Onions and Salad and Pie….Oh MY!

Busy summer day in the kitchen.

It is so nice to have everything, or at least most everything, made ahead for dinner.

The pears are beginning to ripen slowly but surely and there were just enough to make two pear pies this morning.

One for us and one to give away! 

It will not be long before it will be time to start canning.

Once the cooking was finished it was time for a break and then surprise our friends with a pie!

Happy Saturday ! 

Chicken Stir~Fry with Rice Noodles

Outside stir~fry is the way to go!

No more splatter to clean up in the kitchen. All of that is now outdoors which is so much better and makes cleanup much easier. 

A lot more surface area too.

We tried it and we liked it ….. a lot!

No Fuss No Muss!  ✅ 

Bon Appétit

Lunch in the COUNTRY

The South Shore Cafe….

…my new, favorite place for coffee, lunch and sweet treats!

Smith BERRY BARN :: farm & market …

 …another new favorite place across the street from the South Shore Cafe!

I am told they have berry picking, gifts, treats

and

milkshakes, ice~cream & espresso!

I love it all! These wonderful little country gems are getting harder to find as the urban sprawl continues to take over these wonderful farms. The food was great, the atmosphere is priceless and the staff  is amazing. I also found out that they go all out for the holidays so of course I do not want to miss out on that. I will be back in the fall to experience it all! 

Be sure and check it out!

❤️ 

We found a Peach!

Our Peach Tree hasn’t been producing much fruit in recent years so there was talk that it might be taken out.

Just after those words were spoken again this week the hubs discovered 2 peaches on the back of the tree!

One was perfectly plump and the other one was a bit smaller and okay however it had a few blemishes.

The verdict isn’t in yet, 

however,

my guess is that our

🍑 Peach Tree 🍑 

will be sticking around after all!

Happy Monday!

Homegrown :: Fruit & Veggies

This summer has been busy with mostly Home Improvement Projects and some fun Road Trips however that did not seem to phase our crops in any way, shape or form.

Even though they did not get quite as much attention as they usually do in the summer they hung in there. We had a couple blueberry bushes that did not do quite as well as last year however the others were loaded and there were plenty to freeze, plus some.

The Everbearing strawberries were a fun change this summer. They are still producing big, sweet berries, which is fun. 

Lots of Peppers too. Hot peppers, sweet peppers, bell peppers...you name it, we probably have it. 

The tomatoes are on! We will have plenty again this year for making homemade tomato sauce. 

Our pumpkins did not do quite as well as this year due to a sweet little boy, who pulled most of them out earlier this summer. He did not know we happened to be watching as he tossed them in the street. Luckily he missed a few and those are doing great.

Apples and zucchini  are doing well.

Below is the apple tree that fell over last year. The hubs staked it back up in hopes that it would survive, and sure enough, it not only survived but also produced some beautiful apples.

 Amazing!

The Granny Smith apple tree is loaded, as usual, so we are looking forward to making more Apple Cider this fall.

As always, we have a bumper crop of Pears. 

They are beginning to get heavy and starting to fall. It won't be long before we will need to start canning and drying them all.

There you have it! The latest and greatest from our 

Little Backyard Farm.

Have a Super Saturday!

Harvard Beets

This week our neighbors brought us some farm fresh veggies. 

The two of us could not eat them all in one meal so we started with my favorite....BEETS!

My grandma used to make Harvard Beets, which I loved, so Harvard Beets it was!

Pickled beets are another one of my favorites however those will have to wait until another time as the beets are already gone. In the meantime, we still have farm fresh radishes, spinach and arugula which we are looking forward to also. 

Happy Friday!

It’s all in the Details!

Great things are done by a series of small things put together.

That includes these tiny Newel Post Buttons.

They were not an important part of the staircase at all however, it was noticeable they were not there and I was excited to have them finished and put in place.

Finally, one day I came home and there they were!

The Newel Posts were finally complete.

Silly little details can make such a difference.

There is still work to be finished on our Home Improvement Project so I will be back with more updates soon.

Happy Thursday!

Choosing A NEW Entry Light Fixture

We are currently on the downhill slide of our current DIY Home Improvement Project. The last major project was our DIY Addition so this was the perfect time to change some things and give the house a fresh new look. 

In addition to the staircase update's our entry also desperately needed a new Light Fixture. The current one was installed during the new construction in the early 80’s and served us well, however, it was definitely time to pick out something new (and easier to keep clean!).

It was hard to decide what to choose so I used app’s from the different lighting stores to try out all sorts of styles. It was easy to use and I could superimpose all types of fixtures and even save them to look again later, which I did.

Many different chandeliers were tried.

However, nothing seemed just right. 

So I kept looking and tried just about everything, it seemed, but nothing quite fit our space or my check list. So, the search continued.

Meanwhile, the hubs kept moving forward on the update and completed the painting in the hard to reach places while he had the scaffolding. About the same time we stopped by another lighting store and found something we thought might work! We were not completely sure it was the right style or size however we ordered it anyway. This fixture had not been superimposed like the others so we were just going on old fashioned common sense, you might say, and trusting our instincts. Yikes! 

It was not at all what I had envisioned however once it was hung it seemed just right. 

The scaffolding was still in the entry which made installation safe and easy.  

It looked like just the right size for our entry. ✅ 

It also looked nice with the new staircase…  ✅ 

…and fit the space. ✅ 

It was a keeper!! WooHoo! 

Also, cleaning and maintenance will be much easier with this open, iron style. 

The scaffolding came down and the project was finally ready to move forward again. Slowly but surely, our DIY Home Update is coming together however there are still some things that need to be finished so I will be back with more updates soon. 

Happy Wednesday!