Here are the health benefits of the ingredients. Click find out to find more about Garlic, Ginger, Lemon, local Honey, Cayenne Pepper
Recipe for Garlic & Honey Cough Syrup:
[Do you have something to say about my husband's 'stache? 'Cuz you know you luv it.]
This morning we woke up to a dry morning, but boy, did it come down today or what? So I though to myself...What better day to make homemade chicken broth for the first time. More on that later. But now I had my yummy homemade chicken broth & ran across a recipe using up some pearl barley. Does Creamed Barley Risotto sound delicious to you, or am I just that odd? Ahhh....it was SO good. I took the steaming hot risotto out to the family while they were playing in the snow, and they were loving it. Everyone gobbled it up (even those kids!) I don't know if it was the recipe or the homemade chicken broth, but it was delish.
This is one of my favorite spots in our house! When we renovated, Lance used the dormer spaces to add closets and this fabulous bed nook! Kids love this space when they come over. Here's how it looks: (well, before the kids start throwing the pillows around). Here it is:
Keep us in your thoughts & prayers. In the morning (8 am), we go to the allergist for an oral challenge for peanuts. Ethan eats Reese's Pieces. This will either be a very exciting or very unpleasant day.
Feeling Stitchy - Hand Embroidery, often with an attitude. (pictured above is from nanacompany, via feeling stitchy.
I've loved my cloth napkins so much, that I decided to try to whip up some cocktail sized napkins that I could use for birthday parties, showers, etc. I'm hoping I can get these done before this weekend. I'm hosting a girly baby shower!!!
A few weeks ago, I started Operation "Clean Out the Freezer." My freezer(s) are out of control, and it's time to whip them into submission. I dream of them looking like this freezer one day. Before I do that, I have to do some serious work on my freezer goods. I see tons of chicken and pumpkin bread in my future.
This week we got a pumpkin, blackberry preserves, corn, cornmeal, green beans, popping corn, fettucini, tomato juice, sorghum & sweet potatoes.
Finished up a little heart-shaped garland to pretty up our house for Valentine's Day. I love felt projects It was as easy as this girl said it would be!
Turnips are pretty. A little bit of purple that fades to white...So pretty. But they have a little bit of wang. (Yes, I just made that up, but you probably know what wang would taste like.) And I found a fun, simple little recipe for turnip fries. And I thought potatoes were the only way to eat fries!!! These are worth a taste. 
Anyone know much about html? I have done something crazy to my blog. Just uploading a picture (this one of my great grandparents) to see if I can add a picture. 
Like all of you, my heart goes out to those suffering right now in Haiti. Many of you have churches and organizations that you want to give to right now. If not, here's a list of large organizations who are doing good works in Haiti.
The Amish know a thing or two about food. A new shop opened up down the street that specializes in Amish foods - cheeses, breads, noodles, canned goods, etc. Check it out!
Some of you think I'm a healthy eater. Well, you know who is really healthy? My mom. She was packing my high school lunch bags with avocado sandwiches & molasses cookies before it was cool. Dinner at their house is always a culinary adventure, so it was no surprise to go to their house last night and have Corn & Green Bean Filled Sweet Potatoes for dinner. It was surprisingly yummy & quite lovely! She also had some filled with who know's what? I think beans, peppers, avocado & red pepper. But only Mimi knows for sure.
Less than a year ago, Ethan had his first dairy products. It has been an even shorter period of time that he has been drinking glasses of milk. As hard as I have tried, he has no interest in drinking milk. But we've turned a corner, thanks to our friend Benjamin! Ethan saw him blowing bubbles in his milk, and now he'll drink it so he can blow bubbles too! So now we encourage blowing bubbles in our house!
I recently started using this hand embroidered hand towel that my mom bought at a garage sale in the '60s. I have all these old linens, but never use them. What a shame! Ethan loves this towel. He calls it the "Angel and the Man." The other day he said, "Mama, when I get married, can I have that?" How cute! He's never said anything about getting married before. Of course he can!!!
My favorite thing I've read in the Times lately - Top 50 Design Blogs. Deep, right? The #1 and #2 blogs are regular web spots for me, Apartment Therapy, and Design*Sponge. It's kind of like how I listened to The Lemonheads before they were famous, right?
We thought we had a weekend jam packed with activities. Friday, Saturday & Sunday night would be spent with friends. And we also prepared for company on Saturday morning! So we cleaned the house, and I made some sweet potato pancakes (YUM! I WILL NEVER GO BACK TO REGULAR PANCAKES AGAIN!), breakfast casserole, a lovely bowl of fruit, and a fresh pot of coffee. We waited and waited and waited. Kept the house clean (a miracle with small children). For an hour and a half we waited. They never showed. An hour and a half later, we realized that our breakfast guest are coming in 2 weeks from now! So we just had a fancy little Saturday morning brunch with just our little family. It was kind of fun just having a fancy breakfast at home! 
Ethan & Luke had a blast. At this time last year, I made an insane amount of vegan cupcakes for his #3 bash. And he'd never even eaten pizza before! This year, he enjoyed 'regular' pizza & cupcakes. Eating is so much easier these days.
I just found out about The Cupcake Collection. The most delicious cupcakes made in the Germantown living room of a family that moved here from New Orleans. I love family businesses!
The boys inspect gifts. I love that these boys are only 2 weeks apart in age, but they are at total opposite ends of the growth chart. They are so cute together!
Most of you know that our house was renovated, thanks to the big mess that happened right here. It has been almost a year since we moved back in! I've been meaning forever to recover these chairs. 
And finally I think my work is done here. 
Does everyone love a before & after as much as I do? I'm thinking of posting some, since it has been almost a year since we finished all our repairs!
And then decided to make some more. I think i'm FINALLY done. 
This week we got canned corn, popping corn, strawberry preserves, sweet potatoes, green beans, whole wheat noodles, bread & butter pickles, acorn squash, little pumpkins (?) and what I think is a Blue Hubbard Squash.
I dream about cornbread in my sleep. I am a big big fan. What's even better than cornbread, is cornbread cooked in a cast iron skillet and served right from the oven to the table. I love it. I usually use this vintage skillet, but I'm glad that Lodge Cast Iron Cookware is just right over yonder from me! (Notice what I did there? That's good Southern grammar!) Did you know that cooking with cast iron gets extra iron into your diet? And do you know how to make your own buttermilk? Save yourself a trip to the grocery, and just do this!
And we had a big ole filing party!!! We're nerds, right? I never said I was cool. 
I've been keeping a running list of all the funny things that Ethan says. There have been countless times that I've said, "Oh I could never forget that." But of course, I always do. So I try to write them down. Here are a few classics. There are tons and tons that I haven't included. Some are too long for blogland!
When it's cold outside, and there's a sale at your favorite fabric store, what else is there to do but make cloth napkins? I'm hooked! They are surprisingly easy. Fold once, fold twice...voila! Here are some instructions. I got my instructions from Lotta Jansdotter's Simple Sewing. More napkins to come...
Ethan wanted to wear this particular hat with the strap, because he said it was his "astronaut hat."
We didn't so much get to play in the snow, as much as just run around & stomp in it. KB was fascinated with it. She would just run around and stare at the whiteness below her feet.
Last week I made this recipe for Quesadillas (with Butternut Squash & White Beans). Pictured shows that the beans are added to the sour cream, and the squash is added to the cheese. I used pumpkin though.) The kids loved them!
Daddy's calculator is Katie Belle's new favorite toy. She carries it around everywhere. Usually it becomes a phone. Am I that animated when I talk on the phone? I had no idea!
As I finished preparing the Mustard Greens & Spinach Soup tonight, I was afraid of how the green color would be received by the kids. So I renamed it Superman Soup, put sour cream in a plastic baggie, cut off the tip and painted the Superman logo with sour cream. Although it was not gobbled down (food hardly ever is in my house), it was reasonably well received. No one turned up their nose, and KB eventually ate hers (hours later).