{recipe} White Bean & Tomato Spread

If you’re looking for a party dip to serve your Superbowl-watching guests tonight, have no fear, this easy dip packs a lot of flavor and will pair perfectly with a corn chip. Or a veggie straw. Or slice of a hakurei turnip, carrot or black radish (yep, their in season!). If you are not watching…

{recipe} Popovers: my latest breakfast obsession

Popovers are my latest food obsession. Since having a baby a couple months ago, we’ve had guests staying with us periodically.  Despite being preoccupied with the baby, I love to cook and have been relieved to have something special for our visitors that doesn’t require excessive amounts of my time.  I have wonderful memories of…

{planning your garden} Guide to Starting Seeds

  There are many ways to garden. Some people buy plants from a nursery, your local farmer or garden center, which is a great option for many. I have done this in the past, primarily with annuals flowers (like pansies and petunias), tomatoes and peppers.* Last year, I decided to try my hand at starting…

{the new year} A New Garden

{Our main garden in quiet rest} After the big fall harvest my garden, my husband, and I am ready for a break. We begin to put most all things outdoors to rest, batten down the hatches, and embrace winter. Our minds take a respite during the month of November and December from gardening but once…

{the new year} clean, fresh and growing

Although it was a good year, 2011 went by in a bit of a blur for me. This year, I am hoping for a more manageable pace that will support a healthier, more peaceful year for my family. I don’t usually set goals each new year, or make resolutions, but I came up with a…

{the new year} Baking for the Neighborhood

2011 was the year of food, for me. Food blogging, food swapping, exploring food preservation methods and diving into the world of acquiring local foods. It was during 2011 that I stumbled upon the FSC food swaps and found a place among kindred spirits. 2011 was also a year of hardship: my mom was diagnosed…

{the new year} New Beginnings are Lovely

I’ve moved a lot in my life and although it can be scary and stressful it also means a fresh start. That’s how I feel at the beginning of each new year. There are always a lot of unknowns but the simple fact of it being fresh and new makes it seem like there’s a…

{the new year} coping with mid-winter food blues

Maybe it’s being trapped inside at home with a new baby, but I’m prematurely feeling that mid-winter desperation about what to make for dinner every night.  This feeling worsens when we’ve skipped a week at the farmers market and have no fresh, local produce.  Local green vegetables are already becoming less prevalent and I can…

{winter projects 2012} Fancy Hi Hat Cupcakes

Editor’s Note: Selifishly, I’m really excited about this post. Miles’ 3rd birthday is Monday and I plan on making him some special cupcakes to share at school… and these are the ones! Hi Hat Cupcakes- nope, I’ve never heard of them either but they look amazing and Becky’s description of them makes me wish a…

{winter projects 2012} English Muffin Bread

Editor’s Note: You are gonna wanna make this bread. Trust me. If you have visited any number of our community tables you will have tried Liz’s English Muffin Bread as its our “go-to” platform for sampling our mustards & butters and hopefully you’ve grabbed our recipe card after taste testing. It is truly an easy…

{winter projects 2012} DIY Deodorant

Editor’s Note: Ohhh I am so excited to share Erika’s project, DIY Deodorant, on FSC! Gah! I can’t wait to try it, I’ve been meaning to for ages as I’ve had Erika’s Professor Funkenstein: Solving a Funky Problem bookmarked for-eva! It was first published on January 14, 2010. She has a few notes just above…

{winter projects 2012} Three Berry Pop-Tarts

Editor’s Note: Who wants to learn to make berry-filled hot pockets of goodness? I do! I do! Deanna’s post was first published, in springtime on May 23rd 2011 as Sundays on the Sunporch: Three Berry “Pop-Tarts”. We also get a glimpse of a toddler cooking with a bucket on her head… who doesn’t do that?…

{winter projects 2012} Butter In A Jar

Editor’s Introductory Note: To give us another week to get back “into the swing of things”, I decided to have a very special week of posts lined up in advance. I asked all six contributors with a personal blog (Christine, Jillian, Erika, Deanna, Liz & Becky) to republish an “oldie but a goodie” post here on…

{recap} Goodbye 2011

HAPPY NEW YEAR! We wish you all a healthy, happy, fun & fabulous 2012! +++ It is 8am on January 1, 2012 and I couldn’t be more excited. A new year. A fresh start. A beginning. And an end. Goodbye 2011. {FSC Swappers, Albany, November 2011} Speaking purely in terms of the FSC, 2011 was…

{roundup} FSC Edible Gifts 2011

Well..well….well. Hanukkah is upon us. Christmas is soon to follow then New Years. I don’t know about you but I feel like December has f-l-o-w-n by. Wizzed. Sprinted. Galloped. It will be 2012 in 9 days. Whoa. In the meantime, I’ve been frantically creating edible & non-edible gifts (Jillian’s lotion from the Ebook is AMAZING)…