Townhouse Homestead Tuesday

Wow that was a fast week. To say time flies when you're having fun is not totally the truth. Let's say time flies when your busy. To start from the townhouse this week I've gone back to seriously baking and cooking. Doing what I can to eat better, but still enjoy food and life. I've gone back to baking my own bread. I've tried a lot of new recipes floating around on the Internet, but I'm going back to my good old Betty Crocker recipes I got as a teenager in the sixties. I just like the result, taste and I like the kneading. I know it's easy to let the machine do it, but when you've spent so much time doing something a certain way it's hard to let go.

I like home made bread better for French toast. I can slice it to the thickness I want and when soaking in the egg mixture it holds up better. Doesn't that look yummy? It certainly was.

I also make this ahead and keep it in the refrigerator so my daughter can take it to work for breakfast. I never did this when the kids were younger, but now it works great for her. 

Another task this week was cleaning the recipe files and papers. Over the years I've accumulated so many books, papers and clippings that I could never find what I needed when I needed it. I got a good start, but there is more to do.

This is some of the before. Can't believe I let it get so out of control, but...

look how neat the after is. I found recipes I thought were lost and would never find again and I can now just go to the right spot and get it. I put printed recipes in plastic sleeves to preserve them and can just pull them out of the notebook and wipe clean if they get messy. 

From the sewing and craft room this week I used a few scraps to make a candle cozy for 4th of July decorating. I don't do a lot of decorating any more so I'm keeping it simple with a holiday candle.

Sewing projects listed on the store have already started selling. There were pillows and napkins.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/192554082/hand-made-16-inch-black-cotton-pillow?

https://www.etsy.com/listing/192563409/hand-made-16-inch-teal-pillow?

https://www.etsy.com/listing/192564741/hand-made-screen-printed-buddha-pillow?

The pink napkins have sold, but the green napkins can be found here:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/192558851/set-of-4-double-sided-13-inch-napkins?

Well I guess that's why the week flew by. I harvested parsley and basil from the garden this week and dried it for my soup mixes. I also took some clippings of my peppermint plant to start a new one and it's already rooting. Everything is growing nicely. It's small and mostly herbs, but it's my bit of earth. 

Thank you for stopping by and I hope everyone has a wonderful week.

Linking to: We Call It Junkin

Roasted Red Peppers

Included in all the weekends activities was cooking and canning. Roasted red peppers were next on the agenda. I cannot believe the bounty that this season has provided. I will have peppers to enjoy until next canning season. I also baked more banana bread in canning jars and made a wonderful pot of split pea soup. It's been cooler here and the soup was just wonderful. I think I'm going to make some buttermilk biscuits to have with the leftover soup later this week.

Bartered Goodies

With canning season well underway and so many people canning and making different items I have opened up to some bartering. It's said that the tax man doesn't like this kind of doings, but most of us are just trying to survive and enjoy the home made goodies.
In exchange for two cases of home made sweet relish I received two packages of home crafted venison sausages, we've eaten almost all of the other package, and two packages of ground venison. Along with the venison came a quart, yes a quart, of home made local maple syrup. I can't wait to make breakfast sausage out of the ground venison and enjoy a breakfast of waffles and home made syrup with home made sausage patties.
Then there's Paul's grape jelly. Paul a co-worker grows his own grapes. A small back yard garden keeps him busy. He made raisins and has a years supply, but wanted to try his hand at jelly. I kept encouraging him to try. I traded him some goodies for fresh grapes and grape jelly. I feel like it's Christmas. Items I enjoy and don't get myself are in my kitchen for future use.
I am going to make salsa and can it this weekend. With tomatoes at their peek I can't wait to fill the pantry for a long winter of great treats.

Blueberry cinnamon roll cake.

Trying to make something special last week and I came across this recipe on http://eatcakefordinner.blogspot.com/. It was something new for me and I had blueberries to use. At first we thought it was too much cake, but as you can see everyone seemed to enjoy it. It's almost gone now and I am looking for something new and different for this week to use the abundance of fruit and vegetable available. I highly recommend this recipe. It was yummy.