Thursday, March 31, 2016

Southern Farmgirl Potato Salad & Butterprint Pyrex


This last weekend I made a yummy potato salad for our Easter gathering. So today I am dropping in to share my recipe with you! Get those potatoes out and start peelin'!!!


Shopping List
******
2 lbs potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
4 hard boiled eggs
1 onion finely chopped
1/2 C celery
1 red pepper
3/4 C mayonnaise
1/2 C sour cream
2 Tbl Apple Cider Vinegar
2 Tbl sugar
1 tsp prepared mustard
1/4 C sweet pickle relish
salt & pepper to taste


Directions:

1. Boil potatoes until tender. Strain out water. 
Let potatoes cool down in a large bowl.
2. Slice hard boiled eggs and add to potatoes. Chop celery, onion,  
and red pepper into small pieces then add to potatoes along with sweet pickle relish.
3. In a small bowl combine the mayonnaise, sour cream, vinegar, mustard, and sugar. Mix well and add to potatoes tossing until all ingredients are coated add salt & pepper to taste.
4. Serve cold and enjoy!!!!!

Did you notice the adorable Pyrex bowl I used? I collect vintage Pyrex and one of my beloved favorite prints is the Butterprint from the 1950's. Pyrex is celebrating 100 years this year and has come out with some pretty cute prints....One being the Butterprint! They are calling it Rise N Shine. I picked up a blue and white bowl to go along with my vintage Butterprint Pyrex. I love the Farmer & his wife and the rooster with the grain...So sweet! I found mine through Target online as they were also on sale...I got an extra 5% off using my Target Redcard then had it delivered to the store making sure I wouldn't miss them on the shelf. I bet these cuties will go fast!!! I got a great deal...However my only complaint would be it is not made in the USA like the old vintage Pyrex. Still cute though!




Wednesday, March 30, 2016

The Art Of Preserving





My love for Preserving and canning started about 16 years ago when we lived in Washington. Our boy was just 6 years old and our daughter was a newborn. Canning was always a fascination of mine from childhood I always enjoyed my Gramma Charlotte's canned goods whenever she would send our way. I also found a love for gardening and foraging from the land around us. It was a time I really learned how to bake and make jams and how to preserve fruit and make applesauce all on my own. I would pick the wild black berries and wild rhubarb or go to farms and pick fruit there. We were blessed with fruit trees over the years or used farmer's markets fruit to preserve. We also gleaned from our friends fruit trees and plants as well. It was from that first day on, that I fell in love with the art of canning and preserving. Every Spring and Summer I would start cookin' up the jams and preserving the fruit into Autumn I would be making applesauce and drying out fruit for snacks. We would enjoy our bounty throughout the Autumn/Winter months.







Throughout these years as my daughter was old enough to help out she too learned a lot about the process of preserving and canning. She would help me peel, cut, cook and can up loads and loads of pantry goodness. Last year we invited a few of her girlfriends and their mothers over for a Jamming Party...It was fun passing down this art to others. I have been blessed to teach a few other friends through the years how to do it themselves. And I hope to teach more as the years go on. It is so rewarding... My family enjoys good stuff from our own kitchen...We know where it came from and who made it and it is so much more healthier for you and better
 tasting than store bought stuff. There is no comparison.






This Spring and Summer will be sad for me....Since we are living in limbo at a temporary home I won't be able to can goods this year. Once we do find a new home, I am not sure I want to pack and transport all those jars. So for now I will stick to some small stuff or make things I will use before a move. I would very much like to inspire you with these photos of my canned goods to perhaps start canning and preserving your own goods too! Don't hesitate to message me if you have any questions on getting started etc... There are a lot of online sites or use Pinterest.com to find canning or preserving recipes. Once you start, you will fall in love with it. I promise!




















It's also a great tool for teaching your kids this art. Involving them in the kitchen teaches them invaluable skills they would never learn outside the home. This is a perfect skill to learn for the newbie homesteading farmgirl too! Filling your pantry with the
 fruits of your labor is truly rewarding and your family will thank you for it!


Sunday, March 27, 2016

Easter 2016



Despite waking up with a really bad head cold Easter morning, we still made it to Easter festivities with friends. I got my girl's Easter basket together, baked goodies, pulled together a green salad and a Southern Farmgirl Potato Salad. It was a nice day hanging out with our friends and their family. We missed being with our family and our son....Holidays and get together's
 are hard when we are apart from our boy! We did however make the best of it. 






Hoping ya'll had a blessed Easter with your loved ones!

Saturday, March 26, 2016

Chicken Peep Pudding Pies & Cupcakes Oh My!



I'm a little sad as we won't be making the trip up to the Northwest to see our son and my parents for Easter this year...But happy that our son will visit us during his vacation in May instead. We were planning on taking the road trip up and spend a few quality days with our boy, but life has taken a different route at this time. So this year, just the three of us will spend Easter with friends. I am happy that we will be spending it with friends who have selflessly taken us in and under their wings with Christ like love, as we heal and as we try to find our place. These friends have a very special place in my heart and there is no other I would wish to spend this glorious occasion with.



I spent the afternoon making treats for the littles. I love how my Chicken Peep Pies turned out....OMGosh it is so stinking cute!!!! I think the kiddo's will love them with the cupcakes! I'm also contributing a lovely green salad with raspberry vinaigrette topped with cranberries & walnuts. And  making a yummy potato salad! It will be a very nice day as we celebrate the Risen Christ! Though we will miss our boy very much! Wishing you and yours a very
 Happy Easter celebrating Resurrection Day!!!!