Pioneer Woman at Heart

  It's a happy month for me.   Don't get me wrong, as things can go haywire on any given moment, but good things are happening. Back in 2015, I posted about some writing adventures.   At that time, it was 11 years ago. You can read about them (it's a short post) HERE .  It feels like I put writing to the pasture long before that year, but.... I used to freelance many years prior to that, but put it all aside to raise the kids, and run the household (one was in about 4-5 school sports and activities  - softball, basketball, you name it!).  They were all active in something - school plays, band, sports, etc.  In other words, we were a very active family, so I put my writing on hold.  It wasn't on purpose.  It just happened. Well, back when I had surgery last December, I decided to enter a poetry contest that was local.  I did not win the top prize, but my poem is printed in a book (have yet to pick it up).  Not long after th...

I'm finally getting so organized that it makes my mornings start much, much smoother, with evenings ending even more smoothly.  Clean kitchen counters.  Everything has a "place."  I actually know where things are now. It may take many more months, but it's been a fun and very productive. We are not done purging, re-organizing, cleaning out things we do not use anymore, etc.  I have one major room to complete, but I am slowly chipping away at it when time allows.   Mornings are now in the 60-70's, and we may even hit 80-90°. Don't panic or anything, but yes, I finally got the recipe typed out for those who wanted it.  You can find my recipe trial post HERE (photos included).  The recipe was written in cursive, so my kids did not want the recipe.  The younger two cannot read cursive hand writing (pretty sad). Fruit Cake Recipe comes from my Grandma's friend on my Mother's side of the family. See notes on my trial baking this recipe.  The r...

  Whoops.  I guess donating two books, instead of one, is a good thing too, ha ha!  I have been able to harvest chive blossoms, and it is rather early for that to happen.  You can read about how I did it HERE from last year.  We are only early on doing this by a few weeks, and all due to the rain this  year. While the chives are dehydrating, I picked more asparagus.  I will have to now replace my asparagus patch fence, and I will need to dig out a few wild raspberry plants the birds planted. What's new?  Well, I found a new houseplant to add to our home, and love it.  We have also planted a new apple tree, a new plum tree to replace the one that died, a new lilac bush, and one new hydrangea (also died over winter).  New landscaping edging was upgraded on one flower bed, and another is being worked on during dry days.   One volunteer cilantro plant, in the herb garden, survived the last frost.  One died.  One sage plan...

  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...