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Wednesday, June 29, 2016

The Homemaking Party

Welcome to The Homemaking Party! Today we're celebrating my husband, Jamie's, 37th birthday! When he gets off work tonight, we'll have ice cream sundaes and presents. Everyone is super excited! Happy Birthday, Jamie!

Thanks for linking up at The Homemaking Party!

Monday, June 27, 2016

Will Bake for Produce: Zucchini Recipes

Thanks so much to my mom, Christy, for guest posting today!

barter: to exchange things (such as products or services) for other things, instead of money.

Bartering is something that has been done for hundreds of years, though it seems to have faded out in the last couple of generations. I think this practice of bartering would benefit a family, especially a large family. This is an excellent way to save money. Do you have friends or neighbors who would like to barter? I am lucky enough to say I do!

My husband's co-worker has a huge beautiful garden, but limited time, as she works lots of hours at her outside job. I was not able to put in my garden this year, but being a stay at home wife has allowed me plenty of time to bake and cook.

This sweet lady has been sending all kinds of wonderful fruits and vegetables home from work with my husband to gift to me. In return, I have been making delicious baked goodies and snacks for her and her family. With the price of groceries the way they are nowadays, it is a win-win situation for all!

Yesterday this lady sent me a gigantic zucchini, corn which had been shucked, blanched and wrapped to freeze, and two jars of pickles! She must have had some extra time this week. I was pleasantly surprised.

Today, in return for her generosity, I made several loaves of zucchini bread, which I will happily share. This is the zucchini bread recipe I have been using since 1975!

Zucchini Bread 
3 eggs 
1 cup oil 
2 cups sugar 
2 cups grated zucchini 
3 tsp pure vanilla extract 
3 tsp cinnamon 
3 cups flour 
1 tsp soda 
1 tsp salt 
1 tsp baking powder 
1/2 cups of chopped walnuts 

Beat the eggs, oil, and sugar. Stir in zucchini, vanilla, and cinnamon. Sift dry ingredients and stir in. Stir in walnuts, if desired. Pour into 2 greased loaf pans and bake at 350ยบ for 1 hour. Remove from pans, cool and wrap overnight.

Ours usually does not last over night, but I will have my husband deliver to his friend tomorrow.

I also made fried zucchini to have with our lunch today.

Fried Zucchini 
Slice zucchini into 1/4" thick slices and dip in an egg wash. (Egg slightly beaten with milk or water) Roll in flour and fry in olive oil until brown. Salt and pepper both sides while frying.

I still have enough of my giant zucchini to grate and freeze for winter baking! What do you have to barter with this week?




Saturday, June 25, 2016

60 Days 'til England!

Look what came in the mail last week! It's the 2016 Jane Austen Festival programme---so excited! This year, our tour begins in Manchester---from which we will go on to York, seeing the former home of Lord Byron; and then Haworth, to visit the Bronte parsonage. After that, we'll be off to Bath---stopping off at Warwick Castle along the way. We'll spend three nights in Bath and attend the Jane Austen Festival. We'll attend the annual costumed promenade and a Regency ball that evening. I'm planning to stay on in Bath a couple days longer to visit some of my favorite places, attend church at Bath Abbey, (I'm making friends there! Ha!) and spend time writing.

I'm so so looking forward to this trip and will be planning and starting on my costumes very soon! I'll be sure to update you all when I begin sewing.

Have a lovely Saturday!

Wednesday, June 22, 2016

Our New House



Whew! Where have I been? Well...about a month ago, we got notice that our landlord wants to sell the house we were in so we had 30 days to relocate! Not a small feat with 11 people! It's hard to believe that was really four weeks ago, but God came through and we are now settled in a much bigger, roomier, comfortable, and updated home. Isn't God great?! This is our new home, above. Same town, same zip code, even. In fact, we're just directly across Lake Avalon from our last house---so our Avalon Grace didn't even have to leave her special lake!

There are a lot of things that I really love about this house. One, is this set of cabinets in the hallway upstairs. They're just right for storing our games, school materials, and my crafting things.

You may remember that I just set up a reading room in my old house. Well, look how pretty my new reading room is! I love it!

On the other side of that room, we've got our dining table and school area. I'm absolutely loving all this space!

Today I was out in the yard and discovered this rope swing hanging above a brush pile. Hmm...better get that cleaned up soon so the kids can enjoy it.

Something else that's kept us busy these last couple weeks is Michael's mission trip to Ecuador! He returned Saturday night and he's a changed boy, let me tell you! Thank you to all who invested prayers and money to make this a reality for him. He's already talking about next year's mission trip! Here are some things he brought us to decorate our new home.

Thanks for stopping by The Homemaking Party! I've been missing you all and can't wait to see what you've got to share!

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