by Susan | Feb 21, 2020 | In the Kitchen
In her Denmark travels, Hannah has discovered the joy of dense, nutty German bread garnished with all varieties of toppings – cheese, meats, avocado, hummus, veggies – you name it. Her gastronomic tales (and texted snapshots) remind me of my childhood...
by Susan | Aug 28, 2019 | Family
It took us twenty-three hours of driving with a car packed to the brim and a layover at my folks to get Hannah to campus. We spent the afternoon getting her sorted. Her room feels especially cozy this year with lots of reminders of home including her adorable whale...
by Susan | Jul 2, 2016 | In the Kitchen, Recipes
Eighteen months ago, Paul turned over a new leaf – he adopted a plant based, low-oil diet. Now that’s totally counter-intuitive for someone who loves meat and raised meat chickens, but here we are. Part of this new paradigm is eating only whole grains. In...
by Susan | Oct 5, 2015 | Critters, Hannah's Cutting Board, Odds and Ends, Recipes
Walking with Gidget is an adventure. We live in the woods at the end of a dead-end road so we let Gidget freely walk with us. She meanders left and right, starting and stopping, her little legs working overtime to keep up with you. She chases the ducks wanting to...
by Susan | Jul 5, 2015 | In the Kitchen, Recipes
I waxed poetic about the fabulous grilled cheese with spicy green sauce I had the other day at Chase’s Daily in Belfast. I enjoyed this sandwich so much that I took a stab at recreating it. I started with this recipe for whole wheat bread. I’ve tried...
by Susan | Nov 25, 2014 | Family, In the Kitchen
I never met my maternal great grandmother, Estelle Strobel. Yet, she is part of every Thanksgiving in our home. I don’t know where she got the recipe for her Cranberry Salad, but it’s been a holiday staple for every generation in our family since. 1 pound...
by Susan | Nov 4, 2014 | In the Kitchen
I have a good problem – I am completely overrun with ripe tomatoes. In November! At a loss for what to do with them, I’ve been pushing tomatoes. Just about every dinner I make lately has lots of fresh tomatoes in it. Making and canning tomato sauce is a...
by Susan | Aug 13, 2014 | In the Kitchen, Recipes
Tonight I discovered the absolute joy of roasted cherry tomatoes. I’ve never done this before, but the cherry tomatoes are coming in faster than I can use them on salad. If you haven’t done this, they are WONDERFUL. I cut the cherry tomatoes in half,...
by Susan | Nov 29, 2013 | In the Kitchen
This Thanksgiving I decided not to make a pie for dessert. Paul is working hard to lose weight and Hannah doesn’t like pumpkin pie. So why bother? Yesterday morning, as things in the kitchen were gearing up, Hannah asked, “Aren’t we making a...
by Susan | Oct 20, 2013 | In the Kitchen
Paul experimented this season with growing giant pumpkins. What he ended up with were three very large, but not so giant pumpkins. The question is – what do we do with them now? Hannah’s got dibs on one for a jack-o-lantern. I suggested we break the other...
by Susan | Jul 21, 2013 | In the Kitchen, Recipes
I have a new favorite Sunday morning muffin recipe. It make six large muffins – or muffin tops – my favorite way of making muffins. The basic recipe is the same and you can swap out the fruit based on what you have in the fridge. This morning it was...
by Susan | Jul 16, 2013 | In the Kitchen
Yesterday, after I tossed radish leaves in the yard for the chickens, I wondered if radish leaves were edible for humans. They’re good enough for chickens, right? A quick Google search and yes, they are edible. One of the recipes I found was a pesto made from...
by Susan | Jun 8, 2013 | In the Kitchen, Recipes
Artichoke hearts are one of my favorite pizza toppings. I was intrigued when during a recent window shopping visit to Williams-Sonoma, I discovered Artichoke & Garlic Pizza Sauce. I couldn’t justify $13 a jar for pizza sauce, so the past three Saturdays...
by Susan | Apr 25, 2013 | In the Kitchen, Recipes
Making Chicken Corn Chowder is one of my favorite ways to use leftover chicken. It’s quick to put together and it’s filling enough to serve as a meal for Paul along with a salad. In this instance, I was feeling a bit corny and introduced Hannah to corn...
by Susan | Apr 21, 2013 | In the Kitchen
The bottles we ordered for our Maple syrup arrived this week. I spent hours browsing bottle suppliers looking for something different. We selected a few different bottles to play with. These are the ones I like most. I’m partial to the simple cylindrical shape...
by Susan | Apr 3, 2013 | In the Kitchen
Pizza night is a sacred weekly event in our house. Skipping pizza night is cause for mutiny. The homemade beer dough is split three ways and we each make our own individual pizza – or calzone in Hannah’s case. I often cannot finish my pizza, so I wrap up...
by Susan | Mar 19, 2013 | In the Kitchen
Thoughts of spring are on the back burner. Snow is falling, school let out early and the snowfall forecast is now 10-18 inches. There’s a pot of bean soup on the stove and French bread ready to go in the oven. It seems like a good day to introduce Hannah to...
by Susan | Feb 20, 2013 | Hannah's Cutting Board
This is vacation week and sadly, we’ve all been a bit under the weather. Hannah and Paul have “The Crud” for the second time around and I’ve finally succumbed. Needless to say we haven’t been doing a lot of fun vacationy kinds of things...
by Susan | Jan 11, 2013 | In the Kitchen, Recipes
I used to purchase chicken breasts or the occasional roaster chicken from the grocery. Now that we raise our own chickens and turkeys for meat, I find that my freezer is full of leg quarters. Not being a big fan of drumsticks or thighs, this creates a bit of a dilemma...
by Susan | Dec 24, 2012 | In the Kitchen
We finally got around to our Christmas cutout cookies this afternoon. Hannah decided rather than traditional Christmas cutouts, the cookies should be have a Downeast Thunder Farm sort of feel – moose, lobster, bears, and chickens. Quite the menagerie. A moose...
