I CAN cook!

That is when I have to. :)

My husband is out of town right now doing pre-production work for his film and so that leaves me in the kitchen. Uh-oh. I went to what would be easiest for me and something I used to make when I was living with my parents.

Yesterday, I made roast chicken with garlic, thyme and roasted celery & carrots and roasted broccoli on the side. I wish I had onion & potatoes, but I made do with what I had in the house. It was delicious!

The Quilt Digger

Before he can get settled Baby Dan must dig in his quilts and he will continue to dig until it's just right. :) Love that boy.

Happy 14th Birthday to my Kids!

Wow. 14 already. It seems like just yesterday that they were born. They will always be babies to me. Sure they have some health issues, but they are still going strong. They are some tough pups.

We got them a little birthday treat and they loved it!

Here's a little video of them enjoying their yummy birthday treat.

Garden Update: Berries, Tomatoes, Zucchini, Owl & Barrel

Meet our new garden buddy, Hootie. He has a bobble head.

Hopefully there will be no more picking up & burying dead birds who hit our windows.

They still hit our window, but not quite as hard so they are able to fly away.

Blackberries are coming in nicely.

I love how you can see the berries start to change from red to black.

We got our first blueberry!

Zucchini

Tomatoes are looking great.

We've got a rain barrel now!

It's better for the garden & better for the pocketbook. :)

We've also put up nets over most of our garden to keep squirrels & birds away.

Sewing: Plastic Bag Organizer

I finally got around to making something! :)

My mom's plastic bag organizer (we made this one together)

And our plastic bag organizer (Hi Dan!)

Cute huh? :)

Makin' Bacon

Dan bought pork belly & jowls (cheeks) from a local farmer to make bacon!

Cured Bacon

Wondering why it's not red like the bacon you buy in the grocery store?

Nitrates & Nitrites are additives/preservatives that make bacon red.

There are no additives/preservatives in this bacon!

Cured Maple Bacon

Now this is what bacon is supposed to look like!

And these are jowls/cheeks or guanciale!

Guanciale is an unsmoked Italian bacon made with jowls.

They have been hanging/drying in our mini fridge for almost 3 weeks.

We will dice them up and use them to make spaghetti alla carbonara or simply slice it up and make bacon.

3 weeks ago

Today

Today

He also made a cold-smoke smoker a few weeks ago and smoked some pork belly to make bacon.

It looks silly, but it really does work. :D

Yum! Now I'm hungry for bacon.