from previous garden years.  Oh, we put thyme on these too, and also from the herb garden. Not to forget those tomatoes and all the sauces made over the years.  That dish included asparagus from the garden, as well as oregano from the herb garden. Sometimes a roll down memory lane gives us the spark to keep gardening and planting.  Maybe.   Reminders?   ©  June 2026 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart