Pioneer Woman at Heart

One Flourishing, Frugal and Fun Family!

One family learning to live off the land, cut back on expenses, and to live a simpler and a more self-sufficient lifestyle.

Adopted Motto

"Eat it up,
Wear it out,
Make it do,
Or go without."
~A Pioneer Sampler, by Barbara Greenwood~

Sunday, July 26, 2015

Sunday Coffee Hour ~ Feel Good Moments


I'm glad I have more than one apron.  I had flour all over this one from tortilla making, so I had to swap it for a clean one.  I have a habit of wiping my hands on my aprons sides versus grabbing a towel.


Hubby and I moved some of the barn siding onto horses to sell.  


The ground is still very wet, so we cannot knock down the entire structure just yet. 


I have been working hard in the kitchen this past week.  Pickle relish, peach jam, and ten glorious jars of zucchini salsa (Nine sealed, one ready to eat!). More homemade tortillas, but zero in the freezer. My plan is to visit a few more Farmer's Markets.  We've already opened a jar of peach jam too - one of our favorites (reduced sugar).




We got our very first ripe tomato - heirloom pear cherry tomato.   These will go nicely in salads, hot or cold.  It won't be a lot, but it will be something. These are not planted in the big vegetable garden.


I made my first batch of homemade lemon pepper seasoning.  


I purchased organic lemons, dried the zest in my dehydrator, crushed peppercorns, and added sea salt.  I like to use this for squash/red pepper grilled in foil packets (or roasted in the oven).  I used a recipe I found online.  We thought this seasoning would be wonderful on fish too.  Why make it homemade?  Well, for starters, the lemon is fresh and it smell and tastes wonderful.  Second, you don't have all the fillers they put in them when you buy it at the store (like sugar).  Why even put sugar in a pepper seasoning? 







I've successfully dried comfrey, calendula, and soon mullein.  My peppermint is doing absolutely wonderful, so that is on today's to-do list.  My new organic spearmint seeds are producing, and should be ready to harvest for winter soon.  I'm also drying more catnip.  I read that it is as effective as Deet.



My lemongrass looks great, and already needs another trim for drying again.  The stalks are not large enough for making lemongrass oil just yet.  



The recently tossed zinnia seeds have all sprouted.  I'm already drying some from previous blooms, for next year's flower gardens.

Woohoo!  I finished the 27 drawers/doors in the kitchen.  The last drawer was painted yesterday.  I love the hardware I picked out.  It only took me almost eight years to get that job done.  I guess it wasn't on the priority list.   All those rainy days didn't go without work, that's for sure.


As for my every day, personal, zippy, mojo, the kids feel that the answer to finding it again, is to buy myself a puppy. Hmm.  I'm pretty sure that's not the answer. Funny kids that they are.

I have however, have been getting funky with herbs, tinctures, and other herbal concoctions.  Most have to wait about 6 weeks before I can use them.  I'll be sure to post.

The sun is rising behind a layer of fog this morning and is quite beautiful.  Now that I have talked your ear off, I'm heading to the porch for gal time with God.  Have a wonderful Sunday.


13 comments:

Unknown said...

Your drawers/doors look great! I love my kitchen a lot more since I recently painted, etc. Nice, and freshened up looking, and clean :)

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Thanks Nancy, some drawers had dark knobs before we moved in, but the upper cabinets had no hardware.

Liz said...

The drawers turned out awesome! I really like the pulls. I had the same ones in our old house. My zinnias are about the only thing left in the garden.

Mama Pea said...

Absolutely love your drawer pulls. Dang, I should have gotten those for our dresser in the bedroom rather than the round white ones. Dang.

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Mama Pea, I love them too. Every drawer (and I have many in the kitchen vs. doors) got one. It took several months, but I got the job done. I love using the drawers now.

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Liz, I love zinnias. They have so much color.

Susan said...

The drawers (and pulls) look great! Funny how we have plenty to do, rain or shine. I planted calendula again this year - my supply of salve is running low. I am so fascinated by your herbal work - can't wait to see what you have been mixing up!

EMMA said...

You get so much done!!!

GrannyAnnie said...

Aprons . . . . I used to wear them faithfully. Don't know where I got away from it. Going to have to get back in the habit so I quite ruining so many clothes. Those canned goods look so yummy! I have never tried zucchini salsa, but looks so good I am going to have to try some now.
You are so right ... fillers and sugar in spice mixes just doesn't make sense!
The pictures of your herbs look great! . . . so professional!
Have a blessed week!

RB said...

I'm the same way with aprons except I have a habit of wiping my hands on my hiney instead of my front. After seeing me make Southern Fried Chicken one day, my ex-husband said I need to wear two aprons - one around the front and one around the back. LOL
Save the seeds from some of those heirloom tomatoes and other vegies that you grow. You can rarely grow more with the seeds gotten from produce bought at the store because they don't seem to come up, we're thinking maybe because they've been irradiated and rendered sterile, but you can easily do it with things you've grown in your own garden, free seeds - to save for planting next year.
We generally scrape out the seeds from a couple of the tomatoes, etc., rinse them carefully and lay them out singly on a paper towel on a paper plate and place them on a high shelf in the kitchen to dry (well away from the kitties). Then after a few days of thorough drying, we put them in small appropriately labeled jar (often a clean empty McCormick's spice jar we've used all the spices from which are great for saving seeds in).
God bless.
RB
<><

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

RB, I hope to have enough harvest on something to save any seeds that I can. But, the plants are dying before more ore producing (other than the tomatoes). I have to go out and check on them today.

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Emma, the next day I finished the list. Phew!

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Anna, for some reason we tried the zucchini salsa. In the past I had made four other kinds and we had a salsa party to try them all. The zucchini salsa this past year, came out the winner.