We had a pound of fresh, ground venison (not to mention the extra 30+lbs of various cuts in the freezer) and I wanted to use it. We had recently visited Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan and had some amazing Pork Apple Pie with the most delicious crust at the Eagle Tavern. I haven't been able to get that crust out of my head since then. So when I realized I had to make something similar, pot pie was the first thing in my head. I got the crust recipe from Sally's Baking Addiction. I also adapted her Double Crust Chicken Pot Pie recipe for the ingredients I have, mainly venison. I highly recommend looking at her recipe and instructions, she has very detailed pictures. This is only a review of her recipes. 

This is a two part post. The first part will be the crust, and the second part will be the filler. The Pot Pie Filler ingredients and directions are adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction. The crust is direct from her site. She also uses this crust for pie. I have been using the pie crust from PickYourOwn.org, but I always like trying new things. 

Crust Ingredients:

• 2 and 1/2 cups (315g) all-purpose flour
• 1 and 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 6 Tablespoons (90g) unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
• 3/4 cup (154g) vegetable shortening, chilled
• 1/2 cup (120ml) ice water

Crust Directions:

1. Mix the flour and salt together in a large bowl. Add the butter and shortening.
2. Using a pastry cutter (the one I own) or two forks, cut the butter and shortening into the mixture until it resembles coarse meal (pea-sized bits with a few larger bits of fat is OK). A pastry cutter makes this step very easy and quick.
3. Measure 1/2 cup (120ml) of water in a cup. Add ice. Stir it around. From that, measure 1/2 cup (120ml) of water-- since the ice has melted a bit. Drizzle the cold water in, 1 Tablespoon (15ml) at a time, and stir with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon after every Tablespoon (15ml) added. Do not add any more water than you need to. Stop adding water when the dough begins to form large clumps. I always use between 1/3 cup (75ml) and 1/2 cup (120ml) of water.
4. Transfer the pie dough to a floured work surface. The dough should come together easily and should not feel overly sticky. Using floured hands, fold the dough into itself until the flour is fully incorporated into the fats. Form it into a ball. Divide dough in half. Flatten each half into 1-inch thick discs using your hands.
5. Wrap each tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours (and up to 5 days).
6. When rolling out the chilled pie dough discs to use in your pie, always use gentle force with your rolling pin. Start from the center of the disc and work your way out in all directions, turning the dough with your hands as you go.

Pot Pie Filler Ingredients:

• 1 recipe homemade pie crust
• 1-2lbs ground venison
• 1/3 cup unsalted butter
• 1 chopped onion
• 1 minced garlic bulb
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• Salt to taste
• Black Pepper to taste
• Basil to taste
• Crushed red pepper flakes to taste
• 1 and 3/4 cups beef broth (homemade if possible)
• 2/3 cup whole milk
• 1 cup frozen peas

Pot Pie Filler Directions:

1. Prepare the pie crust as directed above and according to Sally
2. In a large skillet, cook the butter, onions, and garlic over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Cook until the onions are translucent and the butter is lightly browning. Whisk in the flour, seasonings, beef broth, and milk. Cook and whisk until no flour lumps remain, then simmer over medium-low heat until thick.
3. Preheat oven to 425F degrees.
4. Sally says, "After the pie dough has chilled: On a floured work surface, roll out 1 half of the chilled pie dough. Turn the pie crust dough about a quarter turn after every few rolls until you have a circle 12 inches in diameter. Carefully place the dough into a 9-inch pie dish. Tuck it in with your fingers, making sure it is smooth. With a small and sharp knife, trim the extra overhang of dough and discard. Place the vension mixture on top. Top with frozen peas. Pour gravy over top. Roll out 2nd half of pie crust dough just as you did the first. Cover the pie with the 2nd crust and trim the extra overhang off the sides. Seal the edges by crimping with a fork or your fingers. With a small and sharp knife, slice a few small slits in the top crust for steam to escape."
5. Bake for 32 - 38 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.

hNotes:
I recommend an apron. I always forget to put mine until until I wipe flour all over my jeans. 

In her original recipe, Sally does not recommend using milk because it may make the gravy type filling to be too thin. I didn't have half and half or heavy cream, though I imagine they would add to the richness tremendously, I used whole milk. We don't normally have milk at all because regular milk and I are not friends. A small amount cooked in something usually doesn't bother me. Anyway, it was what I had and the gravy stuff thickened up nicely. I imagine using skim would be like using water...

I don't measure my seasonings. I use the hand measuring method, which is not accurate, but it's close. You basically just have to learn what a tablespoon looks like in the palm of your hand. Same with the teaspoon. That's why I don't have precise measurements listed. If you think it needs more salt after you've tasted it, add salt. Same with pepper and any other seasoning. 

I didn't make my crust thin enough, so the balance of the pies was more toward the crusty side. 

​I don't have a lot of the proper tools for things like this, but it was easy enough to improvise. I don't have a rolling pin, so I used a glass with flat sides. I don't have a pastry cutter, but the forks worked well enough. 

I didn't have unsalted butter for the crust, so I used salted. 

Review:
Well, this was basically amazing. The filling was just... I couldn't stop eating it. The pies may be a little empty because I kept snacking on the filling. 

The crust was too thick, but that's my own fault. It's still not quite the flavor I was going for, but it's richer smoother than the crust I have been using. 

The directions were easy to follow, and there was plenty of time in between parts of this recipe so that I could do other things. I am a multi-tasker, so that is a big perk for me. 
​
I will definitely make this again... and again. 

Total Score:
4.5

It's about the season for TC's birthday. I like to make the requested dessert for whoever's birthday it is. TC requested something chocolate. We settled on Devil's Food Cake. Now, this is my second attempt at making cake from scratch. My first attempt was with yellow cake. So, might as well cover the rest of the spectrum. I am not terribly fond of cake, but maybe I will find a cake I really like one day. Maybe. 

This particular recipe I got from Taste of Home, and that's also where this ingredients list and directions are from. I'm just going to put this disclaimer at the beginning, I did not make my own frosting. I forgot to get confectioner's sugar at the store, but I did have chocolate fudge frosting at home because... well chocolate fudge, that's why. I also only made one cake, and I didn't separate it for a layer cake because I don't have the pans for that. 

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 2-1/4 cups packed brown sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled slightly
• 2-1/4 cups cake flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
• 1 cup water

Frosting:

• 1/2 cup butter, cubed
• 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
• 3-3/4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Line bottoms of two greased 9-in. round baking pans with parchment paper; grease paper.
2. In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla and cooled chocolate. In another bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, salt and baking powder; add to creamed mixture alternately with sour cream and water, beating well after each addition.
3. Transfer batter to prepared pans. Bake 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 minutes before removing to wire racks; remove paper. Cool completely.
4. For frosting, in a small heavy saucepan, melt butter and chocolate over low heat. Remove from heat; cool 5 minutes. In a large bowl, beat confectioners' sugar, milk and vanilla until smooth. Gradually add chocolate mixture, beating until light and fluffy. Spread between layers and over top and sides of cake. Yield: 12 servings.

Notes:
Because I didn't split the mix into two separate cakes, I had to bake it for an extra 17 minutes. So the time has basically doubled. 

My kitchenaid has seen better days, it's not currently working, so trying to cream the butter and brown sugar by hand was incredibly discouraging. It didn't help that I was using old, clumpy brown sugar. Even when it was all mixed up, it didn't look like butter and sugar normally look when creamed. Once I added the eggs, I felt a lot better about it. I actually panicked a little bit because I didn't have any room temperature eggs, then I remembered I haven't checked the chicken coop for eggs yet. Luckily there were three eggs waiting for me!

The recipe didn't specify the type of brown sugar, but I used the dark because I like molasses. ​

​You don't have to use a double boiler, I think, but it seemed like the perfect time to finally use it. It worked out really well. 

This is the most important note of all:  This is meant to be a layer cake, and I recommend making it as such. By itself, it's not terribly sweet, and that little extra layer of frosting would make it the perfect amount of sweetness. 


Review:
This cake is moist, but not too dense. It's not too sweet (which was the problem with my last cake), and balances out really well with the frosting, which is not overpowering. 

After getting the butter and sugar to cream, it was super easy to make. 

It looks like it would be really easy to make as a layer cake if I had the right pans for it. 

Total Score:
​3

I love soups. I never used to like soups. People always put celery in soups, and celery is one of those flavors that just makes me cringe. I don't really like stews either. You know what? I like broth. That's really it. I like broth. 

That being said, I had some amazing french onion soup at a restaurant a couple weeks ago and I couldn't get the broth out of my head. It reminded me of some of my favorite beef broth... so I had to try to make it myself. 

I found this recipe on the le creme de la crumb site which has given me oodles of inspiration for slow cooker food. I am not terribly fond of recipes that require me to do extra work before I put it in the slow cooker, but I know what happens when you put raw onions in soup... something just doesn't work. So, I did this (ingredients and directions are from the la creme de la crumb site)...

Ingredients:

• 4 yellow onions, skins removed and thinly sliced into rings
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 8 cups beef broth
• 1 bay leaf
• 6 slices crusty french bread
• 8-12 slices of gruyere or swiss cheese

Directions:

1. Add butter and onion rings to the largest pan/skillet you have and saute over medium-high heat for about 10 minutes or until onions are translucent and start to brown. Cover and cook about 5 minutes longer to let them caramelize a little more.
2. Transfer onions to slow cooker. Add garlic, broth, and bay leaf. Cover and cook on high 3-4 hours or on low 6-8 hours (or up to 10).
3. About 20-30 minutes before serving, preheat oven to 420 degrees. Place slices of bread in a single layer on a baking sheet. Place in preheated oven for about 5 minutes, then flip the bread slices over and return to oven for another 5 minutes or so until bread is dried and crunchy. Set aside.
4. Place oven-safe bowls on the baking sheet. Fill each with soup from the slow cooker. Place 2 slices of swiss cheese (overlapping) on top of the soup so the edges are hanging over the sides of the bowls. Bake about 10 minutes until cheese is melty. Serve with crusty bread and garnish with parsley if desired.

Notes: 
I don't follow directions well. I didn't use the bay leaf (I'm not terribly fond of bay). I used way too much broth because I wanted to have enough liquid in the crock pot. 

Okay... so, I'm pretty sure the reason this is supposed to go into a crock pot is because the broth needs to heat, and it needs to fuse with the onions and become delicious to the extreme. The problem is that the broth I used is made at boiling temperature, so the slow cooker wasn't really necessary at all. If I had my own homemade broth, the slow cooker would have been amazing. 

The onions took forever to caramelize and caused some awesome burn marks on the side of my stainless steel pan. I should have used my cast iron. 


Review:
​The recipe was easy to follow, and the ingredients were easy to find. It is honestly just broth, bread, onions, and cheese. It's really hard to mess up, and it's really hard to not love it. Find a broth that you love and use that. 

I am pretty sure the soup lasted about 5 seconds. I inhaled it. I might be an animal. It was really good, but it was also pretty standard. 

Total Score:
4

I really like pickled carrots... I think. We used to go to this Vietnamese restaurant in Houston and I would get this pork/egg roll noodle thing. It was amazing, and it would come with shredded pickled carrots on it. I loved them. I've been trying to find a recipe for them, and I think I'll have to come up with it on my own. I think rice vinegar and sugar are involved. Anyway, this is not that recipe. It looked tasty, so I wanted to try it. I need to eat more carrots anyway.

Side note: If you know me, you may know my distaste for carrots. I've never been overly fond of carrots, especially not store bought carrots. Garden carrots are good, but I've never been too much of a fan. ...Until those pickled carrots...

So, I found this recipe from The Kitchen Magpie and it sounded good, and I hoped it would be something along the same lines as the other pickled carrots. I broke out the DSLR for these pictures, so they are all fancy. The following ingredients and directions are straight from The Kitchen Magpie.

Ingredients:

• 8 ½ cups peeled garden fresh baby carrots
• 5½ cups white distilled vinegar (5%)
• 1 cup water
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons canning salt
• 3 tbsp pickling spice

Directions:

1. Wash and rinse pint canning jars; keep hot until ready to use. Prepare lids and bands according to manufacturer’s directions.
2. Wash carrots well and peel, if necessary. Wash again after peeling.
3. Combine the vinegar, water, sugar and canning salt in an 8-quart Dutch oven or stockpot. Bring to a boil and boil gently 3 minutes. Add carrots and bring back to a boil. Then reduce heat to a simmer and heat until the carrots are half-cooked (about 10 minutes).
4. Divide the pickling spice evenly between 4 jars and place in the bottom of each clean, hot pint jar.
5. Fill hot jars with the hot carrots, leaving 1-inch headspace. Cover with hot pickling liquid, leaving ½-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace if needed. Wipe rims of jars with a dampened, clean paper towel; adjust two-piece metal canning lids.
6. Process in a boiling water canner = 0 - 1,000 feet - process for 15 minutes, 1,001 - 6,000 feet process for 20 minutes and above 6,000 feet process 25 minutes. Let cool, undisturbed, 12 to 24 hours and check for seals.
7. Allow carrots to sit in processed jars for 3 to 5 days before consuming for best flavor development.

The jar on the left (filled with water) went through the water bath canning process with the carrots because I didn't have enough full jars for the whole basket. Our water is terrible here. Luckily all that gunk just wipes off, but I won't be drinking the water here until it gets heavily filtered. 

Notes:
I didn't use baby carrots, I used the big carrots and sectioned them. I did also try this with baby carrots, and I think the baby carrots should have cooked a little longer. Maybe 12 minutes instead of 10. 

I always try to make extra liquid, just in case you don't have enough. I would make the pickling liquid and an extra half batch. I always run out of the liquid... I should really have learned by now. 

Review:
Let me just start with saying these: These are officially one of my favorite foods ever. 

If you like pickled things and pickling spice, try these. I even tested them out on a 4 year old and she ate a bunch! Seriously my favorite way to eat carrots now. 

​These do not taste like sweet pickles, they're different. I don't like sweet pickles. These are way better

My only warning goes along with anything sweet you're dealing with... things can get sticky. That's all. 

Total Score: 
Out of 5? 7. Okay, I know, 5 is the top, but seriously. 

We had ground beef in the fridge. 

That's how it always starts, isn't it? What can I do with this ground beef? 

I decided to make pasta. I had stewed tomatoes that I canned last year. There was a lot of water in the jars and I was a little annoyed about it when I canned them, but I decided to make it into a sauce. I kept cooking things and then thinking that I should have added something else. So, everything about this pasta was an afterthought. 

Ingredients:
Whatever I had in the kitchen...
Onion
Garlic
Ground beef
Stewed tomatoes
Spaghetti noodles
Olive oil
Mushrooms
Herbs
Pepper
Water
Salt


Directions:
Cook your noodles (dash of salt in your water)
I started to brown the beef with a little olive oil in the bottom of the pan.
I realized that I should probably use onions... and that I should have sauteed the onions first, so i just tossed them in with the beef. 
I put stewed the stewed tomatoes in a pot and heated them. 
When the noodles were done, I strained them and put them in a bowl with a little olive oil. 
I added herbs and garlic and pepper to the tomatoes (homegrown thyme, oregan, parsley, sage, rosemary, and basil)
I covered the tomatoes and let them simmer. 
I then realized there were mushrooms in the fridge, so I cut up a few of those (5 white button mushrooms) and put those in with the tomatoes to cook.
Last but not least, I mixed the beef and onions with the tomato stuff and heated it. 

​

Notes:
I promise I am not "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie"... but this recipe really felt like it. 

Have fun with it. If you think it goes with spaghetti, put it in there. 

For those of you who need specific measurements, it's a dash of salt, a tbsp of each herb, 2lbs beef (or 1 if you like less meat), two pints of stewed tomatoes with the water, 1 chopped white onion. I don't really operate in the world of precision when it comes to cooking. I'll do my best to translate what I do. 

Review:
I have never really liked spaghetti, but this was probably the best spaghetti I've ever had. I think it's because I'm not fond of sauces. I like the chunks. 

There is liquid in the bottom of this, it's not really a sauce. It is, however, really tasty. 

Total Score:
​5

I had leftover chicken. I'm always looking for fun things to do with leftover chicken. This time I decided on a soup. I got the recipe from cooks.com which is actually one of my least favorite sites to navigate. Let's just dive in!

Ingredients: 
3c Chicken Broth
2oz Rice, Uncooked (for brothier soup... 3oz rice for thicker soup)
Chicken (Optional... I just used a little bit of leftovers)
2 Eggs
3 Tbsp Lemon Juice
Salt 
Pepper

Directions:
Bring the broth to a boil
Add the rice, cover, and reduce heat 
Simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the rice is tender (be careful with this, rice is shy and doesn't like to be peeked at)
In a separate dish beat the eggs and the lemon juice together
When rice is done, slowly add the egg mix into the rice and broth while stirring rice constantly in a clockwise direction (or anticlockwise...). Basically you want to be pouring into the whirlpool that you create by stirring. 
Add chicken if you used any
Heat the soup without boiling 

Notes:
I didn't season this until after it was in the bowl. It only needed a smidge of salt, and a light peppering. I think I would use a little more lemon next time. 

This could easily be a vegetarian dish. Just use vegetable broth (which you can make yourself!) and no chicken! This soup would probably be really good with tofu too!

We used brown rice with this, which is not my favorite, but it didn't affect the flavor.

This was one of the easiest meals I've ever made. 

The recipe says it serves 4. It does if you're using it as a side dish or an appetizer. As a meal, it serves 2 with no leftovers. 

Review:
Super easy

Super tasty

I want to make this all the time. Seriously. 

Total Score:
​5

Disclaimer: I'm about to use the words broth and stock interchangeably. I know there is a difference. For ease of communication, I use them both for the same thing. I'm pretty sure I already did a turkey-stock post... 

We got some chickens and ducks this last spring. We got 12 chickens and 4 ducks. Now only 5 chickens remain and our freezer is full. So, I decided to cook one of the chickens in the slow cooker. I put a smidgen of butter on the bottom of the crockpot, then I cut up an onion (store bought supplemented with home grown) and some garlic (homegrown). Then I seasoned the chicken with homegrown herbs and salt. Cooked it on low for 4 hours because it was a small bird. I didn't want to make a whole blog for slow cooker chicken. I may in the future, but this blog is for something else. This blog is for chicken stock/chicken bone broth. 

Ingredients:
Chicken carcass, fat, skin, any leftover chicken bits and drippings
Onion
Garlic
Salt 
Peppercorns
Carrots
Mushrooms
2 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar (leaches all the delicious and nutritious stuff out of the bones)
...Honestly, you can use whatever you want, but I don't recommend potatoes, leafy greens, dark green veggies etc... they get pretty bitter.  I personally am not terribly fond of carrots, so I only use a few, and then I overdo it on the mushrooms, because I love them. 

Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker or stock pot.
Add water until your stock pot or crock pot is almost full.
Simmer for 1-2 days
Taste after 24 hours, if you want it stronger, cook it longer. 
When the stock is done, strain it into a container. Some people are concerned with the clarity of their stock. I am not one of those people. If you are one of those people... good luck. 

This particular picture is from the slow cooked chicken, so it had a lot of onion and seasonings in the slow cooker already. I just put the carcass back in after I cleaned it, and I put water on top of it. Easy as stock. 

Notes:
Go easy on the seasonings the first time, your stock may taste a little bland, but you can always add seasonings to it when you use it. It's really hard to recover from over seasoning something. You're looking for a good chicken flavor. 

Parsley is a great addition to chicken broth based dishes when you go to use your broth. I used to think it was useless, but it really amps up the flavor. 

You can use the carcass and veggies a second time for a weaker batch of stock to use instead of water for rice etc.

This is very important: don't let it cook too long without stirring... the floating bits can burn, and then your stock is almost unusable. Trust me on this. I lost 5 gallons of stock one day because of it. 

This is my favorite part of stock: I take all of my onion and garlic papers and cut ends and freeze them. If an onion is a little squishy and I don't want to cook with it, I put it in the freezer. When I go to make a batch of this delicious bone broth, I use all the papers and ends and everything that I had collected in the freezer. The papers add to the color and quality of the broth. Here's an example: TC will buy a bunch of carrots and then let them sit in the fridge. I don't care for carrots, but they're good to add in stock. So, when they start to lose their crispness and aren't as good for eating, I freeze them and use them for stock. Nothing goes to waste! 

fter a year of not wanting to bake (I know... I know... an entire year? Yeah. I didn't want to bake for a year.) I have gotten back into the swing of things. This year has been pretty brutal, and I'm glad it's almost over. To celebrate new things and things getting better, I have baked a few things. I will start with my very first cake from scratch. It was for a birthday, and the goal was yellow cake with chocolate fudge frosting. I decided to be dumb about it and have my first attempt be a layered. Spoiler alert: it worked out... mostly. So, lets begin! This is from the Diva's Can Cook site. Let me say this in advance, I strongly recommend having room temperature ingredients. It is more important than it seems

Ingredients:

• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened, room temperature
• 2 cups white sugar
• 2 eggs, separated, room temperature
• 3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups cake flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup buttermilk, room temperature

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 325.
2. Grease and flour two 9-inch cake pans. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar.
4. Add in egg yolks and vanilla, mixing until fully incorporated. Set aside.
5. In a seperate bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt.
6. Gradually add dry ingredients into wet ingredients, alternating with the buttermilk.
7. Mix until batter is fluffy but be careful not to over mix.
8. Beat egg whites until foamy and thick.
9. Very gently fold egg whites into batter and mix JUST until incorporated.
10. Pour batter into prepared pans and spread into even layers.
11. Bake for 30-35 minutes.
12. Remove from oven and let cake cool in pans until pans are warm to the touch.
13. Carefully remove cakes from pan and place on a cooling rack to finish cooling.
14. When cakes are completely cooled frost with chocolate buttercream frosting.

Recipe from Divas Can Cook . " Old School Cooking For the Modern Woman"
Read Morehttp://divascancook.com/moist-yellow-cake-recipe-old-fashioned/

Yeah, it ended up being super crumbly, but put it in a bowl with some ice cream and it mixes up into the most delicious sludge. 

Notes:
Once again, I got the recipe from Divas Can Cook.

It tasted like sugar cookie. It didn't really taste like yellow cake. That's because there was WAY too much sugar in this cake. I would probably only use 1-1 1/4c of sugar instead of the 2c in the recipe. 

The recipe was easy to put together, but a mixer was absolutely necessary... I cannot beat egg whites by hand. 

A lot of the comments on the Divas Can Cook site had trouble with their cake falling. I didn't have that problem. My guess as to why that was happening to people was because they didn't use room temperature ingredients or they didn't fold the egg whites in properly. I mean, I don't think I do it properly, but I made sure it was mixed in thoroughly and I tried not to do it too much. 


Review:
This is a solid recipe and I will definitely give it another go. The cake was moist, and it did really well with the frosting. 

I have never really liked cake. On the spectrum of "cake I would eat", this is in the realm of cake I would eat. Red velvet is in the realm of cake I would not eat. 


Total Score:
​3

I haven't forgotten about you guys, I promise. I have been doing lots of cooking and canning, and I'm anxious to share some recipes that worked... and then some that didn't. The problem is technology. In order for me to post good pictures on this site, I have to take them with the camera, put them on the computer, and either go to town and upload all the pictures to dropbox and then write the posts or attempt to do it all with phones and the ipad. Either way is a lot of work and some definite finagling. Once we get more organized, I will be back on here sharing my successes and failures. So, stay tuned, but for the next month or so, this blog is on hiatus. 

Thanks for your patience! 

That was my attempt at being clever. This post actually has nothing to do with ketchup or catsup (same thing). What this post is, is an attempt to show you what I have been up to. If you are viewing this blog for the first time here's the news: We moved from Texas to Michigan in May. Everything has been a bit of a disaster when it comes to the kitchen. What we thought was an awesome setup... is actually not enough space. That's not entirely true. There is a lot of space in the kitchen, it's just all underneath the counters, which is a big pet peeve of mine in the kitchen (along with super tall cabinets and smacking my elbow against something while I'm at the stove), and on the top two shelves of the cabinets that I can't reach anyway. The vanity in the bathroom and the cabinets in the kitchen make me think that the house was previously owned by giants. From the people I've talked to who knew the previous owners, they were more my height (short) which totally baffles me. So, the kitchen has been a bit of a fiasco, but I have been getting things done. I broke out the DSLR yesterday so I could catch you up on what I've been making.

I will post recipes and things when I actually get a chance to taste some of these fun projects. It will be months before I am going to try the wine, one month until the garlic is ready, another week or so for the asparagus, and a day or two more for the raspberries.