We were reading a book that was a childhood favorite of mine – Our Animal Friends At Maple Hill Farm, and it occurred to me that I am always writing about our many animals that to us are familiar and almost like extended family, but that it must seem confusing to anyone who hasn’t followed…
Author: toadstoolsfairyrings
SOUFFLE AU FROMAGE: Cheese Souffle
SOUFFLE AU FROMAGE (Direct translation) Melt a pat of fresh butter the size of an egg over a low fire; add a spoonful of flour, mix well, add half a cup of boiling milk, and stir until you get a smooth sauce. Continue stirring until the sauce sticks to the spoon. Remove from the…
Eight Little Piggies
Star had piglets! Eight little piggies! They are up and running around now, and there are the cutest little squeaks and grunts coming from that area. Occasionally there are horrible squealings when the favorite nipple is being fought over (we thought one was stuck in the fence or getting stepped on, but it was only…
SALADE DE TOMATES: Tomato Salad
The tomatoes are finally succumbing to the drought and heat in the garden, so this is the last of them. And the last of the onions, too. For this recipe I had to make a few alterations because we have the tiny cherry tomatoes (no, I am not skinning and de-seeding every single one…
Mangoes and Junk
I have been slowly recovering from being sick. Everyone felt better for awhile, and then got very sick again. I think it turned into a sinus infection for me, and I was sick all last week. It wasn’t until Saturday that I felt well enough to go out. We had a failed expedition to the…
Chalk Paintings
An artistic friend of mine has recently been making beautiful chalk paintings of flowers. We used to do a lot of chalk drawing on our tiny blackboard for home school, but I have abandoned that, largely because there is no paper-trail of work that way to show that we have done something other than bake…
Free Knitting Pattern: Waffle Stitch Dish Towel
I know, I know, cotton yarn, and a non-garment item! It’s not my usual knitting style! But it’s actually becoming my favorite kitchen towel. I love the soft cotton and the chunky knitted texture. The garter stitch border keeps the edges from curling, and there is an option to knit on the loop for hanging…
SAUCE TOMATE
SAUCE TOMATE (direct translation) Wash six large tomatoes, cut them in pieces, put them into a pot with a bay leaf, a sprig of thyme, a head of garlic, and an onion cut into rounds. Cook over a low fire, without water. Watch over the pot, and stir the tomatoes minute by minute,…
Public Nuisance
David, our buck, has been such a nuisance lately. He’s waited for months until his girls were no longer pregnant, and now he is in rut again, although no one will be in heat until the fall, and they run away from him (you can’t blame them). He’s started to pee on himself and…
Pumpkin Harvest
The pumpkins are coming out of the garden now. There are Seminoles from seeds I saved last year, a few Galeux D’eysines, some delicata (didn’t make the pictures), North Georgia Candy Roasters, Jarrahdales and Marina di Choggias. There are also a pile of Zucchino Rampicante from one vine that seeded itself and has taken…
Sick Days and Baking
Note: The two cake pictures were from the “Dad Bake-A-Thon”, and you can’t really expect anything to be put away or the table to look clean. We have been so, so sick. The kind of sick that strikes you down and crushes you so you can’t move. Clothilde spent four days lying in bed,…
Yarn Along: Cotton Waffle Stitch Towel
I have finally again picked up some knitting. I haven’t had a knitting project on the needles since the spring. I had a sudden inspiration a few weeks ago to try knitting lace. I’ve knitted lace patterns into things, but never lace to be sewn onto something else. I have two yards of beautiful yarn-dyed…
Toadstools And Fairy Rings 