Pioneer Woman at Heart

  I have strained the elderberry/hibiscus honey.  It wasn't hard to do, but sort of a messy process.  The color is the same as the one we purchased to try, and the taste is pretty good.  The benefits even better. I may or may not be infusing other honey flavors.  We love to use lemon infused honey in any salad dressing that calls for honey and fresh lemon juice.   Infused honey is very giftable too.   Infused Honey ©  May 2026 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart  

I have tried a few new recipes, but not sweet treats.  I do have one of those sweet treat recipes to try, but I have just not had the mojo, nor the time to make it.  🎄🎅🤶 Here is what I did make to try. . . Crockpot  Scalloped Potatoes {Slow Cooker recipe from Mennonite Girls Can Cook } I am always looking for ways to make sides without the oven, due to space constraints on some holidays (or I used to).  I gave this recipe a whirl, and yes, you can use homemade condensed mushroom soup for a richer flavor (because it's made with shallots and fresh mushrooms with butter). It is a much easier way to take potatoes to a get together, but I also consider if there will be enough outlets to keep the crock pot warm too.   One year I took a sweet potato dish (in a baking dish), and it was left in the oven during the entire meal, so I went home with the entire dish. Anyway, back to the potatoes.... Slice those bad boys up with a mandolin, as well as the onions, and...

  New Recipe Tried?  I had a recipe in the lineup to try, but after reading the "notes" I decided not to try it.  It was a Puppy Chow recipe, but used freshly made popcorn vs. store bought cereal.  It said to store it in the freezer and consume straight from the freezer.  Not really a winter go-to Christmas treat if you ask me.  The recipe stated the popcorn goes soft after you coat it, so hence we ditched the idea. However, I purchased a trial size of Christmas Jam to try.  I know it won't taste like a home canned jam, but if we like the taste, I may look into any good recipes similar to it. We do can a jelly at Christmas that everyone absolutely loves - it's a cinnamon/candy apple flavored jelly.  It's definitely not made with healthy ingredients (ha ha!), but I do not know one person who does not like it at Christmas. The jelly is called Cinnamon Cider Jelly - Recipe on my blog. I finally convinced my husband that we needed to visit the largest...

I'm joining Anne in the Kitchen ( blogspot - Cooking and All that Jazz ) with her Christmas countdown preparations and fun planning posts. Preparing for the next Christmas season.  January is the best time to work on crochet Christmas gifts and/or ornaments.  My family has been overwhelmed with my gracious and over abundance of ornament making over the years.  I need to find another outlet for them now.  Maybe nursing homes?  Adult assisted living facilities?     We have located a non-gmo Christmas cookie sugar sprinkle for next year's cookies.  I had no idea they even made them, and our Menard's sells Watkins brands.  They make this in "green" too with no artificial dyes. Current library book for Christmas possibilities: Delicious Foods to Make and Give Homemade, by Judith Choate.  A good library find for holiday planning if you are doing so during these slower winter days. It has many recipes and ideas.  However, what in the ...

  I borrowed this book from the library recently, and it does contain another version of a Chicken soup starter in a jar recipe.  I requires dried celery, but I have not seen that in our stores (other than celery salt).  I could dehydrate celery, but just a heads up on that ingredient. (photo from google) I've been borrowing books from the library regarding homemade gift ideas (just a hobby of mine this time of year), and I came across this online the other day (photo from google).  Just another idea to share. If anyone has a homemade coffee mix with peppermint and mocha, please do share. My husband is getting a laugh about my search for organic/non-gmo candy canes.  I had a box of them on Amazon in my cart, then got busy with breakfast, and when I went back to place my order - bam!  Out of stock.  Ha ha!  Jokes on me I guess. I'm finding it very hard to find organic/non-gmo corn syrup this season.  Our big grocery store carried it last year,...

  Back in the darkest corner of the depths of our walk-in closet, I found several bottles of Homemade Kahlua .  They were dated 2016!  Not sure what happened that holiday season, but they were long forgotten and unseen.  Until now.  According to my blog, I gifted it that year so maybe I had extra I just completely forgot about? (hard to see in this photo, but glue is darker on some of them) I also found several glass jars I had recycled and added a handmade label (intended for Christmas gifting).  Over the years, the glue sort of looks strange on them.  One survived looking great.  I'm guessing I used different glue on them.  You can read how I made these on my S.C.R.A.P. Blogspot.   You can get the homemade granola recipe:  HERE . The closet was part of the addition from the last people who lived here. It was built at the grand size of 8 feet by 16 feet (no one needs a closet this big!)  They were odd about shelving placement,...