Pioneer Woman at Heart

  I believe last year (how we did it) was the first year to do this with the woody ends from our spring asparagus.  I think I will try adding them to vegetable dips this year, or to meat and/or vegetable sauces.  It all depends on the amount of dehydrated ends we have this spring. We are still getting asparagus thankfully.  We got more rain, and it looks like we may get a few days break from it now. A lot is happening around here, and some work is still on hold, such as preparing the actual vegetable garden (much too wet). Dehydrated (and ground) Asparagus Ends ©  May 2026 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

  Woke up to mornings in the upper 30's.  Brr.  Rain flooded our asparagus patch.  I am hoping I will have some more asparagus to harvest today.  The continuation of cold nights, has my green onions looking drab. Food is the topic today, as I have very little to share.   I've been thinking how much fun it was last year to try new Christmas holiday recipes.  We loved the sunflower seed brittle recipe we tried last year.  You may get a "Christmas" post out of me this year.  New recipe we tried and absolutely love it.  I have made many, many breakfast casseroles/quiches and frittatas, and this one is a keeper.  I do believe it is a "first" mushroom type quiche to make as well.  I'm officially saying it's a "first time" event this year.   I takes an entire box of frozen spinach, but once you squeeze all that water out, you don't have much left. I used organic baby bella mushrooms, but otherwise did not change any of...

  I keep reading how freshly popped popcorn, is better after it's been in the freezer, so we tried it.  Honestly, it was not for taste, but for us, it was about traveling with home popped popcorn. We do not like microwave popcorn, and while it's portable, we prefer home popped popcorn, with real butter and real seasonings. First, a metal bowl is not the way to mix in your butter and seasonings.  The popcorn just slides around.  A large Tupperware bowl worked a lot better.  I added butter and seasoning, and put the popcorn in a freezer bag.  It tasted great after taking it out at another time to enjoy and "test" the freshness.  Next test will be to see if it travels well (camping, hiking, weekend getaway etc) after taking it out of the freezer.  Sharing a few more crocheted book blanket granny squares. . . .not in any particular order, as I'm working on "catching up" with this project. The Leslie Meier book was easy to match, but the other book was...

  I was given a packet of information, as a thank you for my crocheted baby blanket donation (first time to donate to this organization).  I, honestly, did not expect anything in return.  They asked. I had the yarn. I donated.   Inside the packet of information, was a chocolate bar, which is from an area business that makes it.   A future fall possibility - "allergy" tincture with a combination of mullein, goldenrod and stinging nettle (all in one vs. individual).  Tinctures are best with fresh herbs, so this will be interesting. It all depends on locating all three plants.   I'm doing more research on this mixture, as I cannot drink stinging nettle tea daily, all summer long, for seasonal allergies.  Nettle is a "drying" tea, as it also works as a diuretic. My allergies are bothering my sinus pressure and eyes (itchy, red) this year. It's been years since this has been a problem too. I started an oil infused with rosemary (I used o...

  Whelp.  The rain and cold is still with us.  Early morning temperature was 33°F.  My rosemary looks fine however.  We may actually see a day with zero rain today.  Crossing fingers. Not sure if you can really see the below recipe, which came from the cookbook I shared in my last post (scroll back to see). I guess, because I have never made garlic aioli, I did not realize it is basically fresh mayonnaise with a bit of spice to it. I'm still looking through several cookbooks, but we remain on the hunt for a good burger sauce for grilling season.  I have obtained one from a restaurant, but I need to figure out how to downsize the recipe for two people.  There is a funny story regarding looking for this recipe, and one of these days will share it. I'm also looking for my copy of the fruit cake recipe that was asked for so many months ago.   Update on finding San Marzano tomato plants this spring.  We found them, and the flats range fr...

  Happy first day of May!  May is a very fun-packed month for us. If you were wondering, yes another day of rain here.  There is more coming, and our day started at 37°F this morning.  Brr. Our area grocery store gave me a coupon for a free 16 oz. container of cottage cheese, so I whipped a cup of it in my small food processor.  I had pesto on hand, so I mixed in some of that, and more garlic.  Instant dip for veggies.  Yum. I'm, ever so slowly, getting some book blanket granny squares crocheted.  I'm still behind, and this one needs ends sewn in. I figured out why I am getting behind, as I'm getting way more books finished than I thought I would.  One, I am only crocheting while watching TV, and that time is limited lately.   I've oddly become a book critic with all these books too.  In one book, the author failed to do proper research for, like boiling freshly laid eggs from chickens.  Anyone with chickens knows, you hav...

  New recipe tried - Kidney bean salad with Lemon (recipe is free online at A Virtual Vegan).  I did make slight changes to the recipe. What I did. . . Instead of cane sugar, I used a Tbsp. of lemon infused honey. I used a full organic English cucumber. I used both fresh parsley and cilantro (had some that needed used up, as it's not garden season and I have to buy it). I used red onion. I chilled the salad for a few hours before serving. We added crumbled feta to the salad when I served it.  Yum! Rain is here again.  It's due to come down off and on later and even tomorrow morning.  Our evenings will start dipping into the 30's (hopefully no hard freeze). Thankfully, my three cilantro plants, that came up by themselves, from last year's seeds, are still thriving in the herb garden. Kidney Bean Salad ©  April 2026 by  Kristina  at  Pioneer  Woman  at Heart