Time Machine: What I was Doing 1 Year Ago

One of things I love about blogging that is encourages me to take tons of photos. I average at least 20 photos a day and some days more than 200 (thank goodness for digital). The best part of taking so many photos is that I have a pictorial journal of everything I’ve been doing for the past 10 years. Digital photos have a time stamp that tells you exactly what date and time the photo was taken – I love this feature. I was wondering yesterday what I was doing on March 15 of last year, so I opened up my photo program, here’s what I found:

I finished off a batch of maple syrup in the morning and put some peas in water to soak for planting the next day. These are the peas that the deer ate, so I never even got to eat any of these.

It was a beautiful spring day so we celebrated by going on a picnic with friends at a local trail. We enjoyed a good lunch and a short hike. The perfect way to enjoy a beautiful spring day besides!


After hiking we came home to get some work done in the garden. I carried 5 trays of seedlings up to enjoy the warm day on the front porch: 3 trays of onions, 1 tray of nice lettuce, and one tray of broccoli & cabbage. This year I barely have some onions that germinated this past week.

I also sifted some compost to amend the soil in the cold frame for a planting lettuce seedlings and beet seeds. This past week I did sow some spinach seeds in the cold frame after amending it with some compost.

These lovely lettuces were planted in the cold frame in the afternoon, they’re only a week or two away from harvesting small leaves for a salad. I don’t even have lettuce yet, except for a few mache plants that overwintered. These are the lettuce seeds that I started to choose the winner of the Freedom Seed contest.

I also started beet seeds in the cold frame. This past Friday and I started spinach in the cold frame.

I also took a ton of photos of the beautiful sunset we enjoyed that evening, what a perfect ending to a perfect day!


I have 165 photos from March 15, 2009. I do need to delete some of them, but I definitely have a great photo journal of what I was doing on this day last year, and what the cats were doing.

Do you remember what you were doing on March 15 last year?

Rainy Days

“Anyone who says that sunshine brings happiness,
has never danced in the rain.”

~ Author Unknown

It’s been raining here since Friday evening, not that I mind. I’ve been baking up some more sourdough bread for the freezer and cooking up a few dishes to eat on this coming week. I managed to score some lovely mushrooms at the Local Roots Market and I paired them with a venison roast courtesy of Mr Chiot’s hunting last fall. What a delicious combination.

I’ll be baking up some squash today to make some butternut squash soup, butternut squash ravioli, squash pudding and some Barley with Butternut Squash & Preserved Lemons (remember those preserved lemons I made?). These will all be for the Real Food Challenge over at Not Dabbling, so I’ll be taking photos of everything for future blogposts. I can’t think of a better way to spend a rainy weekend than in the kitchen baking up some warmth and happiness.

What’s your favorite way to spend a rainy weekend?

The Days Were Clear and Bright

The days were clear and bright. Laura and Mary stood on chairs by the window and looked out across the glittering snow at the glittering trees. Snow was piled all along their bare, dark branches, and it sparkled in the sunshine. Icicles hung from the eaves of the house to the snowbanks, great icicles as large at the top of Laura’s arm. They were like glass and full of sharp lights.

Laura Ingalls Wilder (Little House in the Big Woods)

One of my favorite things to see in the winter are icicles. We don’t get them very often since our home is well insulated, but when the sun shines brightly on a cold day it melts the snow on our dark roof. This makes icicles form on our front porch. They’re so lovely with the blue skies behind them and the sun making them sparkle. They don’t last long, one moment they’re gracing the front porch and the next they’re gone. I’m glad I got out to capture a few photos when I did, they were beautiful.



It took me a few patient moments to catch this drip falling from the icicle. If you look at the large image you can see that the drop reflects the ground upside down, wonderful!

Icicles are one of my favorite parts of winter, they always seem to come as the days get longer and sun gets warmer. I especially love them on days like this when they sparkle in the sunlight, it’s almost as if they’re announcing the coming of spring! Most likely there will be no more icicles this winter. They will give way to leaves that will clog the gutters.

What’s your favorite part of winter, the snow, the ice, the cooler weather for your southerners?

Quote of the Day: Helen Keller

I long to accomplish great and noble tasks,
but it is my chief duty and joy to accomplish humble tasks
as though they were great and noble.

~Helen Keller

I thought of the earthworm when I read this quote. Always working away under the ground, not often seen or appreciated. I can really relate to this quote, as an introvert I’m not one to volunteer for those out in the open tasks. I find much more satisfaction and reward in working behind the scenes, doing those jobs others often find repetitive & boring. Gardening is my favorite humble task, when planting, raking and weeding you can let your mind wander while your fingers and hand work away. You get a deep sense of satisfaction at a job well done and the bounty and beauty from you garden, and these they are often only enjoyed by you.

What’s your favorite humble task?

Making the Most of Time in the Kitchen

It’s been a busy busy week here at Chiot’s Run. With the Real Food Challenge going on at Not Dabbling, sugaring our maples and all the usual work and activities I haven’t had much time for blogging. I’m reposting this from Not Dabbling. I thought some of you who don’t read over there would enjoy this article.

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When it comes up in conversation that I make everything from scratch, including butter, bread, pasta, etc, I often hear, “Oh, well, if I had time for that I would, but I’m so busy.” I must admit, it’s not that I have more hours in the day than everyone else, I have two almost full-time jobs (that’s 2 full-time jobs not 2 jobs that equal 1 full-time job) and write for 4 blogs. I grow some food, can & freeze food in the summer, we sugar our maple trees and keep bees. We don’t have kids running around which saves us time, but I still have to make the best use of my time in order to get things done. Mr Chiots helps out a great deal as well, although since we own a business he spends between 60-80 hours a week working as well. We both work from home, which saves us time commuting and allows us to monitor certain projects during the work day.

I must admit, I love to cook, always have. I enjoy spending time in the kitchen, chopping vegetables, kneading bread, churning butter. Being in the kitchen is usually relaxing for me and it’s a great creative outlet. It’s kind of like gardening, you can let your mind wander while you’re hands do the work. That being said, I don’t have time to spend hours in the kitchen each night, I have to get my blog posts written! Over the years I’ve developed ways to make the most of my time in the kitchen, today I’ll share what works for me. After spending some time cooking you’ll start to develop your own techniques that work well for you.

Cooking from scratch doesn’t mean being a “foodie” and having sun-dried tomatoes, capers, truffles, white wine sauce and pancetta in the pantry. It’s no wonder people buy canned or pre-made items, if they feel “cooking from scratch” equals gourmet meals with all kinds of dishes. There are times when I make gourmet meals with exotic ingredients and many components. Most of the time, in day-to-day life, we focus on eating good quality simple meals consisting of a few ingredients, often all in one dish.

The best way I’ve found to save time in the kitchen is to “Keep it Simple”. Forget what you’ve learned about meal components and what makes a “healthy” meal. Cooking from scratch can be overwhelming if you feel you need to have a meat, a few veggies and a fruit for each meal. When you make meals from scratch you can focus on making nutrient dense foods so you don’t have to be cooking/eating as many different dishes. For example, when I make tomato soup I use my home canned soup (made with tomatoes, celery, onions, parsley) and I add equal parts chicken stock and some butter to the soup (bones stocks add loads of vitamins, minerals, trace elements & nutrients and butter, especially pastured milk butter, adds lots of healthful fats to your meals). I also add spices & herbs, often Italian spices, fresh basil, dried oregano, parsley (herbs also add vitamins, minerals and trace elements). Often I’ll top the soup with some grated raw milk cheese and a side of crusty sourdough bread topped with lots of butter. Because I’m getting so many vitamins & minerals from what’s in the soup (spices, herbs, bone broth, butter, vegetables), I don’t need to add anything to this meal, I’m getting tons of nutrition from one hearty bowlful.

Learning to cook good simple food is a beautiful thing. Realizing that you don’t have to have a meat, two vegetables, a fruit and bread to have a “complete” meal is liberating. It opens the door to creative casseroles, stews loaded with all kinds of goodness or meatless meals that are surprisingly filling and delicious. Learning to put your vegetables/fruits into the main dish saves tons of time. Instead of having chicken with side of rice, peas and carrots, how about making a pot of chicken and rice, with everything in one dish. You save time by cooking everything together, you can add broth and extra spices that add extra nutrients to your food. Not only do you save time by not cooking 4-5 different things and having 4 pots on the stove, you also save money and so much time washing pots! Double or triple that recipe and you’ll save even more time.

“Doubling the Recipe” is another technique I often employ to save time. It doesn’t take much longer to double a batch of soup, to make an extra pan of lasagna, or to double a batch of bread. You can freeze the extras in meal sized portions for your family and have quick meals ready to go on busy days. Spend a lazy Sunday afternoon making 2-3 pots of different kinds of soup and you’ll have a couple weeks worth of lunches or dinners out of the way. Not only will you save time by not having to cook every night, you’ll have quick meals in the freezer ready to go. I often quadruple my bread recipes (generally making 2 double batches) so I have a nice stockpile of bread in the freezer for the summer months when I don’t feel like baking.

Learning to “Creatively Turn Leftovers Into New Dishes” is another great way to save time in the kitchen. If you don’t mind leftovers you could just make up big batches of things and eat on them all week, which we often do for lunches. Dinners often call for something different though, so I try to find ways to be creative with our leftovers. For example, if I decided this week I want roasted chicken and potatoes on Sunday evening, I’ll roast an extra chicken and extra potatoes that evening. I can make a big batch caramelized onions to use with the leftover chicken all week while it’s roasting. I now have a whole chicken, extra potatoes and a big container of caramelized onions to use for future meals during the week. Monday we can have chicken quesadillas, filled with roasted chicken, onions, greens, salsa. Tuesday we can have chicken pizza, pizza topped with chicken, sun dried tomatoes, olives, peppers and onions. Wednesday we can have BBQ chicken sandwiches, topped with onions and cheese with a side of baked potato fries (made from those roasted potatoes). Thursday evening we can have we can enjoy omelets with chopped with potatoes, onions, and cheese. Friday a hearty chicken vegetable soup made from the bones and extra leftover chicken (you can make this any night of the week after you pick the chicken off the bones and freeze it).

Make sure you “Have Fun with Your Food”. Let your kids pick out a new fruit or veggie at the grocery store. Have one night a week called “smorgasboard” make it a meal of all the leftovers in the fridge that need eaten up. We have at times had meals like this made up of: baked beans, fried plantains, pizza, salad, green beans, etc. Make “leftover” pizza, topping your pizza with whatever leftovers you find in the fridge (we’ve had some surprisingly good pizzas topped with odd items). Make it a game and your family with love it.

“Learn to Make Some Quick or On The Go Meals”. When we’re out late and are hungry having a quick meal you can make within 15 minutes of getting home will save you from eating out (plus carrying a few snack whenever you leave home helps as well). Eggs make the perfect quick meal, they’re healthy and they cook up in a flash. Fried or scrambled eggs with some homemade ketchup & toast topped with preserves. How about an English muffin egg sandwiches when you need a portable meal to take with you as you run out the door. And don’t forget about the humble peanut butter & jelly, very delicious, nutritious and portable! We often have tomato soup as a quick meal, or something from the freezer.

Do you have any great time-saving tips to share? How about some creative ways to use up leftovers?