There is a particular kind of restlessness that sets in around this time of year. The snow is finally done doing whatever it was doing, the soil is starting to wake up, and every morning you walk out there just to see if anything has changed overnight. If you garden somewhere with a last frost […]

Opening a jar of tomato sauce you put up last summer and turning it into something brand new is one of the most rewarding things you can do in a from scratch kitchen. That is exactly what we are doing today on the homestead. We are making homemade ketchup and barbecue sauce completely from scratch, […]

Early March on the Michigan homestead and the afternoons are asking for something slow. The kind of afternoon where you put flour on the counter and let the house fill up with the smell of something baking while the world outside is still gray and cold and figuring itself out. These molded sugar cookies have […]

If I could go back to the beginning of my gardening years and hand myself one piece of advice, it would be this: start a cutting garden. Even a small one. Even just a row along the fence or a few pots near the back door. There is something that happens when you grow your […]

There is a particular kind of morning in Michigan in early spring where everything feels like it is right on the edge of something. The air is still cool enough to make you reach for a warm mug before you do anything else. The birds are back and loud about it. The light coming through […]

Winter is fading to spring on the homestead, and with it comes a new season of blessings. The snow begins to melt, the days get a little longer, and the maple trees begin offering one of the sweetest gifts of the season. It is finally maple syrup season on our cozy Michigan homestead. This year […]

When bananas sit a little too long on the counter and no one reaches for them fresh, this is the recipe we turn to. It uses simple staples we always keep stocked and comes together quickly without anything fancy. This easy banana bread from the pantry has become a quiet go-to in our home. It […]

Over the years, we have gone over our list of cleaners that we make at home, and today I’m sharing them all in one place. What we do differently is keep a small batch of core ingredients on hand that can be used to make multiple products. That way, we are not bringing in a […]

There is something about winter that pulls us back into the kitchen. The days are shorter. The light is softer. The house feels quieter. And suddenly, meals become less about convenience and more about comfort. On cold winter afternoons, when the snow sits quietly outside and the kitchen feels warm, homemade pasta is what I […]

As December settles in and the kitchen becomes the warmest place in the house, I find myself reaching for what we already have. Fruit tucked away in the freezer from summer, thrifted jars collected over time, and simple ingredients that turn an ordinary afternoon into something special. This year, we put together homemade Christmas baskets […]