For Vintage Cookbook Lovers

I love old family recipes and older cook books. That is why I am so excited to find Feeding America. This is an online collection of influential American cookbooks from the 18th century until the early 20th century. The collection can be searched by ingredient, author, cookbook title, and by recipe name. The 1901 edition of my favorite cookbook is included in the list of cookbooks. Just love my 1965 version.


Thanks to Kathie from Two Frog Home for the link for this wonderful cooking resource. I have a feeling I will be searching it frequently.

Finding Beauty in the Practical

Once upon a time I was a flower gardener. I transplanted perennials from neighbors and friends, and bought annuals by the flat. I weeded, mulched, and dead headed while enjoying the brilliant colors of my flower beds.

Those days are gone, or at least put on hold for some time. Now, I have exactly one flower bed. It is full of perennials my sister in law needed to thin. Thanks Delilah! It is also full of weeds. *sigh*

In the long list of things I'd like to do, and need to do, flower gardens do not make it to the top priorities. My summer time is consumed with growing and processing food for the family. I'm not complaining. I enjoy vegetable gardening, and I have chosen to find the beauty in my practical gardens.

Of course the true beauty of the plants I grow is the food they provide. They may not be as showy as flower garden plants, but vegetable plants have their own beauty. It is more subtle, and sometimes a little hidden, but is there none the less.

A sweet little baby.


Delicate beauties.


A little more showy.


A fence covered in vine and blooms.


Okra in bloom.


The promise of fall color.


Wild Beauties.


Future Eggplant.


The Showboats.

You won't find impatiens, pansies, or geraniums in my gardens any longer. The few marigolds that can be found are there to help keep insects away. There isn't much time for plants that do not serve a practical purpose. My gardens may not be full of brilliant colors, but they are full of beauty. A beauty that I very much appreciate.

The Homesteading Carnival

Welcome to this week's edition of the Homesteading Carnival.

Life on the Homestead
If you have children, having animals and gardens presents many life lesson opportunities for them. And also many surprises. Stephanie presents "Mom, I peed on a Chicken." posted at Adventures in the 100 Acre Wood.

Summer is a wonderful time to spend some one on one time with the kids. Annette Berlin share a large list of ideas for Mother-Daughter Craft Projects posted at Craft Stew.

In the Garden
The harvest is beginning to come in. Sometimes it is hard to keep up with. Stephanie presents Are there vegetables coming out of my ears? posted at Stop the Ride!.

Tomatoes are a garden staple. This is an interesting way to grow them. Thomas W. presents How to Use Self-Watering Tomato Boxes posted at HappyFarming.com.

Why garden? Here are some good reasons. Wren Caulfield presents Save Money on Food: Grow Your Own! posted at True Adventures in Money Hacking.

From the Kitchen
Sometime things don't go as planned in the kitchen. And sometimes those mistakes are delicious. Make it from Scratch presents When the Jam Doesn't Set posted at Make It From Scratch.

Michele Croft has been very busy in the kitchen. She presents strawberry cheesecake muffins, quick and easy peach cobbler, and brownie cookies posted at Wishful Homesteader -.

I love when family recipes are passed from one generation to the next. You just know they are good. Abi presents Grandma's Red Razzelberry Cake posted at lighter side.

Catherine Love presents Sweet Summertime Chicken Salad a great recipe to make in the heat of the summer. Posted at Catherine Love~ Ramblings from my Heart and Home -.

There is such a love hate relationship with zucchini. We love it, but can easily be overwhelmed by it. Belle presents another reason to love it in How to make Fried Zucchini - with pictures posted at Homesteaderbelle's Blog.


Tips and Tricks
Alex presents Cat Urine Odor Remover Recipe posted at Home Life Weekly.

Pinyo presents Save Money and Benefit with Homemade Products posted at Moolanomy Personal Finance.

The Smarter Wallet presents Best Security Software For Your Computer posted at The Smarter Wallet.

Silicon Valley Blogger presents HSBC Direct Online Savings Account Review: With Free ATM Bank Card posted at The Digerati Life.

MBB presents Is A Costco Membership Worth It? posted at Money Blue Book Blog.

Thank you for stopping by the Homesteading Carnival today. Next week the carnival will be found at Quiverful Family. Submit your posts for the carnival using the Blog Carnival form.

Are there vegetables coming out of my ears?

Yesterday's Harvest:

Before lunch:



After lunch:


Lots of vegetables is a good thing. Lots of vegetables is a good thing. Lots of vegetables is a good thing.

Calling for Submissions

The Homesteading Carnival will be hosted right here on Monday. Please use the Blog Carnival form to submit your posts. Not familiar with this carnival? Here is the carnival description:

A carnival full of homesteading articles... from your kitchen with yummy recipes, your sewing room with homemaking ideas to planting your garden, raising farm animals, and raising a family on the homestead. Please join us on the homestead and submit something from yours!

Hope to see your post listed here on Monday!

Getting Paid to Buy Diapers

For those of you purchasing diapers and who have a Rite Aid near, now is the time to do a little stocking up.

Rite Aid currently if offering a Buy $25 get $10 Rite Aid gift certificate or buy $50 get $25 gift certificate on select Kimberely-Clark, Bayer, Schick and Unilever products. The Huggies, Pull Up and Goodnites brands are included among those items.

There also is a buy 5 get a certificate for one free on the above mentioned brands (until July 25.) And this week Mega packs of Pull Ups are on sale for $14.99 with a $2 rebate (limit 1.) Jumbo packs of Goodnites are on sale for $10.99. So how this all plays out for you will vary on what you need to buy, but here is the transaction that I am making.

Yesterday I bought 2 Mega packs at $14.99 and two Jumbo packs at $10.99 = $51.96

I had two $1 coupons bringing the total on the diapers to $49.96.

I also had a $20.98 rebate check from the previous month making my cash out of pocket for the diapers $28.98.

I will get a $25 gift certificate and $2 rebate. Now I've spent $1.98 on those diapers. I will also receive $0.75 per pack rebate from Caregivers Marketplace, turning my cost into a $1.97 profit. And because I purchased another pack of diapers during the buy 5 get one free promotion period, I will also get a certificate for a free pack of diapers. Not too shabby for buying four packs of diapers this week!

I love when great deals like this come along on things I need. I also love that stocking up when there is a great deal means I don't have to go buy the items for awhile.

Can you find the kids in the garden?

The wet rainy spring was hard on much of the garden. My tomatoes are just starting to bounce back from a near drowning experience. Though we did pick some yesterday, the first planting of corn looks pretty anemic. Instead of dwelling on the difficult areas of the garden, let me show off one area that is doing very well.

The newest garden spot is on a hillside next to my parent's house. There are watermelon, grapes and cabbage that can not be seen in the picture. The strawberries are at the top of the hill. You can just see the corner of the patch in the lower left hand corner. In the foreground are the cucumbers. My seven year old is standing behind the zucchini. The three year old is between the zucchini and the winter squash. If your eyes are good, you may be able to see the five year old behind the squash. He is standing in front of the asparagus. Then at the bottom of the hill (right side of the picture) are the pumpkins.

I am so thrilled with our hillside garden. We've been getting lots of cucumbers and zucchini. The rest of the plants are flourishing too. The past couple of years we have had so many problems with squash bugs and vine borers. I am not sure if it is the new location, the companion planting of radishes and marigolds, or my increased diligence in hunting and destroying the bugs' eggs (probably a combination of all of the above,) but the pests have really not been a problem this year, so far. I've found a few squash bug egg clusters to squish. I thought I saw a vine borer moth about a week ago, but so far have not seen eggs or damage from the little beasts. I am thoroughly enjoying this part of the garden.

Anyone have a cow costume?

Last night night my husband asked me if I'd dress up like a cow to get a free meal. I thought for a moment and then told him that getting together a cow costume would cost more than the meal it self.

I thought I'd gotten myself out of dressing up like a cow. I was mistaken.

This Friday Chick-fil-A is giving a free meal to anyone dressed like a cow in honor of their 5th annual cow appreciation day. Don't have a cow costume? They'll help you get started. See Cow Appreciation Day for more details, and a costume starter kit.

Since my husband also twittered today that he is making the whole family do this, I better start printing off the starter kits.

Pardon My Updates

Canning season is upon us, and it prompted me to do a little re-organization of the blog. I went through this morning and gave all the canning and preserving posts that label. For those of you reading in a reader, apologies for all the updates. For those of you looking for canning information and recipes, now it is all under one label; canning and preserving.

Easy Pickled Beets

The beets are just about done in my garden. Due to my lack of timely thinning I have many baby beets to harvest. I also have a lot of small onions in the garden. I decided to make cold pickled baby beets and onions.

First cook the beets, and remove the skins. Place beets and onions in a clean jar. Cover with vinegar and add a little salt and pepper, or other pickling spices if you like. Place the lid on the jar and refrigerate. Let sit for a day before eating.

Because of the vinegar, these will keep for a long time in the refrigerator. If you need to store in the pantry seal the jars in a boiling water bath.