Dill Pickled Radishes

My husband and I decided to experiment a little this evening. He loves dill pickles and wanted to try making dill pickled radishes - so we did! I'm not sure how they'll taste, but we cut up some radishes from our garden, clipped some dill, and did our first canning of the year. 

We just used our dill pickle recipe (we cut it in half based on the amount of radishes we had): 

1. Boil 2 cups of water, 2 cups of white vinegar, and 2 TBSP pickling salt. 
2. Place one garlic glove and a few sprigs of dill in each canning jar. 
3. Fill the jar with radishes, leaving about 1/2 inch space at the top.
4. Pour boiling vinegar-water over the radishes.
5. Process in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes.

Makes 4-6 pints.

I'll let ya know how they taste when the time comes to chow down on these!

Strawberry Pie with Short Bread Crust

The first week of June is my favorite. My husband and I get to celebrate our anniversary and usually take a few days off, the weather is always perfect, and I can expect fresh strawberries about this time. Strawberries are one of my favorite fruits, and with them I make my favorite summer dessert - Fresh Strawberry Pie!

I always make my strawberry pie with a short bread crust - a very simple recipe.

Mix together 1 stick of butter, 1 cup of flour, and 1 TBSP of sugar. Then you press the dough into a pie plate and bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes. 

After your pie shell is cool, cut into halves about a quart of fresh strawberries

Next, mix 3/4 cup sugar, 2 TBSP of corn starch, and 1 1/2 cups of water together in a saucepan. Cook this mixture on medium heat until it becomes thick and clear. Remove the pan from the heat, and mix in (1) 3 oz box of strawberry jello. Place your fresh strawberries onto your cooled pie crust, and then pour the jello mixture over the top. Refrigerate until the jello sets.

Can't wait to enjoy a piece of this deliciousness! 

Garden Harvest Baskets

Recently, my husband has taken an interest in woodworking. For months he has been watching instructional Youtube videos, reading books, and looking at tools. Within the last few weeks he purchased some tools and set out to try a few projects. He turned out to be pretty good at it!

Yesterday was our 3rd anniversary, and he gave me his first completed project - Garden Harvest Baskets! I've been wanting one of these for so long, but they are so expensive. I am super excited to have these beautiful baskets, and they're extra special because he put a lot of time and effort into making them for me :)

They are great for collecting eggs and gathering produce from the garden! I'm so thankful for a talented husband.

Chicken Flat Bread Recipe

We were invited to a cook out last evening - and it was a beautiful night to be outside! Beforehand, I was looking for something to take along in which I could include some fresh produce from our garden. I came across a recipe for Chicken Florentine Flat Bread from the blog Creme de la Crumb. As I scanned the ingredient list, I knew it would be an amazing dish. And I was able to use some of our spinach and fresh basil in this flavorful recipe! If you're looking for a great appetizer, I highly recommend this one

I made my own flat bread using this recipe.

Harvested Salad Greens

Our garden is doing great, and we are so excited to be finally gathering produce from it. While it is still early on in the season, yesterday we were able to harvest some lettuce and spinach. It made for a delicious fresh spring salad for lunch today! For my husband and I, one of the greatest satisfactions in life is growing our own food. It never gets old, and it is so rewarding to be able to use the fruits of our work to nourish our bodies. 

Saturday Morning Breakfast

I love Saturdays... so many great things happen on this day! The house gets cleaned, baking is done, time is spent enjoying the beautiful outdoors, and I get to crawl into freshly washed sheets at night (one of the best feelings ever). I especially love Saturdays when I have the time to make a nice breakfast. I love sitting down with that husband of mine with a cup of coffee and some delicious food. This morning was one of those Saturdays. I whipped up some pancakes (chocolate chip, of course!) cut up some fruit, and made some homemade whipped cream (ah-mazing!) 

Here is my favorite Pancake Recipe. (I just add chocolate chips as I cook them on the stove top). 

The homemade whipped cream is ever so simple! Just put heavy cream and a little bit of powdered sugar (amount depends on how sweet you like it, I use about 1/4 cup to 1 cup of heavy cream) in your mixer and mix it on the highest setting until it turns into whipped cream consistency.

First Veggie of the Year!

I suppose this radish below marks the first veggie harvested this year! How exciting! My husband and I have our garden at my parents' house, and we went over to check it this evening. He pulled up a radish to see how they were coming along, and they're doing great! In no time we'll be able to eat fresh veggies from our garden daily. Our lettuce and spinach are also ready for the picking. Gardening is so rewarding, and I hope in the near future our dream to be produce farmers becomes reality :)